Music is essentially useless, as life is: but both have an ideal extension which lends utility to its conditions.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Art and life are inherently impractical, but their value comes from the idealistic visions they inspire rather than their direct utility.
- In plain terms
- Music and life seem useless but gain value from the ideals they create.
- What can you take from it?
- Value exists in ideal extensions rather than immediate utility.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- What gives life utility?
- How do ideals shape reality?
Another view
Calling life useless might be an exaggeration that ignores biological imperatives.
More from George Santayana
Love makes us poets and the approach of death makes us philosophers.
Permalink to quote #54 Never build your emotional life on the weaknesses of others.
Permalink to quote #56 It is easier to make a saint out of a libertine than out of a prig.
Permalink to quote #53
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