--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: While it is true that these arts employ…" description: "\"“While it is true that these arts employ what are, to us, highly difficult technical disciplines, it is always recognized that they are instrumental an..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8bd/alan-w-watts-9497_art_while-it-is-true-that-these-arts-employ_2512838.jpg" --- # While it is true that these arts employ what are, to us… ![“While it is true that these arts employ what are, to us, highly difficult technical disciplines, it is always recognized that they are instrumental and secondary, and that superior work has the quality of an accident.” quote by Alan W. Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8bd/alan-w-watts-9497_art_while-it-is-true-that-these-arts-employ_2512838.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8bd/alan-w-watts-9497_art_while-it-is-true-that-these-arts-employ_2512838.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8bd/alan-w-watts-9497_art_while-it-is-true-that-these-arts-employ_2512838.jpg) > ““While it is true that these arts employ what are, to us, highly difficult technical disciplines, it is always recognized that they are instrumental and secondary, and that superior work has the quality of an accident.”” [Alan W. Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-w-watts/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Technical skill is valuable but secondary; true mastery often appears effortless and accidental. **In simple terms:** Skill matters, but real mastery seems natural. Key Takeaway Cultivate depth beyond technique. Themes mastery skill effortlessness Mood reflective inspired Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - teaching - art creation - performance - problem solving Key Concepts craftsmanship intuition serendipity Questions to Reflect On - How can you let intuition guide your expertise? - When does effort become a hindrance? A Different Perspective Skill alone cannot guarantee brilliance; context and insight matter. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Discipline](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/discipline/) ## Related quotes > [“Better to pay more for superior work and be delighted, than less for inferior effort and be disappointed.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-fry/better-to-pay-more-for-superior-work-and-be-delighted-than-less-for/) [Jeffrey Fry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-fry/) > [It's very, very technical, what we do in film. 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Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-w-watts/) > [“When there is a crack in the Cosmic Egg, Buddha is about to be born.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-w-watts/when-there-is-a-crack-in-the-cosmic-egg-buddha-is-about-to-be-born/) [Alan W. Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-w-watts/) > [“...he will accompany us on a hike in the hills, leaping and whizzing back and forth, and coming when called as well as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-w-watts/he-will-accompany-us-on-a-hike-in-the-hills-leaping-and-whizzing-back/) [Alan W. Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-w-watts/) > [ “\[T\]he chances of survival are best when there is no anxiety to survive, and \[...\] the greatest power is available to those who do… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-w-watts/t-he-chances-of-survival-are-best-when-there-is-no-anxiety-to-survive/) [Alan W. Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-w-watts/) [Explore all 72 Alan W. Watts quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-w-watts/) ## More Art quotes > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. 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You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“So, really," continued Jacob as if this were perfectly normal to expound on art in these circumstances, "when you think about it, the artists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justina-chen-headley/so-really-continued-jacob-as-if-this-were-perfectly-normal-to-expound/) [Justina Chen Headley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justina-chen-headley/) > [“There are two options in art; either to adopt philosophical life by dissecting art, or to write your own philosophical life and claim it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taf-teh/there-are-two-options-in-art-either-to-adopt-philosophical-life-by/) Taf Teh > [The house has to serve comfort. 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