--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I have one aim—the grotesque. If I am not…" description: "\"I have one aim—the grotesque. If I am not grotesque I am nothing.\" — Aubrey Beardsley" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/14e/aubrey-beardsley-36473_aim_i-have-one-aim-the-grotesque-if-i-am-not_1482393.png" --- # I have one aim—the grotesque. If I am not grotesque I am… ![“I have one aim—the grotesque. If I am not grotesque I am nothing.” quote by Aubrey Beardsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/14e/aubrey-beardsley-36473_aim_i-have-one-aim-the-grotesque-if-i-am-not_1482393.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/14e/aubrey-beardsley-36473_aim_i-have-one-aim-the-grotesque-if-i-am-not_1482393.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/14e/aubrey-beardsley-36473_aim_i-have-one-aim-the-grotesque-if-i-am-not_1482393.png) > “I have one aim—the grotesque. If I am not grotesque I am nothing.” [Aubrey Beardsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aubrey-beardsley/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker embraces grotesqueness as essential to identity, implying that without it they feel empty. **In simple terms:** Grotesque defines self. Key Takeaway Accept your unique nature. Themes identity art grotesque Mood reflective bold Type philosophical artistic When to use this quote - art creation - personal branding - performance art - writing Key Concepts aesthetic philosophy self-concept Questions to Reflect On - Why is the grotesque vital to you? - How do you balance uniqueness with connection? A Different Perspective Embracing extremes may alienate audiences. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Aim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aim/) [Aim Grotesque](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aim-grotesque-5405888/) [Grotesque](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grotesque/) [Grotesque Grotesque](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grotesque-grotesque-5405889/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) ## Related quotes > [If I am not grotesque, I am nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aubrey-beardsley/if-i-am-not-grotesque-i-am-nothing/) [Aubrey Beardsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aubrey-beardsley/) > [The more grotesque your boss's pay and the less he has do to earn it, the bigger the motivation for you to work with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-harford/the-more-grotesque-your-boss-s-pay-and-the-less-he-has-do-to-earn-it/) [Tim Harford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-harford/) > [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. 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 Aubrey Beardsley > [Things shape themselves before my eyes just as a I draw them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aubrey-beardsley/things-shape-themselves-before-my-eyes-just-as-a-i-draw-them/) [Aubrey Beardsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aubrey-beardsley/) > [When an Englishman has professed his belief in the supremacy of Shakespeare amongst all poets, he feels himself excused from the general study of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aubrey-beardsley/when-an-englishman-has-professed-his-belief-in-the-supremacy-of/) [Aubrey Beardsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aubrey-beardsley/) > [How few of our young English impressionists knew the difference between a palette and a picture! However, I believe that Walter Sickert did -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aubrey-beardsley/how-few-of-our-young-english-impressionists-knew-the-difference/) [Aubrey Beardsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aubrey-beardsley/) > [What is a portrait good for, unless it shows just how the subject was seen by the painter? In the old days before photography…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aubrey-beardsley/what-is-a-portrait-good-for-unless-it-shows-just-how-the-subject-was/) [Aubrey Beardsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aubrey-beardsley/) > [I have always done my sketches, as people would say, for the fun of it... I have worked to amuse myself, and if it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aubrey-beardsley/i-have-always-done-my-sketches-as-people-would-say-for-the-fun-of-it/) [Aubrey Beardsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aubrey-beardsley/) > [No language is rude that can boast polite writers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aubrey-beardsley/no-language-is-rude-that-can-boast-polite-writers/) [Aubrey Beardsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aubrey-beardsley/) > [If I am not grotesque, I am nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aubrey-beardsley/if-i-am-not-grotesque-i-am-nothing/) [Aubrey Beardsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aubrey-beardsley/) > [Advertisement is an absolute necessity of modern life, and if it can be made beautiful as well as obvious, so much the better for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aubrey-beardsley/advertisement-is-an-absolute-necessity-of-modern-life-and-if-it-can/) [Aubrey Beardsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aubrey-beardsley/) > [“People hate to see their vices depicted, but vice is terrible and it should be depicted.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aubrey-beardsley/people-hate-to-see-their-vices-depicted-but-vice-is-terrible-and-it/) [Aubrey Beardsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aubrey-beardsley/) > [All humanity inspires me. Every passer-by is my unconscious sitter; and as strange as it may seem, I really draw folk as I see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aubrey-beardsley/all-humanity-inspires-me-every-passer-by-is-my-unconscious-sitter-and/) [Aubrey Beardsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aubrey-beardsley/) > [In the present age, alas! our pens are ravished by unlettered authors and unmannered critics, that make a havoc rather than a building, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aubrey-beardsley/in-the-present-age-alas-our-pens-are-ravished-by-unlettered-authors/) [Aubrey Beardsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aubrey-beardsley/) > [It takes only one man to make an artist, but forty to make an Academician.