--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If you can't make art, make your life a…" description: "\"If you can't make art, make your life a work of art.\" — Andre Malraux" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b0a/andre-malraux-5211_art_if-you-can-t-make-art-make-your-life-a-w_2922892.jpg" --- # If you can't make art, make your life a work of art. ![“If you can't make art, make your life a work of art.” quote by Andre Malraux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b0a/andre-malraux-5211_art_if-you-can-t-make-art-make-your-life-a-w_2922892.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b0a/andre-malraux-5211_art_if-you-can-t-make-art-make-your-life-a-w_2922892.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b0a/andre-malraux-5211_art_if-you-can-t-make-art-make-your-life-a-w_2922892.jpg) > “If you can't make art, make your life a work of art.” [Andre Malraux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-malraux/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. If you cannot create art, treat your life itself as a masterpiece, shaping it with intention and creativity. **In simple terms:** Live life as art when you can’t make art. Key Takeaway Make life artistic. Themes creativity self‑expression purpose life design Mood inspirational motivational Type creativity purpose When to use this quote - daily routines - career choices - personal branding Key Concepts philosophy personal development artistic mindset Questions to Reflect On - What daily actions turn your life into art? - How do you define artistic living? A Different Perspective Artistic ambition may feel unattainable for some. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Life work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-work/) [Works of art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/works-of-art/) ## Related quotes > [I would make my job a work of art. I would like whatever it is that I'm doing - everyone's experience of me, everyone's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-denver/i-would-make-my-job-a-work-of-art-i-would-like-whatever-it-is-that-i/) [John Denver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-denver/) > [You must build your life as if it were a work of art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-joshua-heschel/you-must-build-your-life-as-if-it-were-a-work-of-art/) [Abraham Joshua Heschel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-joshua-heschel/) > [Our life is a work of art. We must seek always to be its artist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kent-nerburn/our-life-is-a-work-of-art-we-must-seek-always-to-be-its-artist/) [Kent Nerburn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kent-nerburn/) > [Your life is a work of art that you will work on the rest of your life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-blanco/your-life-is-a-work-of-art-that-you-will-work-on-the-rest-of-your-life/) [Richard Blanco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-blanco/) > [There are so many different ways to make art. And so many good stories. You don't have to have a budget. I feel like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amandla-stenberg/there-are-so-many-different-ways-to-make-art-and-so-many-good-stories/) [Amandla Stenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amandla-stenberg/) > [“Make art, make a statement, make a protest. It's up to you”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-hucklesby/make-art-make-a-statement-make-a-protest-it-s-up-to-you/) [Jill Hucklesby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-hucklesby/) > [I feel like you have to make art because you have to make it. But the end result of it- that last stage- you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-iero/i-feel-like-you-have-to-make-art-because-you-have-to-make-it-but-the/) [Frank Iero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-iero/) > [I don't make art to make money, I make art so I can make art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/devendra-banhart/i-don-t-make-art-to-make-money-i-make-art-so-i-can-make-art/) [Devendra Banhart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/devendra-banhart/) > [“There are two things in this world that I want to do endlessly: make art and make love. And with you, they are one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-yeh/there-are-two-things-in-this-world-that-i-want-to-do-endlessly-make/) Jessica Yeh > [You make art, you make it from what you know, and that's the best way to make art. You get lost in the details…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boots-riley/you-make-art-you-make-it-from-what-you-know-and-that-s-the-best-way/) [Boots Riley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boots-riley/) > [“If I could talk about it, I would not have to do it. I make art, sometimes I make true art, and sometimes it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/if-i-could-talk-about-it-i-would-not-have-to-do-it-i-make-art-2/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [If I could talk about it, I would not have to do it. I make art, sometimes I make true art, and sometimes it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/if-i-could-talk-about-it-i-would-not-have-to-do-it-i-make-art/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [The reason I make art is because I get to make a choice about who I am, what I do, and what I put…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-sollee/the-reason-i-make-art-is-because-i-get-to-make-a-choice-about-who-i-2/) [Ben Sollee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-sollee/) > [The reason I make art is because I get to make a choice about who I am, what I do, and what I put…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-sollee/the-reason-i-make-art-is-because-i-get-to-make-a-choice-about-who-i/) [Ben Sollee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-sollee/) > [I make art, sometimes I make true art, and sometimes it fills the empty places in my life. Some of them. Not all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/i-make-art-sometimes-i-make-true-art-and-sometimes-it-fills-the-empty/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) ## More by Andre Malraux > [The mind supplies the idea of a nation, but what gives this idea its sentimental force is a community of dreams.