What has pleased, and continues to please, is likely to please again: hence are derived the rules of art, and on this immoveable foundation they must ever stand.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Artistic rules are built on what has consistently pleased audiences in the past and will continue to do so.
- In plain terms
- Successful art follows patterns that have worked before.
- What can you take from it?
- Stick to proven principles in creative work.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- What rules guide your creative work?
- Can tradition limit innovation?
Another view
Past success does not guarantee future relevance.
More from Joshua Reynolds
Nature is, and must be the fountain which alone is inexhaustible; and from which all excellencies must originally flow.
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