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aubrey-beardsley/it-takes-only-one-man-to-make-an-artist-but-forty-to-make-an/) [Aubrey Beardsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aubrey-beardsley/) [Explore all 13 Aubrey Beardsley quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aubrey-beardsley/) ## More Aim quotes > [If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zig-ziglar/if-you-aim-at-nothing-you-will-hit-it-every-time/) [Zig Ziglar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zig-ziglar/) > [A good aim surveys the present state of experience of pupils, and forming a tentative plan of treatment, keeps the plan constantly in view…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/a-good-aim-surveys-the-present-state-of-experience-of-pupils-and/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [The Christian man must aim at that complete obedience to God in which life finds its highest happiness, its greatest good, its perfect consummation,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-barclay/the-christian-man-must-aim-at-that-complete-obedience-to-god-in-which/) [William Barclay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-barclay/) > [ He \[an earnest young reporter\] seemed to share the view of many intelligent, well-educated, well-meaning people that, while adult literature may aim to be… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-paterson/he-an-earnest-young-reporter-seemed-to-share-the-view-of-many/) [Katherine Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-paterson/) > [In Bosnia, little children shot in the head by a guy who thinks it's okay to aim his gun at a child.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christiane-amanpour/in-bosnia-little-children-shot-in-the-head-by-a-guy-who-thinks-it-s/) [Christiane Amanpour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christiane-amanpour/) > [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/) > [My aim was to make money for the bank. You lose track of the amounts involved when you are engaged in this kind of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerome-kerviel/my-aim-was-to-make-money-for-the-bank-you-lose-track-of-the-amounts/) [Jerome Kerviel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerome-kerviel/) > [My only aim is to clock a time that everyone remembers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hima-das/my-only-aim-is-to-clock-a-time-that-everyone-remembers/) [Hima Das](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hima-das/) > [My main aim has always been to do good quality films with roles that have some substance. With Power and Beauty there were loads…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natasha-henstridge/my-main-aim-has-always-been-to-do-good-quality-films-with-roles-that/) [Natasha Henstridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natasha-henstridge/) > [ I really enjoyed it - being involved in watching rushes and playback \[in "The Invisible Woman"\]. Ralph \[Fiennes\] was very open to my input,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felicity-jones/i-really-enjoyed-it-being-involved-in-watching-rushes-and-playback-in/) [Felicity Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felicity-jones/) > [My aim is to be counted among the top players.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/babar-azam/my-aim-is-to-be-counted-among-the-top-players/) [Babar Azam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/babar-azam/) > [The single aim of my life is that every child is: free to be a child, free to grow and develop, free to eat,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kailash-satyarthi/the-single-aim-of-my-life-is-that-every-child-is-free-to-be-a-child/) [Kailash Satyarthi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kailash-satyarthi/) > [The aim of good prose words is to mean what they say. The aim of good poetical words is to mean what they do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/the-aim-of-good-prose-words-is-to-mean-what-they-say-the-aim-of-good/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Prescribing hard work for the soft, or easy work for the hardy, is generally nonsense. What is always needed in any aim is right…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idries-shah/prescribing-hard-work-for-the-soft-or-easy-work-for-the-hardy-is/) [Idries Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idries-shah/) > [To be normal is the ultimate aim of the unsuccessful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/to-be-normal-is-the-ultimate-aim-of-the-unsuccessful/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) [Browse all 3,047 Aim quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aim/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I have one aim—the grotesque. If I am not grotesque I am nothing.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Aubrey Beardsley" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aubrey-beardsley/i-have-one-aim-the-grotesque-if-i-am-not-grotesque-i-am-nothing/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Aim" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aubrey-beardsley/i-have-one-aim-the-grotesque-if-i-am-not-grotesque-i-am-nothing/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/14e/aubrey-beardsley-36473_aim_i-have-one-aim-the-grotesque-if-i-am-not_1482393.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/14e/aubrey-beardsley-36473_aim_i-have-one-aim-the-grotesque-if-i-am-not_1482393.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/14e/aubrey-beardsley-36473_aim_i-have-one-aim-the-grotesque-if-i-am-not_1482393.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I have one aim—the grotesque. If I am not grotesque I am nothing.” — Aubrey Beardsley", "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": "Aubrey Beardsley", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aubrey-beardsley/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I have one aim—the grotesque. If...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aubrey-beardsley/i-have-one-aim-the-grotesque-if-i-am-not-grotesque-i-am-nothing/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aubrey-beardsley/i-have-one-aim-the-grotesque-if-i-am-not-grotesque-i-am-nothing/#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 } } ] } ```