I feel that I am writing out of a full life. I am a rich man, rich in men known, in adventures had. I am rich with living.
Sherwood AndersonRead
The object of art is not to make salable pictures. It is to save yourself.
Interpretation
Art serves as a means of self-rediscovery rather than a mere commercial endeavor.
This quote emphasizes the intrinsic value of creating art, suggesting that the primary purpose of artistic expression is personal salvation and self-exploration rather than the pursuit of profit. Sherwood Anderson implies that through art, individuals can connect with their true selves, find meaning, and express their inner experiences, transcending the constraints of market demands.
In practice
Discussing the purpose of art in a classroom setting.
My personal experience has been that in my 25 years of writing, I have not been asked to do more than four or five commercial one-shot scripts. These were performed on major national hook-ups but produced for me no immediate additional jobs or requests. One script for BBC was done around the world with an all-star cast.
Successful fiction does not need to be validated by 'real life'; I cringe whenever a writer is asked how much of a novel is 'real'.
The drama is complete poetry. The ode and the epic contain it only in germ; it contains both of them in a state of high development, and epitomizes both.
Little by little, I've reached the stage of using only a small number of forms and colors. It's not the first time that painting has been done with a very narrow range of colors. The frescoes of the tenth century are painted like this. For me, they are magnificent things.
But I lie. I embellish. My words are not deep enough. They disguise, they conceal. I will not rest until I have told of my descent into a sensuality which was as dark, as magnificent, as wild, as my moments of mystic creation have been dazzling, ecstatic, exalted.
The pen is the language of the soul; as the concepts that in it are generated, such will be its writings.
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