---
title: "2 Attempting Quotes By Warren MacKenzie"
description: "2 Attempting quotes by Warren MacKenzie. Plus more from Warren MacKenzie and more Attempting sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fae/warren-mackenzie-4654_attempting_it-was-a-figure-painting-class-where-you_1968927.jpg"
---

> [ It was a figure painting class, where you had a model, and \[Robert von Neumann \] would wander around and he'd come up behind someone and say, "Well, what are you trying to do?" And if you told him what… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-mackenzie/it-was-a-figure-painting-class-where-you-had-a-model-and-robert-von/)

[Warren MacKenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-mackenzie/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fae/warren-mackenzie-4654_attempting_it-was-a-figure-painting-class-where-you_1968927.jpg)

> [ If you didn't know what you were trying to do, \[Robert von Neumann\] wouldn't say a word. He would just turn and walk away. So you very quickly learned to think that you'd better be attempting to do something in… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-mackenzie/if-you-didn-t-know-what-you-were-trying-to-do-robert-von-neumann/)

[Warren MacKenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-mackenzie/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/008/warren-mackenzie-4654_attempting_if-you-didn-t-know-what-you-were-trying_2054709.jpg)

## More by Warren MacKenzie

> [ \[Kathleen Blackshear\] just said, "Have you thought of looking at this?" and so on and so on and so on. And it was a… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-mackenzie/kathleen-blackshear-just-said-have-you-thought-of-looking-at-this-and/)

[Warren MacKenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-mackenzie/)

> [ Some years ago I was working on some forms which were vase forms with a fairly narrow base, and it was after \[Hans\] Coper… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-mackenzie/some-years-ago-i-was-working-on-some-forms-which-were-vase-forms-with/)

[Warren MacKenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-mackenzie/)

> [I found out later on that was not true, that life drawing tells you a great deal about rhythm, about the structure of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-mackenzie/i-found-out-later-on-that-was-not-true-that-life-drawing-tells-you-a/)

[Warren MacKenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-mackenzie/)

> [Remember, this is back in the '40s, and the idea of a museum being a place where interested people could come in direct contact…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-mackenzie/remember-this-is-back-in-the-40s-and-the-idea-of-a-museum-being-a/)

[Warren MacKenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-mackenzie/)

> [ At the end of that two weeks Bernard \[Leach\] asked us if we would like to sit with him tending the kiln, the big… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-mackenzie/at-the-end-of-that-two-weeks-bernard-leach-asked-us-if-we-would-like/)

[Warren MacKenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-mackenzie/)

> [I got drafted into the army and by pure chance was pushed into a silk-screen shop at this camp where I was, because they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-mackenzie/i-got-drafted-into-the-army-and-by-pure-chance-was-pushed-into-a-silk/)

[Warren MacKenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-mackenzie/)

> [ \[In the Field Museum of Natural History\] we could see very simple, primitive, hand-built pottery from Babylonia and ancient Egypt and so forth, Greece.… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-mackenzie/in-the-field-museum-of-natural-history-we-could-see-very-simple/)

[Warren MacKenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-mackenzie/)

> [Chicago is a wonderful area because it's blessed with a tremendous number of museums of various sorts, not only the Art Institute of Chicago…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-mackenzie/chicago-is-a-wonderful-area-because-it-s-blessed-with-a-tremendous/)

[Warren MacKenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-mackenzie/)

> [ It was a wonderful opportunity. And so for two and a half years we lived with \[Bernard\] Leach. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-mackenzie/it-was-a-wonderful-opportunity-and-so-for-two-and-a-half-years-we/)

[Warren MacKenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-mackenzie/)

> [ We thought \[with Alix MacKenzie\], if those are the kinds of pots from every culture that interest us, why would we think that it… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-mackenzie/we-thought-with-alix-mackenzie-if-those-are-the-kinds-of-pots-from/)

[Warren MacKenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-mackenzie/)

> [I went to the Chicago Art Institute, which was the best painting school in the area at that time. And I took painting classes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-mackenzie/i-went-to-the-chicago-art-institute-which-was-the-best-painting/)

[Warren MacKenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-mackenzie/)

> [It was there that we really first came in contact with the work of Shoji Hamada, who was Bernard's best friend from Japan, who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-mackenzie/it-was-there-that-we-really-first-came-in-contact-with-the-work-of/)

[Warren MacKenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-mackenzie/)

> [ Bernard \[Leach\] was making pots which were duplicates of his drawing, and that was a difference of approach, which I think is quite critical… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-mackenzie/bernard-leach-was-making-pots-which-were-duplicates-of-his-drawing/)

[Warren MacKenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-mackenzie/)

> [I don't know, it's very difficult if you're in a strange country to just barge in and say, "Hello, I'm Warren MacKenzie, and aren't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-mackenzie/i-don-t-know-it-s-very-difficult-if-you-re-in-a-strange-country-to/)

[Warren MacKenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-mackenzie/)

> [ \[Shoji\] Hamada seldom drew an exact drawing of a pot that he was going to make. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-mackenzie/shoji-hamada-seldom-drew-an-exact-drawing-of-a-pot-that-he-was-going/)

[Warren MacKenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-mackenzie/)

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