--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I have a great need to learn what the…" description: "\"I have a great need to learn what the norm is by dealing with what is not the norm... with the grotesque and the fantastic.\" — Alfred Brendel" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/31e/alfred-brendel-34013_desire_i-have-a-great-need-to-learn-what-the-no_1877181.jpg" --- # I have a great need to learn what the norm is by dealing… ![“I have a great need to learn what the norm is by dealing with what is not the norm... with the grotesque and the fantastic.” quote by Alfred Brendel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/31e/alfred-brendel-34013_desire_i-have-a-great-need-to-learn-what-the-no_1877181.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/31e/alfred-brendel-34013_desire_i-have-a-great-need-to-learn-what-the-no_1877181.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/31e/alfred-brendel-34013_desire_i-have-a-great-need-to-learn-what-the-no_1877181.jpg) > “I have a great need to learn what the norm is by dealing with what is not the norm... with the grotesque and the fantastic.” [Alfred Brendel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-brendel/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Exploring the contrast between normality and the extraordinary expands artistic understanding and creativity. **In simple terms:** Contrast normal and extraordinary to grow. Key Takeaway Embrace the unusual to deepen insight. Themes creativity exploration artistic perception Mood reflective curious Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - music composition - visual arts - literary analysis - cultural critique Key Concepts aesthetics philosophy cognitive dissonance Questions to Reflect On - What can the mundane teach us? - How does the grotesque inspire innovation? A Different Perspective Focusing on extremes can neglect the value of everyday experiences. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) [Fantastic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fantastic/) ## Related quotes > [It’s a shameful moment for U.S. media when it insists on being subservient to the grotesque propaganda agencies of a violent, aggressive state.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/it-s-a-shameful-moment-for-u-s-media-when-it-insists-on-being/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [There is the life of the plankton in almost endless variety; there are the many kinds of fish, both surface and bottom living; there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alister-hardy/there-is-the-life-of-the-plankton-in-almost-endless-variety-there-are/) Alister Hardy > [George theThird Ought never to have occurred. One can only wonder At so grotesque a blunder.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-c-bentley/george-thethird-ought-never-to-have-occurred-one-can-only-wonder-at/) [E. C. Bentley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-c-bentley/) > [Our tolerance of the intolerable found a low threshold as early as the late 1950s with the grotesque excesses of McCarthyism, which destroyed so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pankaj-mishra/our-tolerance-of-the-intolerable-found-a-low-threshold-as-early-as/) [Pankaj Mishra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pankaj-mishra/) > [There were days when she was unhappy, she did not know why,--when it did not seem worthwhile to be glad or sorry, to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-chopin/there-were-days-when-she-was-unhappy-she-did-not-know-why-when-it-did/) [Kate Chopin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-chopin/) > [Size without shape is grotesque.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vince-gironda/size-without-shape-is-grotesque/) [Vince Gironda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vince-gironda/) > [To the hard of hearing you shout, and for the almost blind you draw large and startling figures.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/to-the-hard-of-hearing-you-shout-and-for-the-almost-blind-you-draw/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [Salvador Dali has been called kitsch, but, although some of this work may be grotesque, its brazenly self-conscious bad taste saves it from being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-dutton/salvador-dali-has-been-called-kitsch-but-although-some-of-this-work/) [Denis Dutton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-dutton/) > [The statesmen will invent cheap lies, putting the blame upon the nation that is attacked, and every man will be glad of those conscience-soothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/the-statesmen-will-invent-cheap-lies-putting-the-blame-upon-the/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [In a way Australia is like Catholicism. 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You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-rogen/i-think-that-honestly-people-s-censorship-issues-are-personal-but-i/) [Seth Rogen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-rogen/) > [People commonly travel the world over to see rivers and mountains, new stars, garish birds, freak fish, grotesque breeds of human; they fall into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/people-commonly-travel-the-world-over-to-see-rivers-and-mountains-new/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [“I was grotesque to the theatrical pitch, a stage miser, but I was certainly not a physical impossibility”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-g-wells-2/i-was-grotesque-to-the-theatrical-pitch-a-stage-miser-but-i-was/) [H.G. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-g-wells-2/) > [I have to be careful to get out before I become the grotesque caricature of a hatchet-faced woman with big knockers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamie-lee-curtis/i-have-to-be-careful-to-get-out-before-i-become-the-grotesque/) [Jamie Lee Curtis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamie-lee-curtis/) > [At six I lived in a graveyard full of dolls, avoiding myself, my body, the suspect in its grotesque house.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/at-six-i-lived-in-a-graveyard-full-of-dolls-avoiding-myself-my-body/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) ## More by Alfred Brendel > [In his larger forms, Schubert is a wanderer. He likes to move at the edge of the precipice, and does so with the assurance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-brendel/in-his-larger-forms-schubert-is-a-wanderer-he-likes-to-move-at-the/) [Alfred Brendel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-brendel/) > [Art gives a sense of order, life is basically chaotic, and there's a tension between them. A sense of order comes from chaos and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-brendel/art-gives-a-sense-of-order-life-is-basically-chaotic-and-there-s-a/) [Alfred Brendel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-brendel/) > [If I belong to a tradition, it is a tradition that makes the masterpiece tell the performer what to do, and not the performer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-brendel/if-i-belong-to-a-tradition-it-is-a-tradition-that-makes-the/) [Alfred Brendel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-brendel/) > [I want to make music. That means I prefer the Steinway piano.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-brendel/i-want-to-make-music-that-means-i-prefer-the-steinway-piano/) [Alfred Brendel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-brendel/) > [The word 'listen' contains the same letters as the word 'silent.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-brendel/the-word-listen-contains-the-same-letters-as-the-word-silent/) [Alfred Brendel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-brendel/) > [You need three or five hands to play Ligeti.