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Tolstoy, in his ascetic recoil against his own handiwork, called art "a beautiful lie." Well, it often is so. But it is quite often not so. It can arouse either devilish or divine feelings. It can lead men to that higher beauty which, Keats saw, is one with truth. Whenever its influence is bad, it is the artist who is to be blamed, not art.

-- Notebooks Category 14: The Arts in Culture > Chapter 1 : Appreciation > # 43