As honour, love, obedience, troops of friends, / I must not look to have; but, in their stead, / Curses, not loud but deep, mouth-honour, breath, / Which the poor heart would fain deny, and dare not" (5.3.25-28).
William ShakespeareRead
Art made tongue-tied by authority.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Art is often restricted or suppressed by those in power.
This quote suggests that the expression of art can be stifled by authoritative figures or systems. Shakespeare implies that creativity and genuine artistic expression can struggle to thrive when faced with societal constraints or censorship imposed by those who hold power over the narrative.
Themes
ArtAuthorityExpressionCreativityCensorship
In practice
Example use cases
A discussion on freedom of expression during an art exhibition.
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Lord, Lord, how this world is given to lying!
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Give it an understanding, but no tongue.
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The evening light was like honey in the trees When you left me and walked to the end of the street Where the sunset abruptly ended. The wedding-cake drawbridge lowered itself To the fragile forget-me-not flower. You climbed aboard. Burnt horizons suddenly paved with golden stones, Dreams I had, including suicide, Puff out the hot-air balloon now. It is bursting, it is about to burst
John AshberyRead
At present I absolutely want to paint a starry sky. It often seems to me that night is still more richly coloured than the day; having hues of the most intense violets, blues and greens. If only you pay attention to it you will see that certain stars are lemon-yellow, others pink or a green, blue and forget-me-not brilliance. And without my expatiating on this theme it is obvious that putting little white dots on the blue-black is not enough to paint a starry sky.
Vincent Van GoghRead
Homer has taught all other poets the art of telling lies skillfully.
AristotleRead
As far as I'm concerned, freedom is the most important thing to creativity. You should feel free to write in whatever way, whatever language, feels comfortable to you.
Edward HirschRead
I like everything that has no style: dictionaries, photographs, nature, myself and my paintings. (Because style is violent, and I am not violent.)
Gerhard RichterRead
Fiction is a branch of neurology: the scenarios of nerve and blood vessels are the written mythologies of memory and desire.
J. G. BallardRead