“Art does not exist only to entertain -- but also to challenge one to think, to provoke, even to disturb, in a constant search for the truth.”

“My belief is that art should not be comforting; for comfort, we have mass entertainment and one another. Art should provoke, disturb, arouse our emotions, expand our sympathies in directions we may not anticipate and may not even wish.”

“Entertainment provides relief. Art provokes engagement.”

“That's the real power of art, I think. Not to chide but to provoke challenge. Otherwise why bother?”

“In a sense, the first (if not necessarily the prime) function of a novelist, of ANY artist, is to entertain. If the poem, painting, play or novel does not immediately engage one's surface interest then it has failed. Whatever else it may or may not be, art is also entertainment. Bad art fails to entertain. Good art does something in addition.”

“The truth is, the more one knows about Art, the more one values Entertainment.”