An apology offered and, equally important, received is a step towards reconciliation and, sometimes, recompense. Without that process, hurts can rankle and fester and erupt into their own hatreds and wrongdoings.
Margaret MacmillanRead
Are artists the canaries in the mine, warning of the coming explosion before anyone else? It's hard to look at the world before 1914 and not wonder if they somehow felt a catastrophe was bearing down on them and their societies.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Artists may sense and express societal issues before they become apparent to the general public.
This quote by Margaret Macmillan suggests that artists possess a unique sensitivity to the underlying tensions and potential crises within society. Just as canaries were once used in coal mines to detect dangerous gases, artists often reflect and comment on the prevailing cultural and social dynamics, potentially foreseeing significant events and changes before they manifest in the wider world.
Themes
ArtistsSocietyForewarningCatastropheCreativity
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech about cultural awareness, one could use this quote to emphasize the role of artists in society.
More from Margaret Macmillan
All quotes →Climate change respects no borders.
Margaret MacmillanRead
War is a crucial, deeply ingrained part of human history. It has to be understood.
Margaret MacmillanRead
There was that argument that if we had more women in positions of authority, the world would be a nicer place. And then we got Golda Meir, Margaret Thatcher, Sirimavo Bandaranaike, Indira Gandhi. When women become acclimatised to war, they can become every bit as ruthless as men.
Margaret MacmillanRead
Theodore Roosevelt's policy to build a two-ocean navy confirmed that the old-style isolationism of the founders had not survived the modern, increasingly globalized world.
Margaret MacmillanRead
If we don't take responsibility for each other, it seems to me the future is going to be even bleaker.
Margaret MacmillanRead
Similar quotes
I can’t worry too much about the everyday things. Otherwise I’d lose touch with my own world, that helps me as an artist, but it’s frustrating for the people around me. I’m vaguely functional, but there’s always something slightly off.
Florence WelchRead
What was venerated as style was nothing more than an imperfection or flaw that revealed the guilty hand.
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God creates, I do not create. I assemble and I steal everywhere to do it - from what I see, from what the dancers can do, from what others do.
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Watch out for music. It should come with a health warning. It can be dangerous. It can make you feel so alive, so connected to the people around you, and connected to what you really are inside. And it can make you think that the world should, and could, be a much better place. And just occasionally, it can make you very, very happy.
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The public history of modern art is the story of conventional people not knowing what they are dealing with.
Golda MeirRead
He moved like a dancer, which is not surprising; a horse is a beautiful animal, but it is perhaps most remarkable because it moves as if it always hears music.
Mark HelprinRead