Quote of the Day 8/18/08

Asher Lev, an artist who deceives himself is a fraud and a whore. You did that because you were ashamed. You did that because wearing payos did not fit your idea of an artist. Asher Lev, an artist is a person first. He is an individual. If there is no person, there is no artist. It is of no importance to me whether you cut off your hair entirely and go around bald. I am not a defender of payos. Great artists will not give a damn about your payos; they will only give a damn about your art. The artists who will care about your payos are not worth caring about. You want to cut off your payos, go ahead. But do not do it because you think it will make you more acceptable as an artist.

Jacob Kahn in Chaim Potok's My Name is Asher Lev

2 comments:

wcc said...

The lesson applies equally to attorneys and teachers and parents and spouses and ...

JPB said...

Interesting observation. This was one thing I have thought about some ... how far does this principle of integrity extend? I think pretty far ...