---
title: "2 Demanding Quotes By Guy Davenport"
description: "2 Demanding quotes by Guy Davenport. Plus more from Guy Davenport and more Demanding sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a24/guy-davenport-14485_art_unless-the-work-of-art-has-wholly-exhaus_2087978.png"
---

> [Unless the work of art has wholly exhausted its makers attention, it fails. This is why works of great significance are demanding and why they are infinitely rewarding.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-davenport/unless-the-work-of-art-has-wholly-exhausted-its-makers-attention-it/)

[Guy Davenport](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-davenport/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a24/guy-davenport-14485_art_unless-the-work-of-art-has-wholly-exhaus_2087978.png)

> [Unless the work of art has wholly exhausted its maker's attention, it fails. This is why works of great significance are demanding and why they are infinitely rewarding.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-davenport/unless-the-work-of-art-has-wholly-exhausted-its-maker-s-attention-it/)

[Guy Davenport](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-davenport/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9c8/guy-davenport-14485_art_unless-the-work-of-art-has-wholly-exhaus_2311244.png)

## Other authors on Demanding

## More by Guy Davenport

> [Art knows neither doctrine nor idea; its nature is to show.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-davenport/art-knows-neither-doctrine-nor-idea-its-nature-is-to-show/)

[Guy Davenport](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-davenport/)

> [I was thought to be retarded as a child, and all the evidence indicates that I was.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-davenport/i-was-thought-to-be-retarded-as-a-child-and-all-the-evidence/)

[Guy Davenport](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-davenport/)

> [“Sometimes when reading Goethe I have a paralyzing suspicion that he is trying to be funny.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-davenport/sometimes-when-reading-goethe-i-have-a-paralyzing-suspicion-that-he/)

[Guy Davenport](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-davenport/)

> [The poet is at the edge of our consciousness of the world, finding beyond the suspected nothingness which we imagine limits our perception another…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-davenport/the-poet-is-at-the-edge-of-our-consciousness-of-the-world-finding/)

[Guy Davenport](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-davenport/)

> [“The poet and poetess have always had a rough time of it in the Republic. It has ever been their endemic luck to starve,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-davenport/the-poet-and-poetess-have-always-had-a-rough-time-of-it-in-the/)

[Guy Davenport](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-davenport/)

> [Something of the previous state, however, survives every change. This is called in the language of cybernetics (which took it form the language of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-davenport/something-of-the-previous-state-however-survives-every-change-this-is/)

[Guy Davenport](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-davenport/)

> [I’ve carved the puppet, and I manipulate the strings, but while it’s on stage, the show belongs to the puppet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-davenport/i-ve-carved-the-puppet-and-i-manipulate-the-strings-but-while-it-s-on/)

[Guy Davenport](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-davenport/)

> [Art is the attention we pay to the wholeness of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-davenport/art-is-the-attention-we-pay-to-the-wholeness-of-the-world/)

[Guy Davenport](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-davenport/)

> [“I God, a very Gomorry on wheels! You lead the most exciting life I know of, and complain more about it than any two…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-davenport/i-god-a-very-gomorry-on-wheels-you-lead-the-most-exciting-life-i-know/)

[Guy Davenport](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-davenport/)

> [“Man was first a hunter, and an artist: his early vestiges tell us that alone. But he must always have dreamed, and recognized and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-davenport/man-was-first-a-hunter-and-an-artist-his-early-vestiges-tell-us-that/)

[Guy Davenport](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-davenport/)

> [It is worthwhile adding that the power of the poem to teach not only sensibilities and the subtle movements of the spirit but knowledge,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-davenport/it-is-worthwhile-adding-that-the-power-of-the-poem-to-teach-not-only/)

[Guy Davenport](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-davenport/)

> [nothing now exists that is so valuable as whatever theoretically might replace it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-davenport/nothing-now-exists-that-is-so-valuable-as-whatever-theoretically/)

[Guy Davenport](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-davenport/)

> [Originality houses many rooms, and the views from the windows are all different.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-davenport/originality-houses-many-rooms-and-the-views-from-the-windows-are-all/)

[Guy Davenport](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-davenport/)

> [My view, as one who taught it, is that the whole purpose of a literary education should be to tell people that these things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-davenport/my-view-as-one-who-taught-it-is-that-the-whole-purpose-of-a-literary/)

[Guy Davenport](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-davenport/)

> [“Bonnie Jean (who thinks all philosophers are idiots) has this quarrel with Wittgenstein, who in several places says that reddish green is inconceivable. Yet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-davenport/bonnie-jean-who-thinks-all-philosophers-are-idiots-has-this-quarrel/)

[Guy Davenport](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-davenport/)

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