--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Artists are never complete people. But if…" description: "\"Artists are never complete people. But if it's art that completes them, then what is taken away?\" — Alexander Theroux" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/477/alexander-theroux-14881_art_artists-are-never-complete-people-but-if_2600859.png" --- # Artists are never complete people. But if it's art that… ![“Artists are never complete people. But if it's art that completes them, then what is taken away?” quote by Alexander Theroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/477/alexander-theroux-14881_art_artists-are-never-complete-people-but-if_2600859.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/477/alexander-theroux-14881_art_artists-are-never-complete-people-but-if_2600859.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/477/alexander-theroux-14881_art_artists-are-never-complete-people-but-if_2600859.png) > “Artists are never complete people. But if it's art that completes them, then what is taken away?” [Alexander Theroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-theroux/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Art can fill the void in a person's life, but reliance on it may leave other parts empty. **In simple terms:** Art can complete but also deprive. Key Takeaway Balance art with other pursuits. Themes art completion balance identity void Mood contemplative melancholic Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - personal growth - creative work - spiritual fulfillment - relationships Key Concepts existentialism selfhood creativity Questions to Reflect On - What non‑art aspects of life need nurturing? - How does art influence identity? A Different Perspective Art alone cannot satisfy all human needs. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Art Completes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art-completes-521680/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Artists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artists/) [Artists Complete](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artists-complete-1943667/) [Complete People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/complete-people-1943668/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [People Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people-art-265190/) [Taken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/taken/) ## Related quotes > [People that complete other people's vision are understated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bjork/people-that-complete-other-people-s-vision-are-understated/) [Bjork](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bjork/) > [Success for an artist is completed work. Very successful artists complete a lot of work. It's that simple.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-russo/success-for-an-artist-is-completed-work-very-successful-artists/) [Paul Russo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-russo/) > [My art completes my life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sanjay-leela-bhansali/my-art-completes-my-life/) [Sanjay Leela Bhansali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sanjay-leela-bhansali/) > [In part, art completes what nature cannot elaborate; and in part it imitates nature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/in-part-art-completes-what-nature-cannot-elaborate-and-in-part-it/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [Art completes what nature cannot bring to finish. The artist gives us knowledge of nature's unrealized ends.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/art-completes-what-nature-cannot-bring-to-finish-the-artist-gives-us/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [There is a lot that horses and art share in common. I have found that most horse people are art lovers, and vice versa.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-walton/there-is-a-lot-that-horses-and-art-share-in-common-i-have-found-that/) [Alice Walton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-walton/) > [I don't think you should ever damage other people for your art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carey-mulligan/i-don-t-think-you-should-ever-damage-other-people-for-your-art/) [Carey Mulligan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carey-mulligan/) > [ Through \[my friends\] I discovered what it was to love people. There was an art to it...which was not really all that different from… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucy-grealy/through-my-friends-i-discovered-what-it-was-to-love-people-there-was/) [Lucy Grealy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucy-grealy/) > [This is the thing: Art is more important than making a show, something that amuses people. Art is something that needs to give to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejandro-jodorowsky/this-is-the-thing-art-is-more-important-than-making-a-show-something/) [Alejandro Jodorowsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejandro-jodorowsky/) > [Only 10 percent of people who go to art school will still be making art in 10 years. To some extent, you have to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-brown/only-10-percent-of-people-who-go-to-art-school-will-still-be-making/) [Jeffrey Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-brown/) > [“We Communists say, if it has no practically measurable effect, it's not people's art!