--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Surrealism, n. Pure psychic automatism…" description: "\"Surrealism, n. Pure psychic automatism, by which it is intended to express, whether verbally or in writing, or in any other way, the real process of th..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9cd/andr-breton-2478_aesthetic_surrealism-n-pure-psychic-automatism-by_1813802.jpg" --- # Surrealism, n. Pure psychic automatism, by which it is… ![“Surrealism, n. Pure psychic automatism, by which it is intended to express, whether verbally or in writing, or in any other way, the real process of thought. Thought's dictation, free from any control by the reason, independent of any aesthetic or moral preoccupation.” quote by Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9cd/andr-breton-2478_aesthetic_surrealism-n-pure-psychic-automatism-by_1813802.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9cd/andr-breton-2478_aesthetic_surrealism-n-pure-psychic-automatism-by_1813802.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9cd/andr-breton-2478_aesthetic_surrealism-n-pure-psychic-automatism-by_1813802.jpg) > “Surrealism, n. Pure psychic automatism, by which it is intended to express, whether verbally or in writing, or in any other way, the real process of thought. Thought's dictation, free from any control by the reason, independent of any aesthetic or moral preoccupation.” [Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Surrealism seeks to capture the raw, uncontrolled flow of thought, free from rational or moral constraints. **In simple terms:** Surrealism captures raw thought. Key Takeaway Embrace free, unfiltered imagination. Themes art creativity freedom Mood experimental intellectual Type artistic philosophical When to use this quote - painting - writing - performance art Key Concepts psychoanalysis automatic writing avant‑garde Questions to Reflect On - How can you balance spontaneity with clarity? - When is structure beneficial? A Different Perspective Unrestrained expression may lack coherence. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Aesthetic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aesthetic/) [Automatism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/automatism/) [Moral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moral/) [Philosophy of Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy-of-mind/) [Process](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/process/) [Psychics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychics/) [Reason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason/) [Surrealism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/surrealism/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [Psychic automatism in its pure state, by which one proposes to express -- verbally, by means of the written word, or in any other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/psychic-automatism-in-its-pure-state-by-which-one-proposes-to-express/) [Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [“The real importance of automatism lay in the fact that it led to a different relation between the artist and the creative act. Where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-richardson/the-real-importance-of-automatism-lay-in-the-fact-that-it-led-to-a/) [Michael Richardson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-richardson/) > [Surrealism will usher you into death, which is a secret society. It will glove your hand, burying therein the profound M with which the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/surrealism-will-usher-you-into-death-which-is-a-secret-society-it-2/) [Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [We all love conflagrations. When the sky changes color, it is a dead man's passing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/we-all-love-conflagrations-when-the-sky-changes-color-it-is-a-dead/) [Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [ “L'union libre \[Freedom of Love\]" My wife with the hair of a wood fire With the thoughts of heat lightning With the waist of… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/l-union-libre-freedom-of-love-my-wife-with-the-hair-of-a-wood-fire/) [Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [The simplest act of surrealism is to walk out into the street, gun in hand, and shoot at random.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/the-simplest-act-of-surrealism-is-to-walk-out-into-the-street-gun-in/) [Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [Surrealism is based on the belief in the omnipotence of dreams, in the undirected play of thought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/surrealism-is-based-on-the-belief-in-the-omnipotence-of-dreams-in-the/) [Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [Perhaps my life is nothing but an image of this kind; perhaps I am doomed to retrace my steps under the illusion that I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/perhaps-my-life-is-nothing-but-an-image-of-this-kind-perhaps-i-am/) [Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [Nothing that surrounds us is object, all is subject.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/nothing-that-surrounds-us-is-object-all-is-subject/) [Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [Surrealism will usher you into death, which is a secret society. It will glove your hand, burying therein the profound M with which the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/surrealism-will-usher-you-into-death-which-is-a-secret-society-it/) [Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [One can understand why Surrealism was not afraid to make for itself a tenet of total revolt, complete insubordination, of sabotage according to rule,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/one-can-understand-why-surrealism-was-not-afraid-to-make-for-itself-a/) [Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [What is admirable about the fantastic is that there is no longer anything fantastic: there is only the real.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/what-is-admirable-about-the-fantastic-is-that-there-is-no-longer/) [Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [It was in the black mirror of anarchism that surrealism first recognised itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/it-was-in-the-black-mirror-of-anarchism-that-surrealism-first/) [Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [The imaginary is what tends to become real.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/the-imaginary-is-what-tends-to-become-real/) [Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [Surrealism is based on the belief in the superior reality of certain forms of previously neglected associations, in the omnipotence of dreams, in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/surrealism-is-based-on-the-belief-in-the-superior-reality-of-certain/) [Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) ## More by Andre Breton > [Of all the arts in which the wise excel, nature's chief masterpiece is writing well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/of-all-the-arts-in-which-the-wise-excel-nature-s-chief-masterpiece-is/) [Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [Under his (Marc Chagall, ed.) sole impulse metaphor made its triumphal entry into modern painting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/under-his-marc-chagall-ed-sole-impulse-metaphor-made-its-triumphal/) [Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [Psychic automatism in its pure state, by which one proposes to express -- verbally, by means of the written word, or in any other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/psychic-automatism-in-its-pure-state-by-which-one-proposes-to-express/) [Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [The art of Frida Kahlo is a ribbon around a bomb.