--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A work of art works because it is true…" description: "\"A work of art works because it is true, not because it is real.\" — Yann Martel" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e4b/yann-martel-395_art_a-work-of-art-works-because-it-is-true-n_3189910.jpg" --- # A work of art works because it is true, not because it is… ![“A work of art works because it is true, not because it is real.” quote by Yann Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e4b/yann-martel-395_art_a-work-of-art-works-because-it-is-true-n_3189910.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e4b/yann-martel-395_art_a-work-of-art-works-because-it-is-true-n_3189910.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e4b/yann-martel-395_art_a-work-of-art-works-because-it-is-true-n_3189910.jpg) > “A work of art works because it is true, not because it is real.” [Yann Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-martel/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Art resonates when it captures truth of experience, not merely realistic detail. **In simple terms:** Art works through truth, not realism. Key Takeaway Seek truth in artistic expression. Themes art truth authenticity Mood contemplative thoughtful Type literary inspirational When to use this quote - writing - painting - film - music Key Concepts literature philosophy aesthetics Questions to Reflect On - What truths do you prioritize in your work? - How do you balance realism with deeper meaning? A Different Perspective Truth can be subjective, making authenticity unclear. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Art work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art-work/) [Art Works](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art-works-402751/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Real](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real/) [True](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/true/) [True Real](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/true-real-1555657/) [Work Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/work-art/) [Works of art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/works-of-art/) ## Related quotes > [When art works travel from place to place, what you have is the opportunity to engage with the intellect of another person who has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kerry-james-marshall/when-art-works-travel-from-place-to-place-what-you-have-is-the/) [Kerry James Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kerry-james-marshall/) > [How art works is really interesting. It comes from our unconscious, a lot of it. And were communicating in ways were not completely aware…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grayson-perry/how-art-works-is-really-interesting-it-comes-from-our-unconscious-a/) [Grayson Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grayson-perry/) > [Art works because it appeals to certain faculties of the mind. Music depends on details of the auditory system, painting and sculpture on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pinker/art-works-because-it-appeals-to-certain-faculties-of-the-mind-music/) [Steven Pinker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pinker/) > [One mentions many artists who are actually art works of nature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-wilhelm-friedrich-schlegel/one-mentions-many-artists-who-are-actually-art-works-of-nature/) [Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-wilhelm-friedrich-schlegel/) > [Society takes what it wants. The artist himself does not count, because there is no actual existence for the work of art. The work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/society-takes-what-it-wants-the-artist-himself-does-not-count-because/) [Marcel Duchamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-duchamp/) > [Stop thinking about art works as objects, and start thinking about them as triggers for experiences... That solves a lot of problems ... Art…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-eno/stop-thinking-about-art-works-as-objects-and-start-thinking-about/) [Brian Eno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-eno/) > [Your life is a work of art that you will work on the rest of your life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-blanco/your-life-is-a-work-of-art-that-you-will-work-on-the-rest-of-your-life/) [Richard Blanco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-blanco/) > [I believe that each work of art, whether it is a work of great genius, or something very small, comes to the artist and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeleine-l-engle/i-believe-that-each-work-of-art-whether-it-is-a-work-of-great-genius/) [Madeleine L'Engle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeleine-l-engle/) > [One must have a high opinion of a work of art - not the work one is creating at the moment, but of that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-degas/one-must-have-a-high-opinion-of-a-work-of-art-not-the-work-one-is/) [Edgar Degas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-degas/) > [A work of art is a work of order, and if the artist is to put the stamp of his own mind on his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-peach-robinson/a-work-of-art-is-a-work-of-order-and-if-the-artist-is-to-put-the/) [Henry Peach Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-peach-robinson/) > [“What's true is not always what is real . . .”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-carver/what-s-true-is-not-always-what-is-real/) [Will Carver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-carver/) > ['Trill' is a combination of 'true' and 'real.' It's my philosophy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willie-cauley-stein/trill-is-a-combination-of-true-and-real-it-s-my-philosophy/) [Willie Cauley-Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willie-cauley-stein/) > [Real love can't be faked, you just can't force others to love you, so just be yourself. The ones who leave your life because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/unkown/real-love-can-t-be-faked-you-just-can-t-force-others-to-love-you-so/) [Unkown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/unkown/) > [But there's so much that was a lie, it's hard to figure out what was true, what was real, what matters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/veronica-roth/but-there-s-so-much-that-was-a-lie-it-s-hard-to-figure-out-what-was/) [Veronica Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/veronica-roth/) > [“But why this obsession with what's actually true, the real, all that? Can't you accept that our lives are always part fiction?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bhaskar-ghose/but-why-this-obsession-with-what-s-actually-true-the-real-all-that/) [Bhaskar Ghose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bhaskar-ghose/) ## More by Yann Martel > [“It’s a big ocean crossed by busy ships. I went slowly, observing much.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/it-s-a-big-ocean-crossed-by-busy-ships-i-went-slowly-observing-much/) [Yann Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-martel/) > [“The word isn't just the way it is. It is how we understand it, no? And in understanding something, we bring something to it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/the-word-isn-t-just-the-way-it-is-it-is-how-we-understand-it-no-and/) [Yann Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-martel/) > [“Remember that your days on this earth are counted and you might as well make the best of those you have left.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/remember-that-your-days-on-this-earth-are-counted-and-you-might-as/) [Yann Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-martel/) > [“I must say a word about fear. It's is life's only true opponent. Only fear can defeat life. 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Technology helps and good ideas spread - these are two laws…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/progress-is-unstoppable-it-is-a-drumbeat-to-which-we-must-all-march/) [Yann Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-martel/) > [“There are always those who take it upon themselves to defend God, as if Ultimate Reality, as if the sustaining frame of existence were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/there-are-always-those-who-take-it-upon-themselves-to-defend-god-as/) [Yann Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-martel/) > [“I never had problems with my fellow scientists. Scientists are a friendly, atheistic, hard-working, beer-drinking lot whose minds are preoccupied with sex, chess and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/i-never-had-problems-with-my-fellow-scientists-scientists-are-a/) [Yann Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-martel/) > [“For evil in the open is but evil from within that has been let out. 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But be excessively reasonable and you risk throwing out the universe with the bathwater.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/nothing-beats-reason-for-keeping-tigers-away-but-be-excessively/) [Yann Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-martel/) > [“Uvek ima onih koji uzmu za pravo da brane Boga, kao da je Poslednja stvarnost, kao da je temeljni ram postojanja nešto slabašno i…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/uvek-ima-onih-koji-uzmu-za-pravo-da-brane-boga-kao-da-je-poslednja/) [Yann Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-martel/) > [“The reason death sticks so closely to life isn't biological necessity- its envy. 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You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“So, really," continued Jacob as if this were perfectly normal to expound on art in these circumstances, "when you think about it, the artists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justina-chen-headley/so-really-continued-jacob-as-if-this-were-perfectly-normal-to-expound/) [Justina Chen Headley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justina-chen-headley/) > [“There are two options in art; either to adopt philosophical life by dissecting art, or to write your own philosophical life and claim it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taf-teh/there-are-two-options-in-art-either-to-adopt-philosophical-life-by/) [Taf Teh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taf-teh/) > [The house has to serve comfort. The work of art is revolutionary; the house is conservative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-loos/the-house-has-to-serve-comfort-the-work-of-art-is-revolutionary-the/) [Adolf Loos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-loos/) > [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [I think a business guy is different from an artist. They walk different paths. Artists create the best outputs when they're having fun. 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