Wisdom from the Life of Pi

Don't know if you've read Life of Pi, a novel by Yann Martel, but I highly recommend it if you haven't. I was so taken in by this book that I had to do an internet search after I read it, trying to get more data on the story itself and the background of the story. Anyway, won't reveal anything of the plot.
One of the things I like is a forward or Author's Note. When I got to the end of the Author's Note in this book I was moved to tears by the following quote and have taken it up as an artist's banner of what this world might be without artists and their visions:

If we, citizens, do not support our artists, then we sacrifice our imagination on the altar of crude reality and we end up believing in nothing and having worthless dreams.  Yann Martel, Life of Pi