To realize life in the abstract as noble or beautiful or humane, to set it forth so with radiance upon it, that is civilization in the arts. Shakespeare is the chief modern example of this supreme faculty of mankind.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
As the unity of the modern world becomes increasingly a technological rather than a social affair, the techniques of the arts provide the most valuable means of insight into the real direction of our own collective purposes.
To create one's world in any of the arts takes courage.
And that's what art is, a form in which people can reflect on who we are as human beings and come to some understanding of this journey we are on.
The arts, quite simply, nourish the soul. They sustain, comfort, inspire. There is nothing like that exquisite moment when you first discover the beauty of connecting with others in celebration of larger ideals and shared wisdom.
Art is the signature of civilizations.
The modern world thinks of art as very important: something close to the meaning of life.
Our understanding of Shakespeare already depends largely on the vitality of Renaissance elements in our education. Each man must live in his own generation, as the saying is; but the generations are bound together by the golden links of the great tradition of civilization.
Civilization is a method of living, an attitude of equal respect for all men.
To so enter into it in nature and art that the enjoyed meanings of life may become a part of living is the attitude of aesthetic appreciation.
Against the dark background of this contemporary civilization of well-being, even the arts tend to mingle, to lose their identity.