Matthew Arnold Quotes

I find purer philosophy in a Poem than in a Conclusion of Geometry, a chemical analysis, or a physical law.

Poetry is the art of creating imaginary gardens with real toads.

He who possesses science and art, Possesses religion as well; He who possesses neither of these, Had better have religion.

What is poetry? The suggestion, by the imagination, of noble grounds for the noble emotions.

By poetry we mean the art of employing of words in such a manner as to produce an illusion on the imagination; the art of doing by means of words, what the painter does by means of colors.

Science is for those who learn, poetry is for those who know.

We especially need imagination in science. It is not all mathematics, nor all logic, but it is somewhat beauty and poetry.

All one's inventions are true, you can be sure of that. Poetry is as exact a science as geometry.

Poetry is the mother-tongue of the human race.

Poets are the sense, philosophers the intelligence of humanity.

I am only conscious of any satisfaction in Scientific Reading or thinking when it rounds off into a poetical generality and vagueness.

Art makes us human, music makes us human, and I deeply feel that science makes us human.

Art is the tree of life. Science is the tree of death.

Stories are not explanations of the world we live in. Science does that, and math does that. Our obligation as fiction writers is to enhance the mysteries.

I do not conceive of any manifestation of culture, of science, of art, as purposes in themselves. I think the purpose of science and culture is man.

The arts are what humanize science and history.

Art is what defines us, what makes us human.

Metaphor is the lifeblood of all art.

It is certain that memory contains not only philosophy, but all the arts and all that appertain to the use of life.

Wonder, and its expression in poetry and the arts, are among the most important things which seem to distinguish men from other animals, and intelligent and sensitive people from morons.

He who has art and science also has religion, but those who do not have them better have religion.

Poetry is as vital to thinking as knowledge.

Art is nothing more than the shadow of humanity.

When any civilization is dust and ashes," he said, "art is all that's left over. Images, words, music. Imaginative structures. Meaning—human meaning, that is—is defined by them. You have to admit that.