In the arts the way in which an idea is rendered, and the manner in which it is expressed, is much more important than the idea itself.
Jacques-Louis DavidRead
If the work is poor, the public taste will soon do it justice. And the author, reaping neither glory nor fortune, will learn by hard experience how to correct his mistakes.
Interpretation
Poor quality work will ultimately be judged by the public, leading the creator to learn from their mistakes.
This quote by Jacques-Louis David emphasizes the idea that the quality of art or work will naturally be evaluated by the audience. If an artist creates something that does not resonate with the public, they will not receive praise or success, thus pushing them to reflect on their shortcomings and improve their craft through experience.
In practice
In a discussion about artistic integrity, one might use this quote to emphasize the importance of quality in creative work.
In the arts the way in which an idea is rendered, and the manner in which it is expressed, is much more important than the idea itself.
Why should a novelist not also be a historian? To force unnatural divisions within the English language is to work against its capacious and accommodating nature. To expect a writer to produce only novels, or only histories, is equivalent to demanding from a composer that he or she write only string quartets or piano sonatas.
I like looking at geniuses and listening to beautiful people.
The music began, and it was one of those life-changing moments. I saw an artist, Janis Joplin. She was exhilarating. She was vibrating. And she was like no other artist that I had ever seen before... It struck me that hard. Maybe the word is epiphany, when you get that special sensation.
Au revoir, jewelled alligators and white hotels, hallucinatory forests, farewell.
Spiritually I am wherever my spirit allows me to be, and that is not necessarily in the future... Art never seems to make me peaceful or pure.
My drawings inspire, and are not to be defined. They place us, as does music, in the ambiguous realm of the undetermined.
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