Art is only a means to life to the life more abundant. It is not in itself the life more abundant. It merely points the way something which is overlooked not only by the public but very often by the artist himself. In becoming an end it defeats itself.

We are all hungry and thirsty for concrete images. Abstract art will have been good for one thing: to restore its exact virginity to figurative art.

The momentous thing in human life is the art of winning the soul to good or evil.

All things are artificial for nature is the art of God.

One of the interesting things here is that the people who should be shaping the future are politicians. But the political framework itself is so dead and closed that people look to other sources like artists because art and music allow people a certain freedom.

There is nothing new in art except talent.

When I am finishing a picture I hold some God-made object up to it - a rock a flower the branch of a tree or my hand - as a final test. If the painting stands up beside a thing man cannot make the painting is authentic. If there's a clash between the two it's bad art.

It is no great art to say something briefly when like Tacitus one has something to say when one has nothing to say however and none the less writes a whole book and makes truth into a liar - that I call an achievement.

Poetry is the art of substantiating shadows and of lending existence to nothing.

I think music is the greatest art form that exists and I think people listen to music for different reasons and it serves different purposes. Some of it is background music and some of it is things that might affect a person's day if not their life or change an attitude. The best songs are the ones that make you feel something.

If thou art a man admire those who attempt great things even though they fail.

What I dream of is an art of balance of purity and serenity devoid of troubling or depressing subject matter - a soothing calming influence on the mind rather like a good armchair which provides relaxation from physical fatigue.

The person who knows one thing and does it better than anyone else even if it only be the art of raising lentils receives the crown he merits. If he raises all his energy to that end he is a benefactor of mankind and its rewarded as such.

There is no abstract art. You must always start with something. Afterward you can remove all traces of reality.

Science fiction is any idea that occurs in the head and doesn't exist yet but soon will and will change everything for everybody and nothing will ever be the same again. As soon as you have an idea that changes some small part of the world you are writing science fiction. It is always the art of the possible never the impossible.

Dying is an art like everything else. I do it exceptionally well. I do it so it feels like hell. I do it so it feels real. I guess you could say I've a call.

There are no contests in the Art of Peace. A true warrior is invincible because he or she contests with nothing. Defeat means to defeat the mind of contention that we harbor within.

Perhaps it's good for one to suffer. Can an artist do anything if he's happy? Would he ever want to do anything? What is art after all but a protest against the horrible inclemency of life?

The art of being happy lies in the power of extracting happiness from common things.

Art is making something out of nothing and selling it.

I think art is the only thing that's spiritual in the world. And I refuse to forced to believe in other people's interpretations of God. I don't think anybody should be. No one person can own the copyright to what God means.

In the practical art of war the best thing of all is to take the enemy's country whole and intact to shatter and destroy it is not so good.

Advertising is the art of convincing people to spend money they don't have for something they don't need.

Art is the beautiful way of doing things. Science is the effective way of doing things. Business is the economic way of doing things.