Art is not a mirror to hold up to society, but a hammer with which to shape it.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Art should actively reshape society rather than just reflecting it, serving as a tool for change.
- In plain terms
- Art isn't just a reflection of society; it is a tool to change it.
- What can you take from it?
- Use art to actively shape society instead of just reflecting it.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- How can art drive social change?
- What is the role of the artist in society?
Another view
It may underestimate the value of art that simply reflects reality.
More from Bertolt Brecht
And I always thought: the very simplest words Must be enough. When I say what things are like Everyone's heart must be torn to shreds. That you'll go down if y…
Permalink to quote #69 There is nothing so interesting on stage than a man trying to get a knot out of his shoelaces.
Permalink to quote #71 High above the lake a bomber flies. From the rowing boats Children look up, women, an old man. From a distance They appear like young starlings, their beaks Wi…
Permalink to quote #68
Related quotes
We need a type of theatre which not only releases the feelings, insights and impulses possible within the particular historical field of human relations in whi…
Bertolt BrechtBertolt Brecht quote #34 'Management is the gate through which social and economic and political change, indeed change in every direction, is diffused though society.'
Robert McNamaraRobert McNamara quote #1 The crisis consists precisely in the fact that the old is dying and the new cannot be born; in this interregnum a great variety of morbid symptoms appear.
Antonio GramsciAntonio Gramsci quote #3