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-t-vollmann/we-communists-say-if-it-has-no-practically-measurable-effect-it-s-not/) [William T. Vollmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-t-vollmann/) > [People would rather have art or gold instead of paper money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eli-broad/people-would-rather-have-art-or-gold-instead-of-paper-money/) [Eli Broad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eli-broad/) > [My dark little secret is that I don't actually believe many people in the art world have much feeling for art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-saatchi/my-dark-little-secret-is-that-i-don-t-actually-believe-many-people-in/) [Charles Saatchi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-saatchi/) > [But I think you have to - whatever the environment looks like, it does enter into people's art work one way or another; it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-judd/but-i-think-you-have-to-whatever-the-environment-looks-like-it-does/) [Donald Judd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-judd/) > [Art is not an elitist gift for a few select people. Art is for everyone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-attenborough/art-is-not-an-elitist-gift-for-a-few-select-people-art-is-for-everyone/) [Richard Attenborough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-attenborough/) ## More by Alexander Theroux > [There is no loneliness like that of a failed marriage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-theroux/there-is-no-loneliness-like-that-of-a-failed-marriage/) [Alexander Theroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-theroux/) > [Yellow is vagueness and luminousness, both.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-theroux/yellow-is-vagueness-and-luminousness-both/) [Alexander Theroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-theroux/) > [Will I have to use a dictionary to read your book?" asked Mrs. Dodypol. "It depends," says I, "how much you used the dictionary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-theroux/will-i-have-to-use-a-dictionary-to-read-your-book-asked-mrs-dodypol/) [Alexander Theroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-theroux/) > [“...we are willing to lose ourselves in another as we exchange fates with one whom we love but on whom our heart is nevertheless…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-theroux/we-are-willing-to-lose-ourselves-in-another-as-we-exchange-fates-with/) [Alexander Theroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-theroux/) > [Adultery is the vice of equivocation. It is not marriage but a mockery of it, a merging that mixes love and dread together like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-theroux/adultery-is-the-vice-of-equivocation-it-is-not-marriage-but-a-mockery/) [Alexander Theroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-theroux/) > [The particular source of frustration of women observing their own self-study and measuring their worth as women by the distance they kept from men…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-theroux/the-particular-source-of-frustration-of-women-observing-their-own/) [Alexander Theroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-theroux/) > [ The parrot holds its food for prim consumption as daintily as any debutante, \[with\] a predilection for pot roast, hashed-brown potatoes, duck skin, butter,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-theroux/the-parrot-holds-its-food-for-prim-consumption-as-daintily-as-any/) [Alexander Theroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-theroux/) > [Nothing is quite as bad as being without privacy and lonely at the same time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-theroux/nothing-is-quite-as-bad-as-being-without-privacy-and-lonely-at-the/) [Alexander Theroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-theroux/) > [The urge for Chinese food is always unpredictable: famous for no occasion, standard fare for no holiday, and the constant as to demand is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-theroux/the-urge-for-chinese-food-is-always-unpredictable-famous-for-no/) [Alexander Theroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-theroux/) > [Faculty Meetings are held whenever the need to show off is combined with the imperative of accomplishing nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-theroux/faculty-meetings-are-held-whenever-the-need-to-show-off-is-combined/) [Alexander Theroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-theroux/) > [“. . . it is called 'camel case' or 'intercapping' -- of writing small letters next to large in the same word, as in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-theroux/it-is-called-camel-case-or-intercapping-of-writing-small-letters-next/) [Alexander Theroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-theroux/) > [Hypocrisy is the essence of snobbery, but all snobbery is about the problem of belonging.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-theroux/hypocrisy-is-the-essence-of-snobbery-but-all-snobbery-is-about-the/) [Alexander Theroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-theroux/) > [September: it was the most beautiful of words, he’d always felt, evoking orange-flowers, swallows, and regret.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-theroux/september-it-was-the-most-beautiful-of-words-he-d-always-felt-evoking/) [Alexander Theroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-theroux/) > [We all end up living secret lives. We create what we are willing to admire and admiring what we shouldn't confess to the secret…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-theroux/we-all-end-up-living-secret-lives-we-create-what-we-are-willing-to/) [Alexander Theroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-theroux/) > [It's true, you can never eat a pet you name. And anyway, it would be like a ventriloquist eating his dummy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-theroux/it-s-true-you-can-never-eat-a-pet-you-name-and-anyway-it-would-be/) [Alexander Theroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-theroux/) [Explore all 45 Alexander Theroux quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-theroux/) ## 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](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/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": "Artists are never complete people. 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