Art for art's sake Art for art's sake "Art for art's sake" is the usual English rendering of a French slogan from the early 19th century, "l'art pour l'art", and expresses a philosophy that the intrinsic value of art, and the only "true" art, is divorced from any didactic, moral, or utilitarian function. Such works are sometimes described as "autotelic", from the Greek "autoteles", "complete in itself", a concept that has been expanded to embrace "inner-directed" or "self-motivated" human beings. The term is sometimes used commercially. A Latin version of this phrase ("ARS GRATIA ARTIS") is used as a motto by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and appears
Ars longa, vita brevis Ars longa, vita brevis Ars longa, vita brevis is a Latin translation of an aphorism coming originally from Greek. The Latin quote is often rendered in English as Art is long, life is short. The aphorism quotes the first two lines of the by the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates. The familiar Latin translation "Ars longa, vita brevis" reverses the order of the original lines. The original text, a standard Latin translation, and an English translation from the Greek follow. The most common and significant caveat made regarding the saying is that "art" (, translating (techne)) originally meant "technique, craft" (as