Noam’s Reviews > Art as Therapy > Status Update

'The psychological frailty that we very much need art's help with is that we are more or less compelled by nature to be proud of something collective, but we don't know what to be proud of.' p.197

'One of the central dilemmas of being human is how we can properly deal with an intrinsic tension between reason and the body, between instinctual and intellectual life.' p.134

Édouard Manet / Bunch of Asparagus, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
p.119

'The mission of the true art lover should be to reduce the relative importance of museums, in the sense that the wisdom and insight currently collected there shouldn't be so jealously guarded and fetishized, but instead scattered generously and promiscuously across life.' p.88

'One of the sorrowful areas is relationships, yet surprisingly few artworks in current circulation focus on this major theme.' p.71

Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin / A Lady Taking Tea, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
p.56-57

‘Art can do the opposite of glamourizing the unattainable; it can reawaken us to the genuine merit of life as we're forced to lead it.’ p.56

'One of the unexpectedly important things that art can do for us is teach us how to suffer more successfully.' p.24

'If the world was a kinder place, perhaps we would be less impressed by, and in need of, pretty works of art.' p.17