All the charming and beautiful things, from the Song of Songs, to bouillabaisse, and from the nine Beethoven symphonies to the Martini cocktail, have been given to humanity by men who, when the hour came, turned from tap water to something with color in it, and more in it than mere oxygen and hydrogen.
Interpretation
This quote highlights the importance of creativity and the pursuit of beauty in human expression.
H. L. Mencken reflects on how the most enchanting aspects of culture, such as art, music, and culinary creations, are birthed from individuals who dare to transcend the mundane and seek richer experiences. By turning from the simplicity of basic elements, these creators infuse their work with depth, color, and meaning, reminding us that beauty often emerges from an adventurous spirit willing to explore beyond the ordinary.
In practice
This quote would be perfect for an art exhibit opening to emphasize the value of creative expression.
I know a good many men of great learning-that is, men born with an extraordinary eagerness and capacity to acquire knowledge. One and all, they tell me that they can't recall learning anything of any value in school. All that schoolmasters managed to accomplish with them was to test and determine the amount of knowledge that they had already acquired independently-and not infrequently the determination was made clumsily and inaccurately.
It takes a long while for a naturally trustful person to reconcile himself to the idea that after all God will not help him
It is the theory of all modern civilized governments that they protect and foster the liberty of the citizen; it is the practice of all of them to limit its exercise, and sometimes very narrowly.
The central belief of every moron is that he is the victim of a mysterious conspiracy against his common rights and true deserts.
The cure for the evils of democracy is more democracy.
It is my conviction that no normal man ever fell in love, within the ordinary meaning of the term, after the age of thirty.
I'm glad I wrote them when I did because I think if I were to write my first novel now, it would be a different book, and it may not be the book that everybody wants to read. But if I were given a red pen now, and I went back... I'd take that thing apart.
I feel that I want to use light as this wonderful and magic elixir that we drink as Vitamin D through the skin - and I mean, we are literally light-eaters - to then affect the way that we see.
A true artist is not one who is inspired, but one who inspires others.
Decoration is really about creating a quality of life, and a beauty in that life that nourishes the soul, that makes life beautiful.
I eagerly await new concepts and processes. I believe that the electronic image will be the next major advance. Such systems will have their own inherent and inescapable structural characteristics, and the artist and functional practitioner will again strive to comprehend and control them.
Picture and sculpture are the celebrations and festivities of form.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.