We have our Arts so we won't die of Truth.
Interpretation
Arts help us cope with the harsh realities of truth.
Ray Bradbury's quote emphasizes the importance of the arts in human existence. He suggests that while truth can be harsh and overwhelming, the arts provide a crucial outlet for expression, interpretation, and emotional relief, allowing us to navigate and endure the challenges of reality without succumbing entirely to its starkness.
In practice
In a speech about the importance of creativity in education, one could reference this quote to advocate for arts programs.
I've written about 2,000 short stories; I've only published 300 and I feel I'm still learning. Any man who keeps working is not a failure. He may not be a great writer, but if he applies the old fashioned virtues of hard, constant labor, he'll eventually make some kind of career for himself as a writer. Ray Bradbury, 1967 interview (Doing the Math - that means for every story he sold, he wrote six "un-publishable" ones. Keep typing!)
I never went to college, so I went to the library.
There must be something in books, something we canβt imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house; there must be something there. You donβt stay for nothing.
I think the sun is a flower, That blooms for just one hour.
The first thing a writer should be is - excited. He should be a thing of fevers and enthusiasms. Without such vigor, he might as well be out picking peaches or digging ditches; God knows it'd be better for his health.
You can't try to do things; you simply must do them.
Writers should provoke disagreement.
Sculpture is what you bump into when you back up to see a painting.
One of the things that happens in novels it's almost like a continual debate with yourself. That's why you're writing the book. It's why you create characters: so you can argue with yourself.
Every time I get in the studio, I feel like I wanna have some fun. My fun is not doing the easy work. My fun is doing what's me.
No story lives unless someone wants to listen. So thank you, all of you.
Art is the only serious thing in the world. And the artist is the only person who is never serious.
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