Thomas Schlamme Quotes

Commercialism isn't challenging creatively; it's only challenging in a stamina way.

Painting was a problem - you produce a thing, and then you sell it and get money, and that was quickly considered totally uncool.

I think it's always difficult to reconcile the needs of art and business.

People want to make a distinction between what's commercial and what's art.

And you know, art as commerce, doesn't really make too much sense, they don't go together.

I am not a commercial industry creator. I don't believe in making art to make money.

I'd much rather be worrying about playing that note in tune, and picking out the best way to arrange the song, rather than thinking about pricing for the download. It's not art.

There are values on Broadway that are dangerous: it's got to be Best Musical, it's got to make money, it's got to run a certain amount of time. Nowhere in this, of course, is there any mention of quality.

Miley Cyrus is about making money. Amanda Palmer is about making art.

As soon as any art is pursued with a view of money, then farewell, in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, all hope of genuine good work.

I don't think we should be deceived that art is such a moral thing.

I have been skeptical, sometimes, about the importance of rap music, which I think is a capitalistic project to make money.

As a creative individual, I really go out of my way to avoid the corporate scene in terms of songwriting. If the first question is how much money is it going to make, I'm going to be in trouble anyway.

It's not always about huge giant commercial success. It's about art.

I personally don't distinguish between artistic and commercial films.

You cannot create a piece of art merely for money. Doing it as part of commerce so denudes art of wonder that it ceases to be art.

I've never believed in cheapening music by going according to what some people think is public taste.

The novel is the first art form that is an honest-to-god commodity. That's what makes it different from both high art and folk art.

I would rather fall flat on my face than try to just make a quick dollar by making music that fits into the radio format right now. It does nothing for me.

Now that we do not have priests and philosophers any more, artists are the most important people in the world.

Nowadays you really have to pump out that blockbuster in order to have the luxury of getting a body of work, and that's sad because the work suffers. Today everything is based on money. The older actors, they inspire me.

I'm not a driven businessman, but a driven artist. I never think about money. Beautiful things make money.

The promise of any artwork is that it can hold us - viewer and maker - in a conflicted or contestable space, without real-world injury or loss.

But I'm aware of the fact that I'm working in a commercial venue where I'm producing something that I wouldn't normally be approaching the way I'm doing it.

There's obviously nothing wrong with selling your art - only an idiot with a trust fund would tell you otherwise. But it's confusing to know how far you should take it.