Aretha with no goals, eternally single & one step soft of heaven/ let it be understood that she owns this melody along with her emotional diplomats & her earth & her musical secrets
Bob DylanRead
Art is the perpetual motion of illusion. The highest purpose of art is to inspire. What else can you do? What else can you do for any one but inspire them?
Interpretation
What this quote means
Art exists to create an ongoing experience of inspiration for others.
In this quote, Bob Dylan emphasizes the importance of art as a dynamic entity that continually captivates and inspires the audience. He suggests that the ultimate goal of any artistic expression is to motivate and uplift others, urging artists to recognize their unique ability to spark inspiration, which serves as a gift to humanity.
Themes
ArtInspirationIllusionPurposeExpression
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in an art workshop to motivate aspiring artists.
More from Bob Dylan
All quotes →If I wasn't Bob Dylan, I'd probably think that Bob Dylan has a lot of answers myself.
Bob DylanRead
Some formulas are too complex and I don't want anything to do with them.
Bob DylanRead
I'm the oldest son of a crazy man, I'm in a cowboy band.
Bob DylanRead
My songs are personal music, they're not communal. I wouldn't want people singing along with me. It would sound funny. I'm not playing campfire meetings. I don't remember anyone singing along with Elvis, Carl Perkins or Little Richard.
Bob DylanRead
I wish that for just one time you could stand inside my shoes. You'd know what a drag it is to see you.
Bob DylanRead
Similar quotes
If you make your living writing, and you can't write anything, it's over. It's very frightening.
StingRead
Passion is in all great searches and is necessary to all creative endeavors.
W. Eugene SmithRead
The great tragedy is that they're removing art completely, not because they're putting more science in, but because they can't afford the art teachers or because somebody thinks it's not useful. An enlightened society has all of this going on within it. It's part of what distinguishes what it is to be human from other life forms on Earth - that we have culture.
Neil Degrasse TysonRead
The only thing I really wanted was the freedom to be able to get what I want on film. I’ve dealt with the MPAA since 1973, so I know how to renegotiate and rework.
Martin ScorseseRead
For me, writing stories is one way of feeling connected to the universe and God.
Elif SafakRead
When I sang my American folk melodies in Budapest, Prague, Tiflis, Moscow, Oslo, or the Hebrides or on the Spanish front, the people understood and wept or rejoiced with the spirit of the songs. I found that where forces have been the same, whether people weave, build, pick cotton, or dig in the mine, they understand each other in the common language of work, suffering, and protest.
Paul RobesonRead