Jacques Barzun (1907–2012) was professor of history at Columbia University and the author of many books, including the bestselling From Dawn to Decadence: 500 Years of Western Cultural Life, 1500 to the Present; Simple and Direct; The Energies of Art; and The House of Intellect.

"When an extremely intellectual, extremely experienced, extremely wise man shares his thoughts with others, the result seizes the imagination at once. Such is the effect of these essays. . . . Barzun examines art as religion, as destroyer, as redeemer, and in relation to what he calls ‘its tempter, science,’ but never forgets the basic essential. As he says, ‘the last word on art should indeed be: mystery. But that need not stop any of us from dealing with it as if we understood more than we can.’ And how good it is to have one’s mind stretched to that understanding of ‘more.’"