All forms of art are consciousness expanders, and I am convinced that they will take us further, and more consciously, than drugs.
Interpretation
Art enhances our awareness and understanding of life more profoundly than substances like drugs.
In this quote, Madeleine L'Engle expresses her belief that art has the power to expand our consciousness and enrich our lives. She argues that engaging with various forms of art can lead to deeper insights and heightened awareness, potentially offering greater benefits than the temporary experiences provided by drugs. This highlights the transformative potential of creativity and its ability to elevate our perception of reality.
In practice
During a presentation on the impact of art on society, one might say this quote to emphasize the transformative power of creativity.
Truth is what is true, and it's not necessarily factual. Truth and fact are not the same thing. Truth does not contradict or deny facts, but it goes through and beyond facts. This is something that it is very difficult for some people to understand. Truth can be dangerous.
George MacDonald gives me renewed strength during times of trouble--times when I have seen people tempted to deny God--when he says, "The Son of God suffered unto death, not that men might not suffer, but that their sufferings might be like his.
If you don't recount your family history, it will be lost. Honor your own stories and tell them too. The tales may not seem very important, but they are what binds families and makes each of us who we are.
I never want to lose the story-loving child within me, or the adolescent, or the young woman, or the middle-aged one, because all together they help me to be fully alive on this journey, and show me that I must be willing to go where it takes me, even through the valley of the shadow.
The minute we begin to think we have all the answers, we forget the questions.
When we believe in the impossible, it becomes possible, and we can do all kinds of extraordinary things.
I don't write for children. I write and someone says it's for children.
Writing! The activity for which the only adequate bribe is the possibility of suicide, one day.
The writing I love has something memorable in it - an image, a smell. It's the connection between the moment and the whole concept, weaving the micro together with the macro so that it has a hold on people - that's writing.
The pure work implies the disappearance of the poet as speaker, who hands over to the words.
Classical - perhaps I should say 'orchestral' - music is so digital, so cut up, rhythmically, pitchwise and in terms of the roles of the musicians. It's all in little boxes. The reason you get child prodigies in chess, arithmetic, and classical composition is that they are all worlds of discontinuous, parceled-up possibilities.
I don't know why so many artists talk about the mainstream's problems from the fringe. I think, unfortunately, it's almost like our education makes us too safe and terrified to step into the world.
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