In any society, the artist has a responsibility. His effectiveness is certainly limited and a painter or writer cannot change the world. But they can keep an essential margin of non-conformity alive. Thanks to them the powerful can never affirm that everyone agrees with their acts. That small difference is important.
Quotes about non-conformity (4 Quotes)
A free society cherishes nonconformity. It knows that from the non-conformist, from the eccentric, have come many of the great ideas of freedom. Free society must fertilize the soil in which non-conformity and dissent and individualism can grow.
The American people...have a stake in non-conformity. For they know that the American genius is non-conformist.
In these times in America I am very moved and grateful that the Gish Prize has chosen to support diversity, controversy, complexity, and non-conformity. I am a collaborative artist, and I accept this recognition on behalf of the courageous artists who have opened and challenged new worlds and old, in a body of work that has created shared space on a divided planet.