--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: He promised them a class that would…" description: "\"“He promised them a class that would challenge their own beliefs about the redemptive humanity of what is commonly called 'Art'. 'Art is the Western my..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5a1/zadie-smith-584_art_he-promised-them-a-class-that-would-chal_2679333.png" --- # He promised them a class that would challenge their own… ![“He promised them a class that would challenge their own beliefs about the redemptive humanity of what is commonly called 'Art'. 'Art is the Western myth,' announced Howard, for the sixth year in a row, 'with which we both console ourselves and make ourselves.” quote by Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5a1/zadie-smith-584_art_he-promised-them-a-class-that-would-chal_2679333.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5a1/zadie-smith-584_art_he-promised-them-a-class-that-would-chal_2679333.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5a1/zadie-smith-584_art_he-promised-them-a-class-that-would-chal_2679333.png) > ““He promised them a class that would challenge their own beliefs about the redemptive humanity of what is commonly called 'Art'. 'Art is the Western myth,' announced Howard, for the sixth year in a row, 'with which we both console ourselves and make ourselves.”” [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Art is presented as a myth that comforts us, yet it also serves to shape our identities. **In simple terms:** Art comforts and shapes identity. Key Takeaway Question the narratives art presents. Themes art myth identity comfort culture Mood thoughtful critical Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - museum visits - art education - media analysis Key Concepts philosophy social critique Questions to Reflect On - How does art influence personal belief? - What alternative narratives can art offer? A Different Perspective Art may reinforce harmful myths. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Faith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faith/) ## Related quotes > [Art is the Western myth, with which we both console ourselves and make ourselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/art-is-the-western-myth-with-which-we-both-console-ourselves-and-make/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) > [If a nonartist teaches a subject called art, it is nonart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-asawa/if-a-nonartist-teaches-a-subject-called-art-it-is-nonart/) [Ruth Asawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-asawa/) > [Life may as properly be called an art as any other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-fielding/life-may-as-properly-be-called-an-art-as-any-other/) [Henry Fielding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-fielding/) > [I'm a disciple of Raymond Chandler, who said in his essays that there's a quality of redemption in anything that can be called art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-connelly/i-m-a-disciple-of-raymond-chandler-who-said-in-his-essays-that-there/) [Michael Connelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-connelly/) > [If sanity ever returns to our society and we stop taking pretentious elites seriously, one of the signs will be that the public will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/if-sanity-ever-returns-to-our-society-and-we-stop-taking-pretentious/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [In everything that can be called art there is a quality of redemption.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-chandler/in-everything-that-can-be-called-art-there-is-a-quality-of-redemption-3/) [Raymond Chandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-chandler/) > [My position is that serious and good art has always existed to help, to serve, humanity. Not to indict. I don't see how art…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chinua-achebe/my-position-is-that-serious-and-good-art-has-always-existed-to-help/) [Chinua Achebe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chinua-achebe/) > [“Nude paintings and sculptures are called "art" only in the museums.. Outside of the museums, It is "Absurdity" and "Vulgarity". To respect your own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/himmilicious/nude-paintings-and-sculptures-are-called-art-only-in-the-museums/) Himmilicious > [“Life may as properly be called an art as any other; and the great incidents in it are no more to be considered as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-fielding/life-may-as-properly-be-called-an-art-as-any-other-and-the-great/) [Henry Fielding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-fielding/) > [I made my own major called art and business as religion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billie-lourd/i-made-my-own-major-called-art-and-business-as-religion/) [Billie Lourd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billie-lourd/) > [I have to say that I reject somewhat the distinction between something called art and something called public art. I think all art demands…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antony-gormley/i-have-to-say-that-i-reject-somewhat-the-distinction-between/) [Antony Gormley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antony-gormley/) > [Firebugs dragging their gasoline bottles are approaching the Academy of Arts, with a grin. And so, instead of embracing them, let us demand the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertolt-brecht/firebugs-dragging-their-gasoline-bottles-are-approaching-the-academy/) [Bertolt Brecht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertolt-brecht/) > [In everything that can be called art there is a quality of redemption. It may be pure tragedy, if it is high tragedy, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-chandler/in-everything-that-can-be-called-art-there-is-a-quality-of-redemption-2/) [Raymond Chandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-chandler/) > [Whether something is called art is beside the point. What counts is what happens when you ask it to actually be art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-darby-bannard/whether-something-is-called-art-is-beside-the-point-what-counts-is/) [Walter Darby Bannard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-darby-bannard/) > [Although photography generates works that can be called art-it requires subjectivity, it can lie, it gives aesthetic pleasure-photography is not, to begin with, an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/although-photography-generates-works-that-can-be-called-art-it/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) ## More by Zadie Smith > [- You look fine. - Right. I look fine. Except I don't, said Zora, tugging sadly at her man's nightshirt. This was why Kiki…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/you-look-fine-right-i-look-fine-except-i-don-t-said-zora-tugging/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) > [“Pretty girls lie at the centre of straight culture, dyke culture, fag culture. They sell everything, they buy everything, they ruin great men and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/pretty-girls-lie-at-the-centre-of-straight-culture-dyke-culture-fag/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) > [“I have known many true connoisseurs, with excellent tastes that range across the humanities and the culinary arts--and they never fail to have a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/i-have-known-many-true-connoisseurs-with-excellent-tastes-that-range/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) > [I cannot believe homosexuality is that much fun. Heterosexuality certainly is not.