“Why is art beautiful? Because it's useless. Why is life ugly? Because it's all ends and purposes and intentions.”
Ibid., p. 279
The Book of Disquiet
Original: Porque é bela a arte? Porque é inútil. Porque é feia a vida? Porque é toda fins e propósitos e intenções.
Help us to complete the source, original and additional information
Fernando Pessoa 288
Portuguese poet, writer, literary critic, translator, publi… 1888–1935Related quotes
“That’s why love stories don’t have endings! They don’t have endings because love doesn’t end.”
Source: The Bridge Across Forever: A True Love Story
Source: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (2005), p. 43
“Death is the end of life; ah, why
Should life all labour be?”
Choric Song, st. 4
The Lotos-Eaters (1832)
Context: Death is the end of life; ah, why
Should life all labour be?
Let us alone. Time driveth onward fast,
And in a little while our lips are dumb.
Let us alone. What is it that will last?
All things are taken from us, and become
Portions and parcels of the dreadful past.
Let us alone. What pleasure can we have
To war with evil? Is there any peace
In ever climbing up the climbing wave?
All things have rest, and ripen toward the grave
In silence; ripen, fall and cease:
Give us long rest or death, dark death, or dreamful ease.
Bill Whittle's Keynote speech https://vimeo.com/162748223 at the David Horowitz Freedom Center's 2016 West Coast Retreat (8 April 2016)
2010s
“Why poetry, you ask? Because of life, I answer.”
Poetry and Life http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/poetry-and-life-2/
From the poems written in English
Attributed to Monroe in self-help books and on social media, this quotation is of unknown origin and date.
Misattributed
“Why did I write? Because I found life unsatisfactory.”