The sun never knew how great it was until it hit the side of a building.
Louis KahnRead
The creation of art is not the fulfillment of a need but the creation of a need. The world never needed Beethoven's Fifth Symphony until he created it. Now we could not live without it.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Art creates new needs and desires in society rather than merely fulfilling existing ones.
This quote by Louis Kahn emphasizes the transformative power of art and creativity. It suggests that true artistic contributions, like Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, create an entirely new appreciation and necessity within society, indicating that culture evolves and that the impact of art can shape human experience in profound and fundamental ways.
Themes
ArtCreativityNeedTransformationCulture
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about the importance of arts funding, one could quote this to emphasize how art shapes society.
More from Louis Kahn
All quotes →I sense a Threshold: Light to Silence, Silence to Light - an ambiance of inspiration, in which the desire to be, to express, crosses with the possible Light to Silence, Silence to Light crosses in the sanctuary of art.
Louis KahnRead
Greek architecture taught me that the column is where the light is not, and the space between is where the light is. It is a matter of no-light, light, no-light, light. A column and a column brings light between them. To make a column which grows out of the wall and which makes its own rhythm of no-light, light, no-light, light: that is the marvel of the artist.
Louis KahnRead
The room is the beginning of architecture.
Louis KahnRead
Architecture is the reaching out for the truth.
Louis KahnRead
We are born of light. The seasons are felt through light. We only know the world as it is evoked by light.
Louis KahnRead
Similar quotes
To labor in the arts for any reason other than love is prostitution.
Steven PressfieldRead
When you rehearse a play, you spend four weeks with one goal in mind - to wean the actor away from you. You want the actor to become completely independent and to understand all the emotional and psychological moves within the character.
Sydney PollackRead
Right now a moment of time is fleeting by! Capture its reality in paint! To do that we must put all else out of our minds. We must become that moment, make ourselves a sensitive recording plate...Give the image of what we actually see, forgetting everything that has been seen before our time.
Paul CezanneRead
On the other hand, what I like my music to do to me is awaken the ghosts inside of me. Not the demons, you understand, but the ghosts.
David BowieRead
A good photograph is knowing where to stand.
Ansel AdamsRead
Only the very greatest art invigorates without consoling.
Iris MurdochRead