--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I think the grotesque can inspire…" description: "\"I think the grotesque can inspire intimacy (it draws us in) as well as awe, like the cabinets of curiosities.\" — Anna Journey" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/450/anna-journey-36840_awe_i-think-the-grotesque-can-inspire-intima_2627486.jpg" --- # I think the grotesque can inspire intimacy (it draws us… ![“I think the grotesque can inspire intimacy (it draws us in) as well as awe, like the cabinets of curiosities.” quote by Anna Journey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/450/anna-journey-36840_awe_i-think-the-grotesque-can-inspire-intima_2627486.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/450/anna-journey-36840_awe_i-think-the-grotesque-can-inspire-intima_2627486.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/450/anna-journey-36840_awe_i-think-the-grotesque-can-inspire-intima_2627486.jpg) > “I think the grotesque can inspire intimacy (it draws us in) as well as awe, like the cabinets of curiosities.” [Anna Journey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-journey/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The grotesque can foster intimacy and awe, similar to curiosity cabinets, suggesting that confronting the strange can deepen emotional connections. **In simple terms:** Grotesque art can create intimacy and awe. Key Takeaway Engage with the strange to deepen connection. Themes grotesque intimacy awe curiosity art Mood intriguing thought‑provoking Type artistic philosophical When to use this quote - museum visits - art therapy - creative writing - design projects Key Concepts aesthetics psychology Questions to Reflect On - What draws you to the grotesque? - How can strange art build empathy? A Different Perspective Not everyone feels comfort with the grotesque. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Awe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/awe/) [Cabinets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cabinets/) [Curiosity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/curiosity/) [Draws](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/draws/) [Grotesque](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grotesque/) [Grotesque Inspire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grotesque-inspire-2162054/) [Inspire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspire/) [Inspire Intimacy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspire-intimacy-2162056/) [Intimacy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intimacy/) [Intimacy Draws](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intimacy-draws-2162055/) [Think Grotesque](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/think-grotesque-1080727/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wells/) ## Related quotes > [Skywhale is ambiguous. I think she is beautiful, but a lot of people think she is grotesque. You are drawn in and repelled at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-piccinini/skywhale-is-ambiguous-i-think-she-is-beautiful-but-a-lot-of-people/) [Patricia Piccinini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-piccinini/) > [I'm not sure I agree with the thesis, because I think that even though something grotesque or gross has been part of film since…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-reitman/i-m-not-sure-i-agree-with-the-thesis-because-i-think-that-even-though/) [Ivan Reitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-reitman/) > [I tend to gravitate toward the realm of superstition (cures and such) and odd scientific facts (like bioluminescent shrimp and fistulated cows). I like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-journey/i-tend-to-gravitate-toward-the-realm-of-superstition-cures-and-such/) [Anna Journey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-journey/) > [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. The company is sometimes questionable and the landscape is grotesque. But you always come back.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-keneally/in-a-way-australia-is-like-catholicism-the-company-is-sometimes/) [Thomas Keneally](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-keneally/) > [I think that, honestly, people's censorship issues are personal but I disagree with most of those personal choices that I see others make. 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/) > [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/) ## More by Anna Journey > [I'm very interested in the materiality of language. I wonder if, perhaps, this comes from my background in the visual arts. I was a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-journey/i-m-very-interested-in-the-materiality-of-language-i-wonder-if/) [Anna Journey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-journey/) > [I tend to view the superstitions or fragments of myth as triggers for lyric inquiry. I also find I think of this kind of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-journey/i-tend-to-view-the-superstitions-or-fragments-of-myth-as-triggers-for/) [Anna Journey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-journey/) > [I prefer assonance and internal rhyme to end rhyme. I mean, the sonnet already looks like a box. Best not to get too boxed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-journey/i-prefer-assonance-and-internal-rhyme-to-end-rhyme-i-mean-the-sonnet/) [Anna Journey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-journey/) > [My obsessions tend to cluster, so I often have families of poems in which only a couple of them make it to the book.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-journey/my-obsessions-tend-to-cluster-so-i-often-have-families-of-poems-in/) [Anna Journey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-journey/) > [I tend to employ braided narrative threads in the lyric, so often echoes (of phrases or images) will occur and will hit my ear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-journey/i-tend-to-employ-braided-narrative-threads-in-the-lyric-so-often/) [Anna Journey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-journey/) > [Many of the poets I most admire have a way of embodying their peculiar obsessions via landscape that can sometimes seem magical.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-journey/many-of-the-poets-i-most-admire-have-a-way-of-embodying-their/) [Anna Journey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-journey/) > [Many of the poems weave autobiographical elements with fabular or mythic materials.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-journey/many-of-the-poems-weave-autobiographical-elements-with-fabular-or/) [Anna Journey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-journey/) > [I'm a compulsive enjamber. I'm drawn to half-meanings created by the line, so that's definitely an element of craft that's always on my mind.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-journey/i-m-a-compulsive-enjamber-i-m-drawn-to-half-meanings-created-by-the/) [Anna Journey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-journey/) > [Because I love narrative but am more lyrically inclined, I've learned that if I freight titles with narrative information (the who, what, when, where,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-journey/because-i-love-narrative-but-am-more-lyrically-inclined-i-ve-learned/) [Anna Journey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-journey/) > [I like to work with multiple sections because they lend themselves to the structure of the poem: its intensifications and arcs and closures. