39 Calligraphy Quotes About the Gorgeous Art Form

We have all most likely witnessed the beautiful art of calligraphy, either in person or online, as we witness someone create beautiful writing with one stroke. Dig deeper into this beloved practice by reading the 39 quotes below.

The delicate and beautiful art of calligraphy is practiced and loved across the world - but it has a special connection to China. The country has been involved in calligraphy for thousands of years. While it consists of writing, it is seen as more of an art form where one does not lift the brush pen or dip pen in the process of writing letters.

Calligraphy is more focused on the aesthetic of the writing than the actual writing itself. There are many types of calligraphy, including gestural and formal calligraphy, to name two. Find out more about this ancient and widely loved practice by reading the 39 quotes below.

Kaoru Akagawa’s quote: "Calligraphy is an art form that uses ink and a brush to express the very souls of words on paper." | Image: AmoDays

Quotes on What Calligraphy Truly Is

"Calligraphy, a spiritual art that has been forgotten in favor of an emotionless keyboard." — Stefan Bolder

"Bad calligraphy is making forms that are unsure, insecure, self-conscious, whereas good calligraphy unites the freedom of the hand with the mastery of tool and self in performance, whether letterforms be present or absent." — Steven Skaggs

"Calligraphy is an art form that uses ink and a brush to express the very souls of words on paper." ― Kaoru Akagawa

"Calligraphy is the most intimate, private, and spontaneous expressive means. Like a fingerprint or voice, it is unique with every person." ― German Zapf

V. Lazursky’s quote: "Calligraphy is a kind of music not for the ears, but for the eyes." | Image: AmoDays

"Lettering creates readable art that comes to life, displaying a quirky, whimsical nature." ― Peggy Dean

"Calligraphy has always existed in that place of tension between what the letterform desires: to be completely principled, and what the hand desires: infinite freedom of gesture." — Steven Skaggs

"Calligraphy: disciplined freedom is the essence of it, as of any other just form of government." — Raymond F. Diboll

"Calligraphies are our images, Maestro, images of our faith." ― Mathias Énard, Parle-leur de batailles, de rois et d'éléphants

"Calligraphy is a kind of music not for the ears, but for the eyes." ― V. Lazursky

H.E. Davey’s quote: "Just as writing can become calligraphy when it's creatively, skillfully, and consciously performed, so can all other activities become art." | Image: AmoDays

"A friend of mine once mentioned something one of his teachers had told him: 'Calligraphy is like the leaves of a tree. Every letter has the same basic shape and size, but each one is unique.'" — Christopher Calderhead

Quotes Inspired by Calligraphy

"Good teachers deserve apples; great teachers deserve chocolate. A favorite quotation, written in calligraphy on his office door." — Richard Hamming

"A written letter is like a bowl filled with a certain content. The purer the content, the more delicate strings of the human soul it touches." — L. Provence

"Write one letter and wait for ages." ― Professor R. K. Joshi

"Just as writing can become calligraphy when it's creatively, skillfully, and consciously performed, so can all other activities become art." ― H.E. Davey

Peter Thornton’s quote: "Every bottle of ink contains at least one good letter… and it's at the bottom." | Image: AmoDays

"Lettering creates readable art that comes to life, displaying a quirky, whimsical nature." ― Peggy Dean

"Do calligraphy, which is more like your handwriting. Connect your letters in ways which no machine can do. This is the future of calligraphy." — Ina Salts

"Lettering is my music." ― Peter Thornton

"A woman's perfume talks more about her than her handwriting." ― Christian Dior

Jean Cocteau’s quote: "Poets don't draw. They unravel their handwriting and then tie it up again, but differently." | Image: AmoDays

"The written is to be read and not to be misread." ― Sultan-Ali Mashkhedi

"What joy there is in hearing yourself think, and to make that thinking into ink." ― John Olsen

"Every bottle of ink contains at least one good letter… and it's at the bottom." ― Peter Thornton

Handwriting Quotes

"For the largest part, ill handwriting in the world is caused by hurry." ― Lewis Carroll

"Handwriting is more connected to the movement of the heart." ― Natalie Goldberg

Euclid’s quote: “Handwriting is a spiritual designing, even though it appears by means of a material instrument.” | Image: AmoDays

"Handwriting is the shackle of the mind." ― Plato

"Perfection of handwriting needs proper education, regular exercises, and purity of the soul." ― Yakut Mutasim

"I never did calligraphy… But handwriting is an entirely different kind of thing. It's part of the syndrome of modernism… It's part of that asceticism." ― Paul Rand

"Handwriting is a spiritual designing, even though it appears by means of a material instrument." ― Euclid

Wassily Kandinsky’s quote: "Letters act as practical and useful signs, but also as pure and inner melody." | Image: AmoDays

"Poets don't draw. They unravel their handwriting and then tie it up again, but differently." — Jean Cocteau

"Handwriting is a spiritual designing, even though it appears by means of a material instrument." — Euclid

The Beauty of Calligraphy Quotes

"Letters act as practical and useful signs, but also as pure and inner melody." — Wassily Kandinsky

"What an extraordinary way the reed pen has of drinking darkness and pouring out light!" ― Abu Hafs Ibn Burd Al-Asghar

Robert Brenthurst’s quote: “Calligraphy—the dance, on a tiny stage, of the living, speaking hand…” | Image: AmoDays

"What joy there is in hearing yourself think, and to make that thinking into ink." ― John Olsen

"Calligraphy is the ultimate synthesis of what I love: language, art, and human connection." ― Joy Deneen

"Figures are the most shocking things in the world. The prettiest little squiggles of black looked at in the right light and yet consider the blow they can give you upon the heart." ― H.G. Wells

"Just above our terror, the stars painted this story in perfect silver calligraphy. And our souls, too often abused by ignorance, covered our eyes with mercy." ― Aberjhani

"Calligraphy — the dance, on a tiny stage, of the living, speaking hand…" — Robert Brenthurst

Peter Thornton’s quote: "Lettering is my music." | Image: AmoDays

If you're interested in learning how to practice the art of calligraphy, there are many online guides, courses, and in-depth books you can buy. Of course, thanks to the beauty of the internet, there are many free courses.

If you're not too interested in how your writing looks but rather the writing itself, treat yourself to these 84 Neil Gaiman quotes on writing and the beautiful art of storytelling.