Literature is the noblest of all the arts. Music dies on the air, or at best exists only as a memory; oratory ceases with the effort; the painter's colors fade and the canvas rots; the marble is dragged from its pedestal and is broken into fragments. [Pg. 170.]
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Literature surpasses other arts because it endures while music, speech, and physical art decay.
- In plain terms
- Books last forever unlike music, speeches, or paintings which fade or break.
- What can you take from it?
- Value writing for its lasting power over other artistic forms.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Why do you value writing?
- What art lasts forever?
Another view
It undervalues the emotional impact of transient arts like music.
More from Elbert Hubbard
Life without absorbing occupation is hell-joy consists in forgetting life.
Permalink to quote #14 Making men live in three worlds at once-past, present and future has been the chief harm organized religion has done.
Permalink to quote #16 It is only life and love that give love and life. [Pg. 40.]
Permalink to quote #13
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