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-journey/i-like-to-work-with-multiple-sections-because-they-lend-themselves-to/) [Anna Journey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-journey/) > [I tend to gravitate toward the realm of superstition (cures and such) and odd scientific facts (like bioluminescent shrimp and fistulated cows). I like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-journey/i-tend-to-gravitate-toward-the-realm-of-superstition-cures-and-such/) [Anna Journey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-journey/) [Explore all 12 Anna Journey quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-journey/) ## More Awe quotes > [Because I've never had any higher education of any sort, I've never held in awe those who have had it or have a sense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-corbyn/because-i-ve-never-had-any-higher-education-of-any-sort-i-ve-never/) [Jeremy Corbyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-corbyn/) > [Of course the Dharma-body of the Buddha was the hedge at the bottom of the garden. At the same time, and no less obviously,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/of-course-the-dharma-body-of-the-buddha-was-the-hedge-at-the-bottom/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [When I look at the human brain I'm still in awe of it. Every single time you lift off the bone and open the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-carson/when-i-look-at-the-human-brain-i-m-still-in-awe-of-it-every-single/) [Benjamin Carson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-carson/) > [“I know you deserve better than me. You think I don’t know that? But if there was any woman made for me … it’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamie-mcguire/i-know-you-deserve-better-than-me-you-think-i-don-t-know-that-but-if/) [Jamie McGuire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamie-mcguire/) > [There are certain scenes that would awe an atheist into belief without the help of any other argument.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-gray/there-are-certain-scenes-that-would-awe-an-atheist-into-belief/) [Thomas Gray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-gray/) > [As we contemplate with reverence and awe how our Savior embraces us, comforts us, and heals us, let us commit to become His hands,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dieter-f-uchtdorf/as-we-contemplate-with-reverence-and-awe-how-our-savior-embraces-us/) [Dieter F. Uchtdorf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dieter-f-uchtdorf/) > [My journey deep into coma, outside this lowly physical realm and into the loftiest dwelling place of the almighty Creator, revealed the indescribably immense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eben-alexander/my-journey-deep-into-coma-outside-this-lowly-physical-realm-and-into/) [Eben Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eben-alexander/) > [Awe combined with intimacy is the essence of Christian worship.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/awe-combined-with-intimacy-is-the-essence-of-christian-worship/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Everything we perceive to be solid and static is made up of almost entirely empty space.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-p-kauffman/everything-we-perceive-to-be-solid-and-static-is-made-up-of-almost/) [Joseph P. Kauffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-p-kauffman/) > [“Oftentimes we call Life bitter names, but only when we ourselves are bitter and dark. And we deem her empty and unprofitable, but only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kahlil-gibran/oftentimes-we-call-life-bitter-names-but-only-when-we-ourselves-are/) [Kahlil Gibran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kahlil-gibran/) > [The laws of nature are the skeleton of the universe. They support it, give it shape, tie it together. Taken as a whole, they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-trefil/the-laws-of-nature-are-the-skeleton-of-the-universe-they-support-it/) [James Trefil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-trefil/) > [When you look at yourself and feel dissatisfaction about any part of you, you will continue to attract feelings of dissatisfaction, because the law…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rhonda-byrne/when-you-look-at-yourself-and-feel-dissatisfaction-about-any-part-of/) [Rhonda Byrne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rhonda-byrne/) > [“What can we make of the inexpressible joy of children? It is a kind of gratitude, I think—the gratitude of the ten-year-old who wakes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/what-can-we-make-of-the-inexpressible-joy-of-children-it-is-a-kind-of/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [Sometimes not seeing things can be a blessing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/august-strindberg/sometimes-not-seeing-things-can-be-a-blessing/) [August Strindberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/august-strindberg/) > [I'm always in awe at how fast television is and how quickly you're called upon to be 100 percent invested in a character with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/latanya-richardson/i-m-always-in-awe-at-how-fast-television-is-and-how-quickly-you-re/) [LaTanya Richardson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/latanya-richardson/) [Browse all 1,119 Awe quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/awe/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I think the grotesque can inspire intimacy (it draws us in) as well as awe, like the cabinets of curiosities.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Anna Journey" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-journey/i-think-the-grotesque-can-inspire-intimacy-it-draws-us-in-as-well-as/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Awe" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-journey/i-think-the-grotesque-can-inspire-intimacy-it-draws-us-in-as-well-as/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/450/anna-journey-36840_awe_i-think-the-grotesque-can-inspire-intima_2627486.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/450/anna-journey-36840_awe_i-think-the-grotesque-can-inspire-intima_2627486.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/450/anna-journey-36840_awe_i-think-the-grotesque-can-inspire-intima_2627486.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I think the grotesque can inspire intimacy (it draws us in) as well as awe, like the cabinets of curiosities.” — Anna Journey", "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": "Anna Journey", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-journey/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I think the grotesque can inspire...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-journey/i-think-the-grotesque-can-inspire-intimacy-it-draws-us-in-as-well-as/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-journey/i-think-the-grotesque-can-inspire-intimacy-it-draws-us-in-as-well-as/#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 } } ] } ```