We look at a painting to know the painter; it's his company we are after, not his skill.
James WhistlerRead
I maintain that two and two would continue to make four, in spite of the whine of the amateur for three, or the cry of the critic for five.
Interpretation
Facts remain constant regardless of personal opinions or criticism.
James Whistler's quote emphasizes the importance of objective truth, asserting that certain truths, like basic mathematical facts, are unwavering despite subjective interpretations or criticisms. It suggests that personal or societal pressures to conform to alternative viewpoints should not alter our understanding of fundamental realities.
In practice
This quote can be used in a debate about the importance of facts in a discussion.
We look at a painting to know the painter; it's his company we are after, not his skill.
To say of a picture, as is often said in its praise, that it shows great and earnest labour, is to say that it is incomplete and unfit for view.
To say to the painter that Nature is to be taken as she is, is to say to the player that he may sit on the piano.
An artist is not paid for his labor but for his vision.
Art happens-no hovel is safe from it, no prince may depend upon it, the vastest intelligence cannot bring it about.
Classic economic theory, based as it is on an inadequate theory of human motivation, could be revolutionized by accepting the reality of higher human needs, including the impulse to self actualization and the love for the highest values.
Mystery bores me. It chores me. I know what happens and so do you. It's the machinations that wheel us there that aggravate, perplex, interest, and astound me.
Countries that perceive themselves to be vulnerable can be expected to try to redress that vulnerability - and in some cases, they will pursue clandestine weapons programs.
It is almost always a greater pleasure to come across a semicolon than a period. The period tells you that that is that; if you didn't get all the meaning you wanted or expected, anyway you got all the writer intended to parcel out and now you have to move along. But with a semicolon there you get a pleasant little feeling of expectancy; there is more to come; read on; it will get clearer.
Profound boredom, drifting here and there in the abysses of our existence like a muffling fog, removes all things and men and oneself along with it into a remarkable indifference. This boredom reveals being as a whole.
wherever you find the greatest good, you will find the greatest evil, because evil loves paradise as much as good.
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