“If a painting really works down in your heart and changes the way you see, and think, and feel, you don’t think, ‘oh, I love this picture because it’s universal.’ ‘I love this painting because it speaks to all mankind.’ That’s not the reason anyone loves a piece of art. It’s a secret whisper from an alleyway. Psst, you. Hey kid. Yes you.”
More from Donna Tartt
“Stay away from the ones you love too much. Those are the ones who will kill you.”
“Stay away from the ones you love too much. Those are the ones who will kill you.”
“Beauty is terror. Whatever we call beautiful, we quiver before it.”
“But it’s so heartbreaking and unnecessary how we lose things. From pure carelessness.”