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/i-cannot-believe-homosexuality-is-that-much-fun-heterosexuality/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) > [“Either everything is sacred or nothing is. And if he starts burning other people’s things, then he loses something sacred also. Everyone gets what’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/either-everything-is-sacred-or-nothing-is-and-if-he-starts-burning/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) > [My feeling is, having lived in different classes, that people want equality of opportunity... that's the thing that makes me despair: the idea that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/my-feeling-is-having-lived-in-different-classes-that-people-want/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) > [I don't keep any copies of my books in the house - they go to my mum's flat. I don't like them around.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/i-don-t-keep-any-copies-of-my-books-in-the-house-they-go-to-my-mum-s/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) > [But it makes an immigrant laugh to hear the fears of the nationalist, scared of infection, penetration, miscegenation, when this is small fry, peanuts,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/but-it-makes-an-immigrant-laugh-to-hear-the-fears-of-the-nationalist/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) > [Oh, I know that. You know me, baby, I cannot be broken. Takes a giant to snap me in half.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/oh-i-know-that-you-know-me-baby-i-cannot-be-broken-takes-a-giant-to/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) > [“In short, it was precisely the kind of friendship and Englishman makes on holiday, that he can make only on holiday. A friendship that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/in-short-it-was-precisely-the-kind-of-friendship-and-englishman-makes/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) > [I suppose I often think of my writing as quite impersonal. But it turned out, when my father died, writing was exactly what I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/i-suppose-i-often-think-of-my-writing-as-quite-impersonal-but-it/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) > [“Some of us are happy with our African hair, thank you very much. I don't want some poor Indian girl's hair. And I wish…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/some-of-us-are-happy-with-our-african-hair-thank-you-very-much-i-don/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) > [You can't state difference and also state equality. We have to state sameness to understand equality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/you-can-t-state-difference-and-also-state-equality-we-have-to-state/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) > [“(Unlike many others around this time, Joyce felt no shame about using the term 'middle class'. In the Chalfen lexicon the middle classes were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/unlike-many-others-around-this-time-joyce-felt-no-shame-about-using/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) > [A lot of women, when they're young, feel they have very good friends, and find later on that friendship is complicated. It's easy to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/a-lot-of-women-when-they-re-young-feel-they-have-very-good-friends/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) [Explore all 457 Zadie Smith quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) ## More Art quotes > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. Accordingly...they became abominably wicked, and they were justly exterminated by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/before-noah-men-having-only-water-to-drink-could-not-find-the-truth/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [“Hear the sum of the whole matter in the compass of one brief word — every art possessed by man comes from Prometheus.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/hear-the-sum-of-the-whole-matter-in-the-compass-of-one-brief-word/) [Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/) > [I think most artists feel like they're outside society - no matter how many accolades they receive, or how much money is in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-rose/i-think-most-artists-feel-like-they-re-outside-society-no-matter-how/) [Aaron Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-rose/) > [The capacity to be puzzled is the premise of all creation, be it in art or in science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/the-capacity-to-be-puzzled-is-the-premise-of-all-creation-be-it-in/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [That's the great secret of creativity. 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 > [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. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-dragon/i-think-a-business-guy-is-different-from-an-artist-they-walk/) [G-Dragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-dragon/) > [“The only thing--I tell you this straight from the heart--that disgusts me in Salzburg is that one can't have any proper social intercourse with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/the-only-thing-i-tell-you-this-straight-from-the-heart-that-disgusts/) [Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/) > [The sublime in art is the attempt to express the infinite without finding in the realm of phenomena any object which proves itself fitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/the-sublime-in-art-is-the-attempt-to-express-the-infinite-without/) [Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/) > [Art isn't done to decorate apartments, but to wage war against the enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/art-isn-t-done-to-decorate-apartments-but-to-wage-war-against-the/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) [Browse all 48,643 Art quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“He promised them a class that would challenge their own beliefs about the redemptive humanity of what is commonly called 'Art'. 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