The creation of a work of art, like an act of love, is our one small 'yes' at the center of a vast 'no.'
Interpretation
Creating art is a positive affirmation in a world often filled with negativity.
Gore Vidal's quote highlights the act of creation, whether it be in art or in love, as a significant gesture of affirmation and positivity amidst the overwhelming negativity that might surround us. It suggests that in a world that often says 'no' to many endeavors, the act of producing art or expressing love stands out as a meaningful and productive acknowledgment of existence.
In practice
This quote can be shared during an art exhibit opening to inspire artists.
We must declare ourselves, become known; allow the world to discover this subterranean life of ours which connects kings and farm boys, artists and clerks. Let them see that the important thing is not the object of love, but the emotion itself.
American writers want to be not good but great; and so are neither.
Writing fiction has become a priestly business in countries that have lost their faith.
The important thing is not the object of love, but the emotion itself.
For the average American, freedom of speech is simply the freedom to repeat what everyone else is saying and no more.
Ayn Rand's 'philosophy' is nearly perfect in its immorality, which makes the size of her audience all the more ominous and symptomatic as we enter a curious new phase in our society.... To justify and extol human greed and egotism is to my mind not only immoral, but evil.
There will be no new music until it's good enough and until I'm ready.
Bullfighting is the only art in which the artist is in danger of death and in which the degree of brilliance in the performance is left to the fighter's honor.
Not hammer-strokes, but dance of the water, sings the pebbles into perfection.
The object, which is back of every true work of art, is the attainment of a state of being, a state of high functioning, a more than ordinary moment of existence. In such moments activity is inevitable, and whether this activity is with brush, pen, chisel, or tongue, its result is but a by-product of the state, a trace, the footprint of the state.
I remember saying to myself those things are very, very important to hear, but there must be another way to say them so that they will truly be heard. I mean, that's what art is. Art is about being provocative. Art is also about beauty. And if you leave the latter out, the former doesn't matter.
Type well used is invisible as type, just as the perfect talking voice is the unnoticed vehicle for the transmission of words, ideas.
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