"A great artist must be shaken by the naked truths that will not be comforted. This divine discontent, this disequilibrium, this state of inner tension is the source of artistic energy." Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
In this eloquent quote, Goethe remarks how the artist can never truly be comforted, but I find it interesting that Nehamas says the artist lives in beauty. Isn't the beauty then comforting for the artist? Or is there no comfort until the artist dies like Vincent van Gogh or Emily Dickinson? Goethe calls the discontentment divine which is very curious because one does not often think of such a thing or a disequilibrium as divine, but all these negative passions serve for the artist's creative energy, as Goethe says.
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