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/the-art-of-frida-kahlo-is-a-ribbon-around-a-bomb/) [Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [“Let us not mince words: The marvelous is always beautiful, anything marvelous is beauitful, in fact only the marvelous is beautiful”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/let-us-not-mince-words-the-marvelous-is-always-beautiful-anything/) [Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [“There has never been any forbidden fruit. Only temptation is divine. To feel the need to vary the object of this temptation, to replace…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/there-has-never-been-any-forbidden-fruit-only-temptation-is-divine-to/) [André Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [“It was really a star, a star you were heading toward. You can't fail to reach it. Hearing you speak, I felt that nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/it-was-really-a-star-a-star-you-were-heading-toward-you-can-t-fail-to/) [André Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [“All my life my heart has yearned for a thing I cannot name.” andre breton”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/all-my-life-my-heart-has-yearned-for-a-thing-i-cannot-name-andre/) [andre breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [“Unless you have been inside a sanitarium you do not know that madmen are made there, just as criminals are made in our reformatories.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/unless-you-have-been-inside-a-sanitarium-you-do-not-know-that-madmen/) [André Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [A game: say something. Close your eyes and say something. Anything, a number, a name. Like this (she closes her eyes): Two, two what?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/a-game-say-something-close-your-eyes-and-say-something-anything-a/) [Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [...with the end of my breath, which is the beginning of yours.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/with-the-end-of-my-breath-which-is-the-beginning-of-yours/) [Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [Past and future monopolize the poet’s sensory and intellectual faculties, detached from the immediate spectacle. These two philtres become utterly clear the moment one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/past-and-future-monopolize-the-poet-s-sensory-and-intellectual/) [Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [If I place love above everything, it is because for me it is the most desperate, the most despairing state of affairs imaginable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/if-i-place-love-above-everything-it-is-because-for-me-it-is-the-most/) [Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [I am the soul in limbo.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/i-am-the-soul-in-limbo/) [Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [Surrealism will usher you into death, which is a secret society. It will glove your hand, burying therein the profound M with which the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/surrealism-will-usher-you-into-death-which-is-a-secret-society-it/) [Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) [Explore all 141 Andre Breton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) ## More Aesthetic quotes > [You feed yourself. Make sure you have all the information, whether it's aesthetic, scientific, mathematical, I don't care what it is. Then you walk…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/you-feed-yourself-make-sure-you-have-all-the-information-whether-it-s/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“Beauty in the European sense has always had a premeditated quality to it. We've always had an aesthetic intention and a long-range plan. That's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/beauty-in-the-european-sense-has-always-had-a-premeditated-quality-to/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [All efforts to render politics aesthetic culminate in one thing: war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-benjamin/all-efforts-to-render-politics-aesthetic-culminate-in-one-thing-war/) [Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) > [Design certainly has a cosmetic, aesthetic aim. It always aims at making things beautiful. But relevance is just as important. I often say, 'If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yves-behar/design-certainly-has-a-cosmetic-aesthetic-aim-it-always-aims-at/) [Yves Behar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yves-behar/) > [I don't think I was ever thinking critically about my aesthetic, I think it's enough when you're little just to understand that you can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tavi-gevinson/i-don-t-think-i-was-ever-thinking-critically-about-my-aesthetic-i/) [Tavi Gevinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tavi-gevinson/) > [I'm kind of still down with Virg Woolf on this one: "women must kill the aesthetic ideal through which they themselves have been 'killed'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lidia-yuknavitch/i-m-kind-of-still-down-with-virg-woolf-on-this-one-women-must-kill/) [Lidia Yuknavitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lidia-yuknavitch/) > [Virtue is as little to be acquired by learning as genius; nay, the idea is barren, and is only to be employed as an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-schopenhauer/virtue-is-as-little-to-be-acquired-by-learning-as-genius-nay-the-idea/) [Arthur Schopenhauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-schopenhauer/) > [There is a certain aesthetic pleasure in trying to imagine the unimaginable and failing, if you are a reader.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-s-byatt-2/there-is-a-certain-aesthetic-pleasure-in-trying-to-imagine-the/) [A. S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt-2/) > [I try to get the hip-hop aesthetic, most times without an MC. I don't use a rapper or a DJ to give it the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-glasper/i-try-to-get-the-hip-hop-aesthetic-most-times-without-an-mc-i-don-t/) [Robert Glasper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-glasper/) > [It's so important what you're doing in your life. It's tremendously important to the work, and no aesthetic theories take that into account.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-maus/it-s-so-important-what-you-re-doing-in-your-life-it-s-tremendously/) [John Maus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-maus/) > [It is not necessary to have an extravagant food budget in order to serve things with variety and tastefully cooked. It is not necessary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-schaeffer/it-is-not-necessary-to-have-an-extravagant-food-budget-in-order-to/) [Edith Schaeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-schaeffer/) > [In reality no food is valued solely for its nutritive power and no garment or house solely for the protection it affords against cold…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-von-mises/in-reality-no-food-is-valued-solely-for-its-nutritive-power-and-no/) [Ludwig von Mises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-von-mises/) > [Art is realistic when it strives to express an ethical ideal. Realism is striving for truth, and truth is always beautiful. Here the aesthetic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrei-tarkovsky/art-is-realistic-when-it-strives-to-express-an-ethical-ideal-realism/) [Andrei Tarkovsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrei-tarkovsky/) > [I had always wanted to expand to beauty, but I knew I wanted to be able to translate my design aesthetic in an authentic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-ronson/i-had-always-wanted-to-expand-to-beauty-but-i-knew-i-wanted-to-be/) [Charlotte Ronson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-ronson/) > [I wanted the press to become something of a movement. Not a movement committed to a particular 'ism', but a gathering together of writers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-metcalf/i-wanted-the-press-to-become-something-of-a-movement-not-a-movement/) John Metcalf [Browse all 953 Aesthetic quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aesthetic/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Surrealism, n. 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