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Beautiful forms and compositions are not made by chance, nor can they ever, in any material, be made at small expense. A composition for cheapness and not excellence of workmanship is the most frequent and certain cause of the rapid decay and entire destruction of arts and manufacturers.
Josiah Wedgwood
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Art and craftsmanship require intention and investment; quality cannot be achieved through shortcuts.

Josiah Wedgwood emphasizes that beautiful art and compositions are the result of careful planning and significant investment of resources. He argues that attempting to create art on the cheap often leads to inferior quality, which ultimately causes a quick decline in the value and respect for art and craftsmanship. This highlights the importance of prioritizing excellence over mere cost-saving measures in creative fields.

Themes

ArtCraftsmanshipQualityInvestmentComposition

In practice

Example use cases

During a lecture on design, one could use this quote to highlight the importance of quality in artistic creations.

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A little wisdom, now and then

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