life imitates art

Syllable breakdown

Dictionary meaning

the observation, formulated as an inversion of Aristotle's principle that art imitates life, that people unconsciously model their experiences, perceptions, and behaviours on patterns, images, and narratives absorbed from artworks, films, literature, and other representations; the aphorism is associated with Oscar Wilde, who proposed in The Decay of Lying that nature imitates art — that people literally see sunsets differently after Turner's paintings have taught them how to perceive atmospheric light; in contemporary culture, life imitates art describes the way fictional scenarios anticipate real events, fashion sets by films becomes social reality, and the imaginative repertoire of art shapes what people think is possible or desirable in their own lives