Morris Raphael Cohen Quotes

I find purer philosophy in a Poem than in a Conclusion of Geometry, a chemical analysis, or a physical law.

History gives you insight of the same quality of truth as poetry or philosophy or a novel.

I don't want to deal with big, grand themes in my stories; art has nothing to do with themes. When you deal with themes, you are not creating; you are lecturing.

Works of art are like a Trojan horse. Under the surface is always some artist's deeply held philosophy on their view of the world. But on the other hand, you do not want to make it feel like medicine. You do not want to make it feel like an afternoon TV special where you're trying to hammer a message into someone's head.

Without poetry our science will appear incomplete, and most of what now passes with us for religion and philosophy will be replaced by poetry.

The disinterested imaginative core of mythology is what develops into literature, science, philosophy. Religion is applied mythology.

Art is an invention of aesthetics, which in turn is an invention of philosophers... What we call art is a game.

The wise man regulates his conduct by the theories both of religion and science. But he regards these theories not as statements of ultimate fact but as art-forms.

Works of art make rules; rules do not make works of art.

I admire 'Adventure Time' for being a piece of art in the way that I think art should be. If you want to see it is poetry, you can, and if you don't, you can watch a fun cartoon.

Mozart and Neil Diamond may have begun with the same idea, but that a work of art is more than an idea is confirmed by the difference between the 'Soave sia il vento' and 'Kentucky Woman.' We have different words for 'art' and 'idea' because they are two different things.

I use a lot of film images, analogies, and imagination.

I guess my experience with some stuff is kind of abstract.

Art, unlike the trades in the artistic capacity of fashion and food, can literally be anything. It can be the negation of itself and conceptually not present.

Film is abstract, not definite. It is a dream.

Stories are not explanations of the world we live in. Science does that, and math does that. Our obligation as fiction writers is to enhance the mysteries.

It is not meant that the artist, in arriving at truth, must follow the way of the scientist, or, in stating it, the way of the philosopher.

I think once you write fiction, you put it out, and it can be interpreted in a variety of ways, some of which are going to be shocking to the writer.

Let philosophy resolutely aim to be as scientific as possible, but let her not forget her strong kinship with literature.

My purpose is to explain, not the meaning of words, but the nature of things.

I think that the world is very complex. I think that the movie is a good way to ask questions. To give answers, you would write a lot of books.

In mathematics and science we solve our problems as well as create them. But in art and philosophy things are not so simple.

Art goes beyond politics. Even if there are writers who are involved in politics, eventually, in one or two centuries, it's not their politics which is going to count, but the fact of having given life to feelings, of having created characters and made a living work of art.

You can't be too concerned with the philosophical meanings of the character and how it will affect everything else.

Art is truth.