Art and Artists

“I declare that Shakespeare and Raphael are more important than the emancipation of the serfs, more important than nationalism, more important than socialism, more important then the younger generation, more important than chemistry, almost more important than humanity, because they are the fruit, the genuine fruit of humanity, and perhaps the most important fruit there is! The form of beauty already attained—without which I might not agree to live out my life.”
Fyodor Dostoevsky, Devils (Stepan Trofimovich)