--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Rilke said that art can come only out of…" description: "\"Rilke said that art can come only out of inner necessity. I write because I must. Or because I cannot not write.\" — Aleksandar Hemon" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b7a/aleksandar-hemon-1490_art_rilke-said-that-art-can-come-only-out-of_2859951.jpg" --- # Rilke said that art can come only out of inner necessity… ![“Rilke said that art can come only out of inner necessity. I write because I must. Or because I cannot not write.” quote by Aleksandar Hemon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b7a/aleksandar-hemon-1490_art_rilke-said-that-art-can-come-only-out-of_2859951.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b7a/aleksandar-hemon-1490_art_rilke-said-that-art-can-come-only-out-of_2859951.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b7a/aleksandar-hemon-1490_art_rilke-said-that-art-can-come-only-out-of_2859951.jpg) > “Rilke said that art can come only out of inner necessity. I write because I must. Or because I cannot not write.” [Aleksandar Hemon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandar-hemon/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Art emerges from inner compulsion; writing is unavoidable. **In simple terms:** Art is driven by inner need. Key Takeaway Honor your creative compulsion. Themes art creativity inner drive Mood inspirational reflective Type artistic philosophical When to use this quote - writing - painting - music - personal projects Key Concepts Existential necessity self‑expression Questions to Reflect On - What fuels your inner necessity? - How to balance duty and desire? A Different Perspective Creative blocks can stall expression. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Necessity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/necessity/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [“And I have some poetry that I would like to recite to you in honor of the recent, um, transformations in your life.” Tootie…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-dicamillo/and-i-have-some-poetry-that-i-would-like-to-recite-to-you-in-honor-of/) [Kate DiCamillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-dicamillo/) > [“Want the Change," Rilke said, "O be inspired by the Flame!" To laurel, to nightingale, to wind... to \*wanting\* it, to be taken, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-pynchon/want-the-change-rilke-said-o-be-inspired-by-the-flame-to-laurel-to/) [Thomas Pynchon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-pynchon/) > [“The critic said that once a year he read Kim; and he read Kim, it was plain, at whim: not to teach, not to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randall-jarrell/the-critic-said-that-once-a-year-he-read-kim-and-he-read-kim-it-was/) [Randall Jarrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randall-jarrell/) > [I think about the poet Rainer Maria Rilke who said that it's the questions that move us, not the answers. As a writer, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-tempest-williams/i-think-about-the-poet-rainer-maria-rilke-who-said-that-it-s-the/) [Terry Tempest Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-tempest-williams/) > [The things I do outside of playing the piano are done out of an inner necessity, not just because I want to try my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-hough/the-things-i-do-outside-of-playing-the-piano-are-done-out-of-an-inner/) [Stephen Hough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-hough/) > [Every word born of an inner necessity - writing must never be anything else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etty-hillesum/every-word-born-of-an-inner-necessity-writing-must-never-be-anything/) [Etty Hillesum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etty-hillesum/) > [I don't know why, but I always feel a kind of necessity to write things that are beyond acceptance, that are too offensive or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-southern/i-don-t-know-why-but-i-always-feel-a-kind-of-necessity-to-write/) [Terry Southern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-southern/) > [No reader owes me anything - I am owed nothing for my noble efforts, because my writing was always unconditional, always coming out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandar-hemon/no-reader-owes-me-anything-i-am-owed-nothing-for-my-noble-efforts/) [Aleksandar Hemon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandar-hemon/) > [“Rilke said: This is what Fate means: to be opposite, to be opposite to every thing and nothing else but opposite and always opposite. ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maggie-stiefvater/rilke-said-this-is-what-fate-means-to-be-opposite-to-be-opposite-to/) [Maggie Stiefvater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maggie-stiefvater/) > [“Laws can regulate only outer actions, and all outer actions are worthless when they do not arise from inner necessity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-carter-hett/laws-can-regulate-only-outer-actions-and-all-outer-actions-are/) Benjamin Carter Hett > [Everything lives and lasts by the inner necessity of its being, by its own nature's need.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wagner/everything-lives-and-lasts-by-the-inner-necessity-of-its-being-by-its/) [Richard Wagner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wagner/) > [The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect, but by the play instinct acting from inner necessity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley/the-creation-of-something-new-is-not-accomplished-by-the-intellect/) [Shirley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley/) > [What destroys a man more quickly than to work, think and feel without inner necessity, without any deep personal desire, without pleasure - as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/what-destroys-a-man-more-quickly-than-to-work-think-and-feel-without/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Everybody acts not only under external compulsion but also in accordance with inner necessity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/everybody-acts-not-only-under-external-compulsion-but-also-in/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [May you eat an unfamiliar dessert in a strange land at least once every three years. May you wake up... and start dancing while…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-brezsny/may-you-eat-an-unfamiliar-dessert-in-a-strange-land-at-least-once/) [Rob Brezsny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-brezsny/) ## More by Aleksandar Hemon > [Even if you tried to extinguish your personality, what is left in the story will reflect it, perhaps by its negation. Our lives provide…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandar-hemon/even-if-you-tried-to-extinguish-your-personality-what-is-left-in-the/) [Aleksandar Hemon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandar-hemon/) > [To me there's no difference between a book of stories and a novel - they're just slightly different shapes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandar-hemon/to-me-there-s-no-difference-between-a-book-of-stories-and-a-novel/) [Aleksandar Hemon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandar-hemon/) > [Lord, why did you leave me in these woods?