The value of art, like the value of the Mystic Way, lies in its effects. If it can give only pleasure, no matter how spiritual that pleasure may be, it is of no great consequence, or at least of no more consequence than a dozen oysters and a pint of Montrachet. If it is a solace, that is well enough; the world is full of inevitable evils and it is good that man should have some hermitage to which from time to time he may withdraw himself; but not to escape them; rather to gather fresh strength to face them. For art, if it is to be reckoned as one of the great values of life, must teach men humility, tolerance, wisdom, and magnanimity. The value of art is not beauty, but right action.

—The Summing Up
W. Somerset Maugham

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