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-malraux/the-mind-supplies-the-idea-of-a-nation-but-what-gives-this-idea-its/) [Andre Malraux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-malraux/) > [If we cannot shape our destiny there as no such thing as witchcraft.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-malraux/if-we-cannot-shape-our-destiny-there-as-no-such-thing-as-witchcraft/) [Andre Malraux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-malraux/) > [You can only make art that talks to the masses when you have nothing to say to them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-malraux/you-can-only-make-art-that-talks-to-the-masses-when-you-have-nothing/) [Andre Malraux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-malraux/) > [The great mystery is not that we should have been thrown down here at random between the profusion of matter and that of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-malraux/the-great-mystery-is-not-that-we-should-have-been-thrown-down-here-at/) [Andre Malraux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-malraux/) > [“The day may come when, contemplating a world given back to the primeval forst, a human survivor will have no means of even guessing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-malraux/the-day-may-come-when-contemplating-a-world-given-back-to-the/) [André Malraux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-malraux/) > [Some pictures are in the gallery because they belong to humanity and others because they belong to the United States.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-malraux/some-pictures-are-in-the-gallery-because-they-belong-to-humanity-and/) [Andre Malraux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-malraux/) > [The basic problem is that our civilization, which is a civilization of machines, can teach man everything except how to be a man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-malraux/the-basic-problem-is-that-our-civilization-which-is-a-civilization-of/) [Andre Malraux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-malraux/) > [The artist is not the transcriber of the world, he is its rival.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-malraux/the-artist-is-not-the-transcriber-of-the-world-he-is-its-rival/) [Andre Malraux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-malraux/) > [Every great masterpiece is a purification of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-malraux/every-great-masterpiece-is-a-purification-of-the-world/) [Andre Malraux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-malraux/) > [Even the West has known the architecture of empty space, whose object, for thousands of years, has been less to construct divine houses, than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-malraux/even-the-west-has-known-the-architecture-of-empty-space-whose-object/) [Andre Malraux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-malraux/) > [The crucial discovery was made that, in order to become painting, the universe seen by the artist had to become a private one created…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-malraux/the-crucial-discovery-was-made-that-in-order-to-become-painting-the/) [Andre Malraux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-malraux/) > [Art is a revolt against fate. All art is a revolt against man's fate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-malraux/art-is-a-revolt-against-fate-all-art-is-a-revolt-against-man-s-fate/) [Andre Malraux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-malraux/) > [The twenty-first century will be spiritual or it will not be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-malraux/the-twenty-first-century-will-be-spiritual-or-it-will-not-be/) [Andre Malraux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-malraux/) > [“I seek the crucial region of the soul where absolute Evil and fraternity clash.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-malraux/i-seek-the-crucial-region-of-the-soul-where-absolute-evil-and/) [Andre Malraux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-malraux/) > [Man knows that the world is not made on a human scale; and he wishes that it were.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-malraux/man-knows-that-the-world-is-not-made-on-a-human-scale-and-he-wishes/) [Andre Malraux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-malraux/) [Explore all 98 Andre Malraux quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-malraux/) ## 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": "If you can't make art, make your life a work of art.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Andre Malraux" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-malraux/if-you-can-t-make-art-make-your-life-a-work-of-art/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-malraux/if-you-can-t-make-art-make-your-life-a-work-of-art/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b0a/andre-malraux-5211_art_if-you-can-t-make-art-make-your-life-a-w_2922892.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b0a/andre-malraux-5211_art_if-you-can-t-make-art-make-your-life-a-w_2922892.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b0a/andre-malraux-5211_art_if-you-can-t-make-art-make-your-life-a-w_2922892.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If you can't make art, make your life a work of art.” — Andre Malraux", "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": "Andre Malraux", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-malraux/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "If you can't make art, make...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-malraux/if-you-can-t-make-art-make-your-life-a-work-of-art/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-malraux/if-you-can-t-make-art-make-your-life-a-work-of-art/#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 } } ] } ```