Alain de Botton Quotes

Art is not an end in itself, but a means of addressing humanity.

The essential argument in the book, 'Art as Therapy,' is that art enjoys such financial and cultural prestige that it's easy to forget the confusion that persists about what it's really for.

Art is not meant to change the world.

I mean, art for art's sake is ridiculous. Art is for the sake of one's needs.

I don't believe that art is just for entertainment. I want to create art that is meaningful in some way.

What is art? Art talks about life; it's subversive.

The business of art is to reveal the relation between man and his environment.

What's the point of art, of any art, if it doesn't let us see with a little bit of objectivity where we are?

We want people to experience art and think about it. The art reflects our time, it is about our culture.

If art has a purpose, it is to interpret life, reproduce it in fresh visions.

Art evokes emotion. It doesn't have to be a thing of beauty.

To me, at its best, that's what art should do, perform both the emotional and intellectual function.

Art is a tool by which society extends its perception.

Art is not a form of propaganda; it is a form of truth.

That's really the whole point of art - it's to take something commonplace and draw people on a path so that, all of a sudden, they have a new impression of everything around them.

For most of us, art is supposed to do something more than simply mirror the confusions of the world.

The job of any artiste is to open the eyes of the public to their surroundings and make them aware of it.

The activity of art is... as important as the activity of language itself, and as universal.

The basic project of art is always to make the world whole and comprehensible, to restore it to us in all its glory and its occasional nastiness, not through argument but through feeling, and then to close the gap between you and everything that is not you, and in this way pass from feeling to meaning. It's not something that committees can do. It's not a task achieved by groups or by movements. It's done by individuals, each person mediating in some way between a sense of history and an experience of the world.

We should always remember that sensitiveness and emotion constitute the real content of a work of art.

Art is for entertainment purposes, but it's also to reflect our dreams, our hopes, the present, the future the past - whether it's good or bad.

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

If you look at art history, at Goya or Gainsborough, it's always about acknowledging the people of your time who have influence.

All good performance pieces have some philosophical validity. That's the difference between mere theater and performance art.

My position is that serious and good art has always existed to help, to serve, humanity. Not to indict. I don't see how art can be called art if its purpose is to frustrate humanity.