The effort of art is to keep what is interesting in existence, to recreate it in the eternal.

Quote by George Santayana

Topics: George Santayana Quotes

There is nothing to which men, while they have food and drink, cannot reconcile themselves.

There is nothing to which men, while they have food and drink, cannot reconcile themselves.

Tyrants are seldom free; the cares and the instruments of their tyranny enslave them

Tyrants are seldom free; the cares and the instruments of their tyranny enslave them

Perhaps the only true dignity of man is his capacity to despise himself.

Perhaps the only true dignity of man is his capacity to despise himself.

It is a revenge the devil sometimes takes upon the virtuous, that he entraps them...

It is a revenge the devil sometimes takes upon the virtuous, that he entraps them...

Fun is a good thing but only when it spoils nothing better.

Fun is a good thing but only when it spoils nothing better.

Knowledge is recognition of something absent; it is a salutation, not an embrace.

Knowledge is recognition of something absent; it is a salutation, not an embrace.

Nonsense is so good only because common sense is so limited

Nonsense is so good only because common sense is so limited

To understand one's self is the classic form of consolation; to delude one's self is...

To understand one's self is the classic form of consolation; to delude one's self is...

Let a man once overcome his selfish terror at his own finitude, and his finitude...

Let a man once overcome his selfish terror at his own finitude, and his finitude...

Oxford, the paradise of dead philosophies.

Oxford, the paradise of dead philosophies.

An artist is a dreamer consenting to dream of the actual world.

An artist is a dreamer consenting to dream of the actual world.

The degree in which a poet's imagination dominates reality is, in the end, the exact...

The degree in which a poet's imagination dominates reality is, in the end, the exact...

Each religion, by the help of more or less myth which it takes more or...

Each religion, by the help of more or less myth which it takes more or...

Half our standards come from our first masters, and the other half from our first...

Half our standards come from our first masters, and the other half from our first...

The philosophy of the common man is an old wife that gives him no pleasure,...

The philosophy of the common man is an old wife that gives him no pleasure,...

Advertising is the modern substitute for argument; its function is to make the worse appear...

Advertising is the modern substitute for argument; its function is to make the worse appear...

Sanity is madness put to good use.

Sanity is madness put to good use.

In Greece wise men speak and fools decide.

In Greece wise men speak and fools decide.

Fanaticism consists of redoubling your effort when you have forgotten your aim.

Fanaticism consists of redoubling your effort when you have forgotten your aim.

That fear first created the gods is perhaps as true as anything so brief could...

That fear first created the gods is perhaps as true as anything so brief could...