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandar-hemon/lord-why-did-you-leave-me-in-these-woods/) [Aleksandar Hemon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandar-hemon/) > [I want to change something. I want to stop the germs from attacking my daughters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandar-hemon/i-want-to-change-something-i-want-to-stop-the-germs-from-attacking-my/) [Aleksandar Hemon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandar-hemon/) > [Cliché activates the comfortable mental laziness, we sort of revert to the domain of the already-familiar, what we have already imagined so that it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandar-hemon/clich-activates-the-comfortable-mental-laziness-we-sort-of-revert-to/) [Aleksandar Hemon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandar-hemon/) > [“The writer does not dare dream of giving the best of his individuality. No, he must never express his anger. The vacillating demands of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandar-hemon/the-writer-does-not-dare-dream-of-giving-the-best-of-his/) [Aleksandar Hemon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandar-hemon/) > [I know a lot of people in the city, at all levels, horizontally and vertically - and that to me is a privilege, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandar-hemon/i-know-a-lot-of-people-in-the-city-at-all-levels-horizontally-and/) [Aleksandar Hemon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandar-hemon/) > [What fiction and art can do, particularly narrative art, is construct consciousness - in a sense, we have to do it for the first…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandar-hemon/what-fiction-and-art-can-do-particularly-narrative-art-is-construct/) [Aleksandar Hemon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandar-hemon/) > [I read everything I could find in English - Twain, Henry James, Hemingway, really everything. And then after a while I started writing shorter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandar-hemon/i-read-everything-i-could-find-in-english-twain-henry-james-hemingway/) [Aleksandar Hemon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandar-hemon/) > [It was always clear to me that I would have to earn my readers, some I would have to find, some to create.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandar-hemon/it-was-always-clear-to-me-that-i-would-have-to-earn-my-readers-some-i/) [Aleksandar Hemon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandar-hemon/) > [I never thought of myself as an outsider. Because outside of what? You would have to give advantage to this space where you're not,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandar-hemon/i-never-thought-of-myself-as-an-outsider-because-outside-of-what-you/) [Aleksandar Hemon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandar-hemon/) > [There are studies that have shown that we make decisions, ethical and otherwise, based on the way we imagine ourselves as characters in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandar-hemon/there-are-studies-that-have-shown-that-we-make-decisions-ethical-and/) [Aleksandar Hemon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandar-hemon/) > [I long for, not a writer's retreat - I can write in any situation - but a reader's retreat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandar-hemon/i-long-for-not-a-writer-s-retreat-i-can-write-in-any-situation-but-a/) [Aleksandar Hemon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandar-hemon/) > [I much preferred winning to thinking and I didn't like losing at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandar-hemon/i-much-preferred-winning-to-thinking-and-i-didn-t-like-losing-at-all/) [Aleksandar Hemon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandar-hemon/) > [Memory narrativises itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandar-hemon/memory-narrativises-itself/) [Aleksandar Hemon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandar-hemon/) [Explore all 236 Aleksandar Hemon quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandar-hemon/) ## 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. Accordingly...they became abominably wicked, and they were justly exterminated by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/before-noah-men-having-only-water-to-drink-could-not-find-the-truth/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [“Hear the sum of the whole matter in the compass of one brief word — every art possessed by man comes from Prometheus.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/hear-the-sum-of-the-whole-matter-in-the-compass-of-one-brief-word/) [Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/) > [I think most artists feel like they're outside society - no matter how many accolades they receive, or how much money is in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-rose/i-think-most-artists-feel-like-they-re-outside-society-no-matter-how/) [Aaron Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-rose/) > [The capacity to be puzzled is the premise of all creation, be it in art or in science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/the-capacity-to-be-puzzled-is-the-premise-of-all-creation-be-it-in/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [That's the great secret of creativity. 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. The work of art is revolutionary; the house is conservative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-loos/the-house-has-to-serve-comfort-the-work-of-art-is-revolutionary-the/) [Adolf Loos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-loos/) > [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [I think a business guy is different from an artist. They walk different paths. Artists create the best outputs when they're having fun. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-dragon/i-think-a-business-guy-is-different-from-an-artist-they-walk/) [G-Dragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-dragon/) > [“The only thing--I tell you this straight from the heart--that disgusts me in Salzburg is that one can't have any proper social intercourse with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/the-only-thing-i-tell-you-this-straight-from-the-heart-that-disgusts/) [Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/) > [The sublime in art is the attempt to express the infinite without finding in the realm of phenomena any object which proves itself fitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/the-sublime-in-art-is-the-attempt-to-express-the-infinite-without/) [Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/) > [Art isn't done to decorate apartments, but to wage war against the enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/art-isn-t-done-to-decorate-apartments-but-to-wage-war-against-the/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) [Browse all 48,643 Art quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Rilke said that art can come only out of inner necessity. 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