Nothing is lost and nothing is created in the operations of art as those of nature.
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes that art, like nature, does not create or destroy but rather transforms existing elements.
Louis Pasteur's quote suggests that both art and nature operate in a cycle of transformation rather than generating new things out of nothing. It highlights the idea that creativity in art is rooted in what already exists, paralleling how nature adapts and evolves, emphasizing continuity and interconnectedness in both realms.
In practice
In a speech about the creative process, one might say, 'As Louis Pasteur said, nothing is lost in the operations of art, reminding us that every idea we have is built from previous experiences.'
To demonstrate experimentally that a microscopic organism actually is the cause of a disease and the agent of contagion, I know no other way, in the present state of Science, than to subject the microbe (the new and happy term introduced by M. SΓ©dillot) to the method of cultivation out of the body.
The universe is an asymmetrical entity. I am inclined to believe that life as it is manifested to us must be a function of the asymmetry of the universe or of the consequence of this fact. The universe is asymmetrical; for if one placed the entire set of bodies that compose the solar system, each moving in its own way, before a mirror, the image shown would not be superimposable on the reality.
These are the living springs of great thoughts and great actions. Everything grows clear in the reflections from the Infinite.
Without theory, practice is but routine born of habit. Theory alone can bring forth and develop the spirit of invention. ... [Do not] share the opinion of those narrow minds who disdain everything in science which has not an immediate application. ... A theoretical discovery has but the merit of its existence: it awakens hope, and that is all. But let it be cultivated, let it grow, and you will see what it will become.
These three things-work, will, success-fill human existences. Will opens the door to success, both brilliant and happy. Work passes these doors, and at the end of the journey success comes in to crown one's efforts.
Chance favors those who are prepared.
Just as our eyes need light in order to see, our minds need ideas in order to create.
If you believe in Cinderella, and if you can suspend your disbelief at midnight, then you can believe in the interdisciplinary midnight, the 'in-betweens,' and become fortunately entangled, moving from art to science.
It's weird because I see black gay characters on television all the time, but do I relate to them? Not always, because they're set pieces.
I work as an artist, and I think the audience of one, which is the self, and I have to satisfy myself as an artist. So I always say that I write for the same people that Picasso painted for. I think he painted for himself.
If you're performing music that is not who you are or where you're at, it is painful. It's painful for the performer and for the audience.
Art is the highest task and the proper metaphysical activity of this life.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.