Music is the arithmetic of sounds as optics is the geometry of light.
Claude DebussyRead
Art is the most beautiful deception of all! And although people try to incorporate the everyday events of life in it, we must hope that it will remain a deception lest it become a utilitarian thing, sad as a factory.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Art is a beautiful illusion that elevates everyday life beyond mere utility.
In this quote, Claude Debussy expresses the idea that art serves as a magnificent deception, allowing us to perceive and experience life in a way that transcends its mundane realities. He cautions that while artists often draw inspiration from everyday events, it is crucial for art to retain its deceptive quality; otherwise, it risks becoming merely functional and stripped of its emotional essence, akin to the sterile nature of a factory's output.
Themes
ArtDeceptionCreativityBeautyLifeUtility
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about the value of art versus practical skills.
More from Claude Debussy
All quotes →The colour of my soul is iron-grey and sad bats wheel about the steeple of my dreams.
Claude DebussyRead
On those who overanalyze his music: When you tear the wings off a butterfly, it is no longer a butterfly
Claude DebussyRead
But music, don't you know, is a dream from which the veils have been lifted. It's not even the expression of a feeling, it's the feeling itself.
Claude DebussyRead
People come to music to seek oblivion: is that not also a form of deception?
Claude DebussyRead
Some people wish above all to conform to the rules, I wish only to render what I can hear.
Claude DebussyRead
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