An artist cannot do anything slovenly. Letter, November 17, 1798, to her sister, Cassandra. Jane Austen's Letters, Oxford University Press (1952).
Artists must be sacrificed to their art. Like bees, they must put their lives into the sting they give. "Inspiration," Letters and Social Aims (1876)
How can one talk on the role of politics in art when art is activism. And anyway both are just a lifelong light shining through a swinging prism. From the liner notes of the "Educated Guess" album
Interpretation is the revenge of the intellect upon art. Even more. It is the revenge of the intellect upon the world. To interpret is to impoverish, to deplete the world'in order to set up a shadow world of "meanings." Against Interpretation
We all know that Art is not truth. Art is a lie that makes us realize truth, at least the truth that is given us to understand. "Picasso Speaks," The Arts (New York, May 1923)
Young Allie: Most of the time I have all these thoughts bouncing around in my head, but with a brush in my hand, the world just gets kinda quiet.