Leo Tolstoy

If you google “art,” the first definition that comes up is: “something that is created with imagination and skill and that is beautiful or that expresses important ideas or feelings.” Doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue. I prefer Leo Tolstoy’s definition, “it is a means of union among men, joining them together in the same feelings, and indispensable for the life and progress toward well-being of individuals and of humanity.”

Art represents the power to access transcendent ideal and bring people together from any background to see and understand something new.

To dig deeper into these ideas, I recommend reading Tolstoy’s What is Art. It’s more than a little old school, and reflects archaic and discriminatory language. But despite these facets, I believe it has something timeless to share with us.