Herbert Read
Herbert Read
Sir Herbert Edward Read, DSO, MCwas an English art historian, poet, literary critic and philospher, best known for numerous books on art, which included influential volumes on the role of art in education. Read was co-founder of the Institute of Contemporary Arts. He was one of the earliest English writers to take notice of existentialism...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionPoet
doubt evolution stage
I have not the slightest doubt that this form of individuation represents a higher stage in the evolution of mankind.
law growth balance
The most general law in nature is equity-the principle of balance and symmetry which guides the growth of forms along the lines of the greatest structural efficiency.
animal literature morality
Morality, as has often been pointed out, is antecedent to religion-it even exists in a rudimentary form among animals.
art modern said
The modern work of art, as I have said, is a symbol.
art modern symbols
If modern art has produced symbols that are unfamiliar, that was only to be expected.
art simple tests
But all categories of art, idealistic or realistic, surrealistic or constructivist (a new form of idealism) must satisfy a simple test (or they are in no sense works of art): they must persist as objects of contemplation.
art yield may
The work of art ... is an instrument for tilling the human psyche, that it may continue to yield a harvest of vital beauty.
spiritual art philosophy
That is why I believe that art is so much more significant than either economics or philosophy. It is the direct measure of man's spiritual vision.
artist feelings stronger
Once we become conscious of a feeling and attempt to make a corresponding form, we are engaged in an activity which, far from being sincere, is prepared (as any artist if he is sincere will tell you) to moderate feelings to fit the form. The artist's feeling for form is stronger than a formless feeling.
adults forget problem
Freud has shown one thing very clearly: that we only forget our infancy by burying it in the unconscious; and that the problems of this difficult period find their solution under a disguised form in adult life.
children destiny people
Great changes in the destiny of mankind can be effected only in the minds of little children.
progress literature scope
Progress is measured by richness and intensity of experience - by a wider and deeper apprehension of the significance and scope of human existence.
artist wind bitterness
The sensitive artist knows that a bitter wind is blowing.
character men personality
A man of personality can formulate ideals, but only a man of character can achieve them.