Thou art a man God is no more Thy own humanity Learn to adore
William BlakeRead
I love hanging and drawing and quartering_x000D_ Every bit as well as war and slaughtering.
Interpretation
The quote reflects the paradox of finding beauty in art and the darker aspects of human nature.
William Blake uses this quote to juxtapose the seemingly violent imagery of 'drawing and quartering' with the act of creating and appreciating art. By stating he loves both equally, Blake highlights the intricate relationship between beauty and brutality, suggesting that even in suffering and chaos, there can be a form of artistic expression and exploration of the human condition.
In practice
In a discussion about the duality of life, one might quote Blake to illustrate how art can emerge from chaos.
Thou art a man God is no more Thy own humanity Learn to adore
In seed time learn, in harvest teach, in winter enjoy.
O thou who passest through our valleys in Thy strength, curb thy fierce steeds, allay the heat That flames from their large nostrils! Thou, O Summer, Oft pitchest here thy golden tent, and oft Beneath our oaks hast slept, while we beheld With joy thy ruddy limbs and flourishing hair.
Every Night and every Morn Some to Misery are born. Every Morn and every Night Some are born to Sweet Delight, Some are born to Endless Night.
As the caterpillar chooses the fairest leaves to lay her eggs on, so the priest lays his curse on the fairest joys.
He who would do good to another must do it in minute particulars.
A dramatic experience concerned with the mundane may inform but it cannot release; and one concerned essentially with the aesthetic politics of its creators may divert or anger, but it cannot enlighten.
Actors in any capacity, artists of any stripe, are inspired by their curiosity, by their desire to explore all quarters of life, in light and in dark, and reflect what they find in their work. Artists instinctively want to reflect humanity, their own and each other's, in all its intermittent virtue and vitality, frailty and fallibility.
To any artist, worthy of the name, all in nature is beautiful, because his eyes, fearlessly accepting all exterior truth, read there, as in an open book, all the inner truth.
Art is not just to show life as it is, but to show life as it should be.
There is no art without intention.
Music is part of the life of fashion, too.
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