The public make use of the classics of a country as a means of checking the progress of Art. They degrade the classics into authorities.. A fresh mode of Beauty is absolutely distasteful to them, and whenever it appears they get so angry and bewildered that they always use two stupid expressions--one is that the work of art is grossly unintelligible; the other, that the work of art is grossly immoral. What they mean by these words seems to me to be this. When they say a work is grossly unintelligible, they mean that the artist has said or made a beautiful thing that is new; when they describe a work as grossly immoral, they mean that the artist has said or made a beautiful thing that is true. Oscar Wilde
About This Quote

While it's true that there are many people who dislike the idea of new ideas and fresh ways of doing things, a great artist can make a work of art that is both new and true. The public often use the word "sketchy" to describe a work of art that contains new ideas. However, if the public turns around and says that a work of art is grossly immoral, they're really saying that the work of art is beautiful and truthful.

Some Similar Quotes
  1. I'm selfish, impatient and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I am out of control and at times hard to handle. But if you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best. - Marilyn Monroe
  2. When someone loves you, the way they talk about you is different. You feel safe and comfortable. - Jess C. Scott
  3. When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they can seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall. Think of it--always. - Mahatma Gandhi
  4. Above all, don't lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others. And having... - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
  5. The beginning of love is the will to let those we love be perfectly themselves, the resolution not to twist them to fit our own image. If in loving them we do not love what they are, but only their potential likeness to ourselves, then... - Thomas Merton
More Quotes By Oscar Wilde
  1. Never love anyone who treats you like you're ordinary.
  2. The heart was made to be broken.
  3. The very essence of romance is uncertainty.
  4. To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance.
  5. Who, being loved, is poor?
Related Topics