We don't love qualities; we love a person; sometimes by reason of their defects as well as their qualities.
Jacques MaritainRead
God does not ask for 'religious' art or 'Catholic' art. The art he wants for himself is Art, with all its teeth
Interpretation
What this quote means
God desires authentic art that expresses true creativity, not limited by religious labels.
In this quote, Jacques Maritain emphasizes that the divine does not seek art that is confined to specific religious attributes or categories but rather yearns for art in its purest form—art that is bold, genuine, and unashamedly expressive. The phrase 'with all its teeth' suggests that true art should be fearless and impactful, capturing the essence of human experience in its entirety.
Themes
ArtCreativityExpressionAuthenticityDivine
In practice
Example use cases
During a gallery opening, one might quote this to highlight the importance of artistic freedom.
More from Jacques Maritain
All quotes →Since art is a virtue of the intellect, it demands to communicate with the entire universe of the intellect. Hence it is that the normal climate of art is intelligence and knowledge: its normal soil, the civilized heritage of a consistent and integrated system of beliefs and values; its normal horizon , the infinity of human experience enlighted by the passionate insight of anguish or the intellectual virtues of a contemplative mind.
Jacques MaritainRead
We do not need a truth to serve us, we need a truth that we can serve
Jacques MaritainRead
Every work of art reaches man in his inner powers. It reaches him more profoundly and insidiously than any rational proposition, either cogent demonstration or sophistry. For it strikes him with two terrible weapons, Intuition and Beauty, and at the single root in him of all his energies... Art and Poetry awaken the dreams of man, and his longings, and reveal to him some of the abysses he has in himself.
Jacques MaritainRead
The aim of education is to guide young persons in the process _x000D_ through which they shape themselves as human persons-armed with knowledge, strength of judgment, and moral virtues-while at the same time conveying to them the spiritual heritage of the nation and the civilization in which they are involved.
Jacques MaritainRead
The poet knows himself only on the condition that things resound in him, and that in him, at a single awakening, they and he come forth together out of sleep.
Jacques MaritainRead
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