“To understand a saint, you must hear the devil's advocate; and the same is true of the artist.”
The Sanity of Art: An Exposure of the Current Nonsense about Artists being Degenerate (1908)
1900s
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George Bernard Shaw 413
Irish playwright 1856–1950Related quotes
“There must be understanding between the artist and the people.”
Diary entry (21 February 1916).
The Diary and Letters of Käthe Kollwitz (1955)
Context: There must be understanding between the artist and the people. In the best ages of art that has always been the case. Genius can probably run on ahead and seek out new ways. But the good artists who follow after genius — and I count myself among these — have to restore the lost connection once more.
In other words, do not be so concerned about fighting kings. Let them be. Set up a marginal society which will not be interested in such things, in which there will be no power, authority or hierarchy. Do not do things as they are usually done in society, which you cannot change. Create another society on another foundation.
p. 62
Anarchy and Christianity (1988)
“542. All Saint without, all Devil within.”
Introductio ad prudentiam: Part II (1727), Gnomologia (1732)
“When a devil, but also a saint, laughs about your poetry, you laugh about his ignorance!”
Donna Giovanna, Act IV, scene iii.
Source: Blameless in Abaddon (1996), Chapter 15 (p. 391; spoken by the Devil)
“Hurry ruins saints as well as artists.”
Source: Seeds of Contemplation
“A condition which of declension would indicate a devil, may of growth indicate a saint.”
The Consuming Fire
Unspoken Sermons, First Series (1867)