If you have the guts to be yourself, other people'll pay your price.
John UpdikeRead
We are drawn to artists who tell us that art is difficult to do and takes a spiritual effort, because we are still puritan enough to respect a strenuous spiritual effort.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Art is perceived as challenging and requires deep spiritual engagement, which resonates with our respect for effort in creation.
In this quote, John Updike reflects on the allure of artists who acknowledge the intrinsic difficulties in creating art. He suggests that society holds a deep-seated respect for the spiritual and strenuous effort that goes into artistic creation, which not only validates the hardships of the artist but also connects with our own values of hard work and dedication.
Themes
ArtSpiritualityEffortCreationRespect
In practice
Example use cases
A discussion on the challenges of creative endeavors in an art class.
More from John Updike
All quotes →Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that's the stuff life is made of. _x000D_ _x000D_ Suspect each moment, for it is a thief, tiptoeing away with more than it brings.
John UpdikeRead
Museums and bookstores should feel, I think, like vacant lots - places where the demands on us are our own demands, where the spirit can find exercise in unsupervised play.
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But it is just two lovers, holding hands and in a hurry to reach their car, their locked hands a starfish leaping through the dark.
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The reader knows the writer better than he knows himself; but the writer's physical presence is light from a star that has moved on.
John UpdikeRead
To guarantee the individual maximum freedom within a social frame of minimal laws ensures - if not happiness - its hopeful pursuit.
John UpdikeRead
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