# Quote — Robert A. Heinlein, Stranger in a Strange Land

> "Jubal, why isn't there stuff like this around where a person can see it?"
>
> "Because the world has gone nutty and contemporary art always paints the spirit of its times. Rodin died about the time the world started flipping its lid. His successors noted the amazing things he had done with light and shadow and mass and composition and they copied that part. What they failed to see was that the master told stories that laid bare the human heart. They became contemptuous of painting or sculpture that told a stories — they dubbed such work 'literary.' They went all out for abstractions.
>
> Jubal shrugged. "Abstract design is all right — for wall paper or linoleum. But art is the process of evoking pity and terror. What modern artists do is pseudo-intellectual masturbation. Creative art is intercourse, in which the artist renders emotional his audience. These laddies who won't deign to do that — or can't — lost the public."

- Author: [Robert A. Heinlein](https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-a-heinlein.md)
- Book: [Stranger in a Strange Land](https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-a-heinlein/stranger-in-a-strange-land.md)
- Source: [Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Stranger_in_a_Strange_Land#Part_Four_:_His_Scandalous_Career) ([CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/))
- Quote page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-a-heinlein/stranger-in-a-strange-land/jubal-why-isnt

## More from this book

> "The golden sunshine of Italy congealed into tears. Here's to the alcoholic brotherhood... much more suited to the frail human soul, if any, than any other sort."

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-a-heinlein/stranger-in-a-strange-land/the-golden-sunshine.md)

> Kiss girls all you want to — it beats the hell out of card games.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-a-heinlein/stranger-in-a-strange-land/kiss-girls-all.md)

> Share water. Never thirst.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-a-heinlein/stranger-in-a-strange-land/share-water-never.md)