Concerning no subject would [George Bernard] Shaw be deterred by the minor accident of total ignorance from penning a definitive opinion.

The culture of a civilization is the art and literature through which it rises to consciousness of itself and defines its vision of the world.

A philosophy that begins in doubt assails what no-one believes, and invites us to nothing believable

Beauty can be consoling, disturbing, sacred, profane; it can be exhilarating, appealing, inspiring, chilling. It can affect us in an unlimited variety of ways. Yet it is never viewed with indifference: beauty demands to be noticed; it speaks to us directly like the voice of an intimate friend. If there are people who are indifferent to beauty, then it is surely because they do not perceive it.

Modern art was born from a desire to destroy kitsch.

Modernist buildings exclude dialogue, and the void that they create around themselves is not a public space but a desertification

Beauty is assailed from two directions - by the cult of ugliness in the arts, and by the cult of utility in everyday life.