Quotes about interpretation: We all interpret the world around us in different ways. But what do some of the most famous and influential people have to say about the topic of interpretation?
In this article, we’ll explore some famous quotes about interpretation and what they mean for us. We’ll also discuss how to apply these concepts to our own lives.
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Quotes about Interpretation
Being in control impacts our interpretations. – Harley Brown
Less information often leads to more interpretation. – John Paul Caponigro
Life is like art – it is all about interpretation. – Robert Holden
I did not document anything, I gave an interpretation. – Andre Kertesz
The art of interpretation is not to play what is written. – Pablo Casals.
Copy nature and you infringe on the work of our Lord. Interpret nature and you are an artist. – Jacques Lipchitz
Skies are so plastic because they are ephemeral and keep changing. They offer opportunities for dramatic re-interpretation. – David Dunlop
An interpretive piece of art does not necessarily have to be attractive; it just has to be true as visualized by the artist. – Sterling Edwards
The arts celebrate multiple perspectives. One of their large lessons is that there are many ways to see and interpret the world. – Elliot W. Eisner
No story is the same to us after a lapse of time; or rather we who read it are no longer the same interpreters. – George Eliot
Famous Quotes about Interpretation
The soul is so far from being a monad that we have not only to interpret other souls to ourselves but to interpret ourself to ourself. – T. S. Eliot
Material memories are not usually part of what is said about a picture, and that is a fault in interpretation because every painting captures a certain resistance of paint, a prodding gesture of the brush, a speed and insistence in the face of mindless matter… – James Elkins
Everything is subject to personal interpretation and this provides us with thoughts that provoke creative stimulus, and thankfully we all see things differently. – Susan Flaig
To what a degree the same past can leave different marks – and especially admits of different interpretations. – Andre Gide.
Fortunately, art is a community effort – a small but select community living in a spiritualized world endeavoring to interpret the wars and the solitudes of the flesh. – Allen Ginsberg
Not everything in life can be interpreted metaphorically; that’s because things fall out in the way. – Edward Gorey.
That your own interpretation of a work of art is flagrantly subjective seems to be regarded as an arrogant attitude. But the truer view is that the interpretative artist can only make his own comment upon the work. – Sir William Tyrone Guthrie
Don’t ever over-analyze your results. Don’t ever try to find your own secret or the one which you admire. One does not try to catch soap bubbles. One enjoys them in flight and is grateful for their fluid existence. – Ernst Haas
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Quotes about Interpretation of People
Cameras record, artists interpret. – Andrew Hamilton.
Art, to me, is the interpretation of the impression which nature makes upon the eye and brain. – Childe Hassam
Our interpretation is more important than what we are looking at. Just because the painting looks like something does not mean that it is successful. – Tom Lynch
The interpretation of our reality through patterns not our own, serves only to make us ever more unknown, ever less free, ever more solitary. – Gabriel Garcia Marquez
The reality is how we interpret it. Imagination and volition play a part in that interpretation. Which means that all reality is, to some extent, fiction. – Yann Martel
Interpretation includes very real feelings for elements such as light, shadow, color, wind, weather, value, contrast, composition and subject matter. – Ron Carwardine
Artistic creation is not mere decoration. The artist has to convey his inspiration to others while allowing them freedom of interpretation. – Liu Chun-Hau
Today, we’re encouraged to believe that we should have a verbal interpretation for what we view as art – when in fact the words are an intrusion on the experience. – Ken Danby
Quotes about Interpretation for Self
There are no facts, only interpretations. – Friedrich Nietzsche
Everything is beautiful, all that matters is to be able to interpret. – Camille Pissarro
Our interpretations of subjects are clouded by our intellects. – Carl Purcell.
To abstract an original idea is to invent; to abstract reality or a realized experience is to interpret. – Ian Semple
Is your work an interpretation of your understanding of reality, or is it simply a picture of your feelings? – Millard Sheets
We interpret the world through stories… everybody makes in their own way sense of things, but if you have stories it helps. – Paula Rego
The more you know about the historical or ecological background of images, the more you can interpret, but it’s not necessarily the truth about it. – Daniel Richter
I prefer to steer clear of anything esthetic, so as not to set obstacles in my own way and not to have the problem of people saying, ‘Ah, yes, that’s how he sees the world, that’s his interpretation.’ – Gerhard Richter
We are the only beings on the planet who lead such rich internal lives that it’s not the events that matter most to us, but rather, it’s how we interpret those events that will determine how we think about ourselves and how we will act in the future. – Tony Robbins
It suits my own attitude toward the world and its people to believe that the Raven is this completely self-centered, uninvolved bringer of change, through inadvertence and accident, and so on… It’s a version of the Raven myth for today, not for the time when it was created. – Bill Reid
The subject matter does not determine a successful painting. It is the manner in which one personally envisions and interprets the subject that is the magical equation. – Robert Reynolds
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Quotes about Interpretation on Situations
We all see the world through our own unique lens.
People will read what they want to read into your words.
It’s not what you say, it’s how they hear it.
Interpretation in art is the revenge of the intellect. – Susan Sontag.
The person viewing your work has no idea what the scene really looked like, nor do they care… – Mike Svob
I did not paint… to be understood. I wished to show what such a scene was like. – J. M. W. Turner
State what you actually see in someone’s work first: objects/space/color/directional flow – then content. Interpret. – Kay WalkingStick
Restricting too personal, and therefore prejudiced, interpretation leads to revolution – the fusion of an inner and outer reality derived from the wholeness of life – sublimating things seen into things known. – Edward Weston
Everyone in a complex system has a slightly different interpretation. The more interpretations we gather, the easier it becomes to gain a sense of the whole. – Margaret J. Wheatley
We see, not a change of aspect, but a change of interpretation. – Ludwig Wittgenstein.
Representational painting has no need anymore to get it right. A snapshot of records; a painter interprets and abstracts. – Bob Young
It’s interesting to think about the different ways people interpret things. Take, for example, the above Quotes about interpretation! These quotes all highlight the importance of interpretation in communication. What one person takes away from a conversation may be completely different from what the other person intended to say.
Interpretation is a powerful tool, and it’s one that we should be mindful of when we’re speaking with others. The next time you have a conversation, take a second to think about how the other person might interpret your words. You may be surprised at the results!
Everyone has their own interpretation of the world around them, and these famous quotes about interpretation perfectly capture that idea. What matters isn’t so much what someone else thinks about your interpretation, but how you see the world and how you choose to act on that understanding.
