--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: perhaps the only magician we have is the…" description: "\"perhaps the only magician we have is the artist.\" — Anais Nin" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fbf/anais-nin-288_art_perhaps-the-only-magician-we-have-is-the_1011875.png" --- # perhaps the only magician we have is the artist. ![“perhaps the only magician we have is the artist.” quote by Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fbf/anais-nin-288_art_perhaps-the-only-magician-we-have-is-the_1011875.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fbf/anais-nin-288_art_perhaps-the-only-magician-we-have-is-the_1011875.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fbf/anais-nin-288_art_perhaps-the-only-magician-we-have-is-the_1011875.png) > “perhaps the only magician we have is the artist.” [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Creativity is a magical force, and artists embody that transformative power. **In simple terms:** Artists are magical creators. Key Takeaway Cultivate artistic expression. Themes creativity magic art transformation imagination inspiration Mood inspired reflective optimistic Type aphilosophical inspirational reflective When to use this quote - writing workshops - visual arts projects - music composition - design thinking Key Concepts Surrealism psychology aesthetic theory Questions to Reflect On - How does your creative work change reality? - What magic do you see in everyday life? A Different Perspective May romanticize art without effort. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Magician](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/magician/) [Magician Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/magician-artist-2202578/) ## Related quotes > [Make no mistake about it, magick is an art form, and every true magician is an artist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lon-milo-duquette/make-no-mistake-about-it-magick-is-an-art-form-and-every-true/) [Lon Milo DuQuette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lon-milo-duquette/) > [Like a stage magician, the con artist misdirects suspicion. While everyone’s watching for him to pull a rabbit out of a hat, he’s actually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/holly-black/like-a-stage-magician-the-con-artist-misdirects-suspicion-while/) [Holly Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/holly-black/) > [“A great magician is not more magical than other magicians; he is just more magical in his presentation.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-kalantri/a-great-magician-is-not-more-magical-than-other-magicians-he-is-just/) [Amit Kalantri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-kalantri/) > [“The work of art still has something in common with enchantment: it posits its own, self-enclosed area, which is withdrawn from the context of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adorno-theodor-w/the-work-of-art-still-has-something-in-common-with-enchantment-it/) [Adorno, Theodor W](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adorno-theodor-w/) > [ I think for Lev \[Grossman\], C. S. Lewis was a huge inspiration from his childhood. I know that Brideshead Revisited is a book that… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hale-appleman/i-think-for-lev-grossman-c-s-lewis-was-a-huge-inspiration-from-his/) [Hale Appleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hale-appleman/) > [My dad's a prominent theatre director in Toronto, so I grew up in that world, directing and producing theater since I was a teenager.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-gass-donnelly/my-dad-s-a-prominent-theatre-director-in-toronto-so-i-grew-up-in-that/) [Ed Gass-Donnelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-gass-donnelly/) > [“A room that motivates you to dream is like a magician who gives you wings to fly!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/a-room-that-motivates-you-to-dream-is-like-a-magician-who-gives-you/) [Mehmet Murat ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [I'm a big Penn & Teller fan. But I myself was never very good; I was a teenage magician who performed at kids' parties.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ira-glass/i-m-a-big-penn-teller-fan-but-i-myself-was-never-very-good-i-was-a/) [Ira Glass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ira-glass/) > [Poetical taste is the only magician whose wand is not broken. No hand, except its own, can dissolve the fabric of beauty in which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/poetical-taste-is-the-only-magician-whose-wand-is-not-broken-no-hand/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [“If only I were a magician who could make things possible. I'd give objects the gift of defiance: banisters, gramaphones, guns, the napes of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sa-a-stani-i/if-only-i-were-a-magician-who-could-make-things-possible-i-d-give/) [Saša Stanišić](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sa-a-stani-i/) > [“He was going to sign the papers and he was going to be a motherfucking magician.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lev-grossman/he-was-going-to-sign-the-papers-and-he-was-going-to-be-a/) [Lev Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lev-grossman/) > [“This is the man who thinks too much, who stands back from his life and never lives it. He is caught in a web…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-l-moore/this-is-the-man-who-thinks-too-much-who-stands-back-from-his-life-and/) [Robert L. Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-l-moore/) > [In all forms of magick, the imagination or image-making faculty is the most important factor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-grant/in-all-forms-of-magick-the-imagination-or-image-making-faculty-is-the/) [Kenneth Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-grant/) > [Most magicians consider the palm an easy move to make. They are inclined to believe that they are 'getting away with it,' when they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dai-vernon/most-magicians-consider-the-palm-an-easy-move-to-make-they-are/) [Dai Vernon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dai-vernon/) > [“He sighed. "Look, love, I know I seem like a tactical genius, but really, I'm just a magician who occasionally kills a bunny or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/delilah-s-dawson/he-sighed-look-love-i-know-i-seem-like-a-tactical-genius-but-really-i/) [Delilah S. Dawson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/delilah-s-dawson/) ## More by Anais Nin > [I wanted to remember in order to be able to return.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/i-wanted-to-remember-in-order-to-be-able-to-return/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [“…For love it is never the same. What goes on inside is never the same just like this music which changes every instant. For…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/for-love-it-is-never-the-same-what-goes-on-inside-is-never-the-same/) [Anaïs Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [Jazz is the music of the body. The breath comes through brass. It is the body's breath, and the strings' wails and moans are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/jazz-is-the-music-of-the-body-the-breath-comes-through-brass-it-is/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [I have so strong a sense of creation, of tomorrow, that I cannot get drunk, knowing I will be less alive, less well, less…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/i-have-so-strong-a-sense-of-creation-of-tomorrow-that-i-cannot-get/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [We don't have a language for the senses. Feelings are images, sensations are like musical sounds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/we-don-t-have-a-language-for-the-senses-feelings-are-images/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [Strange, isn't it, that no chemical will give a human being the iridescence that illusions have given them? Give me your hat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/strange-isn-t-it-that-no-chemical-will-give-a-human-being-the/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [The personal, if it is deep enough, becomes universal, mythical, symbolic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/the-personal-if-it-is-deep-enough-becomes-universal-mythical-symbolic/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [Introspection is a devouring monster. You have to feed it with much material, much experience, many people, many places, many loves, many creations, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/introspection-is-a-devouring-monster-you-have-to-feed-it-with-much/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [In each studio there is a human being dressed in the full regalia of his myth fearing to expore a vulnerable opening, spreading not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/in-each-studio-there-is-a-human-being-dressed-in-the-full-regalia-of/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [I don't mind working, holding my ground intellectually, artistically; but as a woman, oh, God, as a woman I want to be dominated](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/i-don-t-mind-working-holding-my-ground-intellectually-artistically/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [“Laughter and tears are not separate experiences, with intervals of rest: they rush out together and it is like walking with a sword between…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/laughter-and-tears-are-not-separate-experiences-with-intervals-of/) [Anaïs Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [The basis of insincerity is the idealized image we hold of ourselves and wish to impose on others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/the-basis-of-insincerity-is-the-idealized-image-we-hold-of-ourselves/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [I write emotional algebra.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/i-write-emotional-algebra/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [The role of the writer is not to say what we can all say, but what we are unable to say. Most of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/the-role-of-the-writer-is-not-to-say-what-we-can-all-say-but-what-we/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [I say quotations are literary. They are good only when dealing with ideas, not with experience. Experience should be pure, unique.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/i-say-quotations-are-literary-they-are-good-only-when-dealing-with/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) [Explore all 715 Anais Nin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) ## 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": "perhaps the only magician we have is the artist.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Anais Nin" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/perhaps-the-only-magician-we-have-is-the-artist/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/perhaps-the-only-magician-we-have-is-the-artist/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fbf/anais-nin-288_art_perhaps-the-only-magician-we-have-is-the_1011875.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fbf/anais-nin-288_art_perhaps-the-only-magician-we-have-is-the_1011875.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fbf/anais-nin-288_art_perhaps-the-only-magician-we-have-is-the_1011875.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“perhaps the only magician we have is the artist.” — Anais Nin", "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": "Anais Nin", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "perhaps the only magician we have...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/perhaps-the-only-magician-we-have-is-the-artist/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/perhaps-the-only-magician-we-have-is-the-artist/#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 } } ] } ```