Art, it is said, is not a mirror, but a hammer: it does not reflect, it shapes.

Leon Trotsky

Literature and Revolution

More information about this quote

Topic

Effects of art Art

Author

Leon Trotsky

Source

Literature and Revolution

Genre

Political literature

Language

Russian

Time

1924 1920s 20th century

Occupation

Marxist revolutionary Marxist Revolutionary Politician Writer

From

Ukraine Europe

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Trotsky, Leon. Литература и революция [Literature and Revolution]. Soviet Government, 1924.

Current Citation

Trotsky, Leon. Literature and Revolution, edited by William Keach. Haymarket Books, 2005.

Illustrated Quote

A quote by Leon Trotsky about effects of art: “Art, it is said, is not a mirror, but a hammer: it does not reflect…”
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A quote by Leon Trotsky about effects of art: “Art, it is said, is not a mirror, but a hammer: it does not reflect…”
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A quote by Leon Trotsky about effects of art: “Art, it is said, is not a mirror, but a hammer: it does not reflect…”
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Related Quotes

Below are one or more quotes that share at least one tag with the quote at the top of the page

Another quote from the 1920s

I, too, sing America.
I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.
Tomorrow,
I'll be at the table
When company comes.
Nobody'll dare
Say to me,
"Eat in the kitchen"
Then.
Besides,
They'll see how
beautiful I am
And be ashamed—
I, too, am America.

Langston Hughes

I, Too

Read I, Too at Poetry Foundation
More information about this quote
Topic
Black experience Race relations America

Author

Langston Hughes
Source
I, Too
Medium
Poem
Statement Type
Prophecies and predictions
Language
English
Time
1926 1920s 20th century
Authentication Score 3
Original Citation

Hughes, Langston. "I, Too." The Weary Blues. Alfred A. Knopf, 1926, I. 1.

Current Citation

Hughes, Langston. The Weary Blues. Alfred A. Knopf, 2015, epilogue.

Another quote about Art

The greatness of art, like poetry or music, is that it is totally unnecessary.

Christo

More information about this quote
Topic
Art for art's sake Art

Author

Christo
Source
D Magazine
Medium
Interview
Language
English
Time
2011 2010s 21st century
Authentication Score 0
Citation

Christo. "Interview: Christo On the Freedom of Unnecessary Art." Interviewed by Peter Simek. D Magazine, 24 Feb. 2011.

Another quote originally in Russian

When a man spends the least possible number of movements over one definite action, that is grace.

Anton Chekhov

More information about this quote
Topic
Grace

Author

Anton Chekhov
Medium
Letter
Statement Type
Definition
Language
Russian
Time
1899 1890s 19th century
Authentication Score 3
Original Citation

Chekhov, Anton. Letter to Alexi Peshkov (Maxim Gorky). 3 Jan. 1899.

Current Citation

Chekhov, Anton. "To Alexi Peshkov (Gorky), 3 January 1899, Yalta." A Life in Letters, translated by Rosamund Bartlett and Anthony Phillips. Penguin Classics, 2004.