The arts are not just instantaneous pleasure – if you don’t like it, the artist is wrong. I belong to the generation which says if you don’t like it, you don’t understand and you ought to find out.
Meaning of the quote
The quote suggests that art is not just about quick enjoyment. If you don't like a piece of art, it doesn't mean the artist is wrong. Instead, it means you don't fully understand it yet. The best thing to do is to try to learn more about it, rather than just dismiss it. The artist wants you to take the time to appreciate their work, even if you don't like it at first.
More quotes from Ethel Barrymore
That’s all there is; there isn’t any more.
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Fundamentally I feel that there is as much difference between the stage and the films as between a piano and a violin. Normally you can’t become a virtuoso in both.
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I never let them cough. They wouldn’t dare.
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The best time to make friends is before you need them.
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You must learn day by day, year by year to broaden your horizon. The more things you love, the more you are interested in, the more you enjoy, the more you are indignant about, the more you have left when anything happens.
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For an actress to be a success, she must have the face of a Venus, the brains of a Minerva, the grace of Terpsichore, the memory of a MaCaulay, the figure of Juno, and the hide of a rhinoceros.
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The great actors are the luminous ones. They are the great conductors of the stage.
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The arts are not just instantaneous pleasure – if you don’t like it, the artist is wrong. I belong to the generation which says if you don’t like it, you don’t understand and you ought to find out.
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Our achievements speak for themselves. What we have to keep track of are our failures, discouragements and doubts. We tend to forget the past difficulties, the many false starts, and the painful groping.
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The face of Garbo is an Idea, that of Hepburn an Event.
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When life knocks you to your knees, and it will, why, get up! If it knocks you to your knees again, as it will, well, isn’t that the best position from which to pray?
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You grow up the day you have the first real laugh at yourself.
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