It's not that there is no such thing as truth. But we come to like and trust a certain story, not because it's necessarily the most absolutely truthful, but because it's a thing that we tell ourselves that makes sense of the world, at least at this moment.

Michael Kimmelman

Categorized in : World Stories Truth

Art is not just about what's great or expensive or scandalous or famous. It's a mirror we hold up that looks different to everyone who sees it, and whose beauty lies as much in us, and our capacity to dream.

Michael Kimmelman

dream lying art

Drawing used to be a civilized thing to do, like reading and writing. It was taught in elementary schools. It was democratic. It was a boon to happiness.

Michael Kimmelman

reading writing school

Art provides us with clues about how to live our own lives more fully... art becomes our entree to the sublime.

Michael Kimmelman

clue sublime art

Out of routine comes inspiration. That's the idea, anyway. To grasp what's exceptional, you first have to know what's routine.

Michael Kimmelman

inspiration ideas firsts

Under ordinary circumstances, bad art naturally gets sorted out and disappears. That is how history works when it is left alone to do its job.

Michael Kimmelman

ordinary jobs art

Art, not unlike raising children... may entail much sacrifice and periods of despair, but, with luck, the effort will produce something that outlives you.

Michael Kimmelman

sacrifice children art

The paradox of the culture wars is that they have made celebrities out of some artists who would otherwise vanish. Censorship has become a growth industry. This may be the best argument, in the end, for unfettered freedom of expression.

Michael Kimmelman

freedom artist war

Everything, even the most ordinary daily affair, is enriched by the lessons that can be gleaned from art.

Michael Kimmelman

ordinary education art

The consolation of art comes in many forms... For some it is maki... by Michael Kimmelman

The consolation of art comes in many forms... For some it is making, for others it is having.

Michael Kimmelman

consolation form art

All writers, all storytellers, are imposing their own narrative o... by Michael Kimmelman

All writers, all storytellers, are imposing their own narrative on something.

Michael Kimmelman

imposing storyteller narrative

Hudson Yards glorifies a kind of surface spectacle — as if the peak ambitions of city life were consuming luxury goods and enjoying a smooth, seductive, mindless materialism.

Michael Kimmelman