Leon Trotsky Quotes

Art is not a mirror to reflect the world, but a hammer with which to shape it

There is incredible power in the arts to inspire and influence.

I believe in the sacred mission of art to change history.

Any form of art is a form of power; it has impact, it can affect change - it can not only move us, it makes us move.

Art has the power to transform, to illuminate, to educate, inspire and motivate.

Art is power. Art influences the mind, the nerves, the feelings, the soul. It carries messages of hope, hostility, derision and moral rebuke. It can fight material and spiritual evils and can transmit the ideals of a community now living, long past or soon to be born.

The power and reach of music should never be underestimated.

It would, of course, be wrong to say that the arts have no social value. They have tremendous power and can often, indirectly, make our world a better place to live in.

Art isn't supposed to change the world, but it can.

Art moves. Hence its civilizing power.

My work is not, of course, pure art in the sense that Schmidt-Rottluff's is, but it is art nonetheless... It is all right with me that my work serves a purpose. I want to have an effect on my time, in which human beings are so confused and in need of help.

Art can no longer be art today if it does not reach into the heart of our present culture and work transformatively within it that is, an art which cannot mould society — and through this naturally operate upon the core questions of our society — is not art.

Art is a self-replicating force.

Art being so much greater than ourselves, it will not give up once it has taken hold.

When artists give form to revelation, their art can advance, deepen and potentially transform the consciousness of their community.

Now, I don't know whether a film can change the world, but I know that it starts - I know the power of it - I know that it starts people thinking about how to change the world.

I definitely believe that art is the best way to produce social change.

The job of art is to chase ugliness away.

Painting is by nature a luminous language.

Of what use were the arts if they were only the reproduction and the imitation of life?

What interests me most is when a work of art is no longer just an object, but also touches reality and life.

Artists to my mind are the real architects of change, and not the political legislators who implement change after the fact.

I would say I've always lived creativity, but now I - I do it with an intention that's got a completely different power.

Cinema is the most important of all the arts for us.

Art is not something to decorate a wall. Art is a political weapon.