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-brendel/you-need-three-or-five-hands-to-play-ligeti/) [Alfred Brendel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-brendel/) > [If I belong to a tradition it is a tradition that makes the masterpiece tell the performer what he should do and not the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-brendel/if-i-belong-to-a-tradition-it-is-a-tradition-that-makes-the-2/) [Alfred Brendel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-brendel/) > [Silence... is the essence of the music itself, the vital ingredient that makes it possible for the music to exist at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-brendel/silence-is-the-essence-of-the-music-itself-the-vital-ingredient-that/) [Alfred Brendel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-brendel/) > [A work of art is like a person: it has more than one soul in its breast.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-brendel/a-work-of-art-is-like-a-person-it-has-more-than-one-soul-in-its-breast/) [Alfred Brendel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-brendel/) > [Silence ought also to be the core of each concert. Remember the anagram: listen = silent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-brendel/silence-ought-also-to-be-the-core-of-each-concert-remember-the/) [Alfred Brendel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-brendel/) > [“Self-discovery is a slower process but a more natural one.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-brendel/self-discovery-is-a-slower-process-but-a-more-natural-one/) [Alfred Brendel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-brendel/) > [You have to be aware of all the latent possibilities that give a work its special character - its atmosphere, its moods, its contrasts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-brendel/you-have-to-be-aware-of-all-the-latent-possibilities-that-give-a-work/) [Alfred Brendel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-brendel/) > [I'm coming back to what you said about seeing and listening and hearing. I had to think of a remark that I heard yesterday,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-brendel/i-m-coming-back-to-what-you-said-about-seeing-and-listening-and/) [Alfred Brendel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-brendel/) [Explore all 14 Alfred Brendel quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-brendel/) ## More Desire quotes > [I put myself in the student's place and remember the frustrations, doubts, determination, and desires I felt when I was going through the initial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-martinez/i-put-myself-in-the-student-s-place-and-remember-the-frustrations/) Ted Martinez > [Passion is what you need to be good, an unforgiving passion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-easton/passion-is-what-you-need-to-be-good-an-unforgiving-passion/) [David Easton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-easton/) > [I want the municipality to be a helping hand to the man with a desire of sympathy, to help the fallen when it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burns/i-want-the-municipality-to-be-a-helping-hand-to-the-man-with-a-desire/) [John Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burns/) > [Ye youths and virgins, when your generous blood Has drunk the warmth of fifteen summers, now The loves invite; now to new rapture wakes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-armstrong/ye-youths-and-virgins-when-your-generous-blood-has-drunk-the-warmth/) [John Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-armstrong/) > [I have observed this in my experience of slavery, - that whenever my condition was improved, instead of its increasing my contentment, it only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/i-have-observed-this-in-my-experience-of-slavery-that-whenever-my/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [“THE ESSENCE OF YOUR DESIRE IS A FEELING”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danielle-laporte/the-essence-of-your-desire-is-a-feeling/) [Danielle LaPorte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danielle-laporte/) > [On the brink of being satiated, desire still appears infinite.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-rostand/on-the-brink-of-being-satiated-desire-still-appears-infinite/) [Jean Rostand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-rostand/) > [If there is any period one would desire to be born in, is it not the age of Revolution; when the old and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-there-is-any-period-one-would-desire-to-be-born-in-is-it-not-the/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [He caught her, she fell, he caught her in his arms, he held her tightly unconscious of what he was doing. He held her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/he-caught-her-she-fell-he-caught-her-in-his-arms-he-held-her-tightly/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [ Teaching might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit. My three \[great teachers\] did not… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/teaching-might-even-be-the-greatest-of-the-arts-since-the-medium-is/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [“The deepest urge in human nature is the desire to be important.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/the-deepest-urge-in-human-nature-is-the-desire-to-be-important/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [In discovering books, you became free to explore the full range of human motives, desires, secrets, and lies. All my life, people have scolded…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/in-discovering-books-you-became-free-to-explore-the-full-range-of/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) > [I have never been in, nor have I had any strong particular desire to be in, what is termed a costume drama, but I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-freeman/i-have-never-been-in-nor-have-i-had-any-strong-particular-desire-to/) [Martin Freeman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-freeman/) > [Now I am in the place I call this wide wide Heaven because it includes all my simplest desires but also the most humble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/now-i-am-in-the-place-i-call-this-wide-wide-heaven-because-it/) [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) > [“from THE DEVIL YOU KNOW : She wanted him too. He could see it in the rapid rise of her breasts. He could smell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emery-lee/from-the-devil-you-know-she-wanted-him-too-he-could-see-it-in-the/) [Emery Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emery-lee/) [Browse all 15,155 Desire quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I have a great need to learn what the norm is by dealing with what is not the norm... with the grotesque and the fantastic.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alfred Brendel" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-brendel/i-have-a-great-need-to-learn-what-the-norm-is-by-dealing-with-what-is/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Desire" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-brendel/i-have-a-great-need-to-learn-what-the-norm-is-by-dealing-with-what-is/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/31e/alfred-brendel-34013_desire_i-have-a-great-need-to-learn-what-the-no_1877181.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/31e/alfred-brendel-34013_desire_i-have-a-great-need-to-learn-what-the-no_1877181.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/31e/alfred-brendel-34013_desire_i-have-a-great-need-to-learn-what-the-no_1877181.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I have a great need to learn what the norm is by dealing with what is not the norm... with the grotesque and…” — Alfred Brendel", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Alfred Brendel", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-brendel/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I have a great need to...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-brendel/i-have-a-great-need-to-learn-what-the-norm-is-by-dealing-with-what-is/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-brendel/i-have-a-great-need-to-learn-what-the-norm-is-by-dealing-with-what-is/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```