--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The dimensions of a work of art are…" description: "\"The dimensions of a work of art are seldom realized by the author until the work is accomplished. It is like a flowering dream. Ideas grow, budding sil..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/520/carson-mccullers-1694_accomplished_the-dimensions-of-a-work-of-art-are-seld_125528.jpg" --- # The dimensions of a work of art are seldom realized by the… ![“The dimensions of a work of art are seldom realized by the author until the work is accomplished. It is like a flowering dream. Ideas grow, budding silently, and there are a thousand illuminations coming day by day as the work progresses. A seed grows in writing as in nature. The seed of the idea…” quote by Carson McCullers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/520/carson-mccullers-1694_accomplished_the-dimensions-of-a-work-of-art-are-seld_125528.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/520/carson-mccullers-1694_accomplished_the-dimensions-of-a-work-of-art-are-seld_125528.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/520/carson-mccullers-1694_accomplished_the-dimensions-of-a-work-of-art-are-seld_125528.jpg) > “The dimensions of a work of art are seldom realized by the author until the work is accomplished. It is like a flowering dream. Ideas grow, budding silently, and there are a thousand illuminations coming day by day as the work progresses. A seed grows in writing as in nature. The seed of the idea is developed by both labor and the unconscious, and the struggle that goes on between them.” [Carson McCullers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carson-mccullers/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Artistic creation unfolds like a seed, nurtured by conscious effort and unconscious impulses, revealing dimensions the creator only perceives after completion. **In simple terms:** Art grows from hidden ideas and effort. Key Takeaway Creative work emerges from conscious and unconscious collaboration. Themes creativity process art subconscious Mood reflective introspective Type creative metaphorical When to use this quote - author revising a novel - musician improvising a piece - designer iterating a prototype Key Concepts growth metaphor Practical Applications - Allow incubation periods for ideas - Balance structured work with free exploration Questions to Reflect On - How does the unconscious shape artistic decisions? - When does an artist become aware of a work's full scope? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Accomplished](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accomplished/) [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Day by day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/day-by-day/) [Dimensions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dimensions/) [Dream](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dream/) [Flowering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flowering/) [Goes on](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/goes-on/) [Grows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grows/) [Grows Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grows-writing-1454599/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Ideas Grow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas-grow-254696/) [Illumination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/illumination/) [Labor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/labor/) [Progress](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/progress/) [Seed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seed/) [Seed Grows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seed-grows-324124/) [Seeds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seeds/) [Struggle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/struggle/) [Thousand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thousand/) [Unconscious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unconscious/) [Works of art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/works-of-art/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) [Writing Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-nature-492646/) ## Related quotes > [The desire to write grows with writing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/desiderius-erasmus/the-desire-to-write-grows-with-writing/) [Desiderius Erasmus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/desiderius-erasmus/) > [Writing is nature's way of letting you know how sloppy your thinking is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/writing-is-nature-s-way-of-letting-you-know-how-sloppy-your-thinking/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It seems to me that 'women's writing' by nature would not seek equivalence in the male world. It would be a writing that sought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-cusk/it-seems-to-me-that-women-s-writing-by-nature-would-not-seek/) [Rachel Cusk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-cusk/) > [I make no apology for writing in nature's age-old and unaging language, of whose images we build our paradises, Broceliande and Brindavan, the Forest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-raine/i-make-no-apology-for-writing-in-nature-s-age-old-and-unaging/) [Kathleen Raine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-raine/) > [For me, novel-writing, by its nature, contains months of feeling lost, gloomy, fatally misguided. The challenge has always been in assuring myself that by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-dolnick/for-me-novel-writing-by-its-nature-contains-months-of-feeling-lost/) [Ben Dolnick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-dolnick/) > [From the seed grows a root, then a sprout; from the sprout, the seedling leaves; from the leaves, the stem; around the stem, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-caroline-richards/from-the-seed-grows-a-root-then-a-sprout-from-the-sprout-the-seedling/) [Mary Caroline Richards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-caroline-richards/) > [You have to get up and plant the seed and see if it grows, but you cant just wait around, you have to water…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bootsy-collins/you-have-to-get-up-and-plant-the-seed-and-see-if-it-grows-but-you/) [Bootsy Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bootsy-collins/) > [Just as a seed grows with the warmth of the sun, so our positive qualities grow when we put our attention on them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arielle-ford/just-as-a-seed-grows-with-the-warmth-of-the-sun-so-our-positive/) [Arielle Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arielle-ford/) > [Life is like a planted seed... how it grows...all depends on your decisions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-like-a-planted-seed-how-it-grows-all-depends-on-your-decisions/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Love is a seed that only grows when you plant it!..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gbatiste/love-is-a-seed-that-only-grows-when-you-plant-it/) [GBatiste](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gbatiste/) > [“Hope is a seed that grows inside us from the moment we are born”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-willd/hope-is-a-seed-that-grows-inside-us-from-the-moment-we-are-born/) [J. D. Willd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-willd/) > [Faith is a seed that grows in a damp soul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajanarayanan/faith-is-a-seed-that-grows-in-a-damp-soul/) [Rajanarayanan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajanarayanan/) > [You never quite know what you do in life that leaves a seed behind that grows into an oak tree.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-portillo/you-never-quite-know-what-you-do-in-life-that-leaves-a-seed-behind/) [Michael Portillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-portillo/) > [I like to come up with new ideas and see them grow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ananya-birla/i-like-to-come-up-with-new-ideas-and-see-them-grow/) [Ananya Birla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ananya-birla/) > [The teacher is one who makes two ideas grow where only one grew before.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elbert-hubbard/the-teacher-is-one-who-makes-two-ideas-grow-where-only-one-grew-before/) [Elbert Hubbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elbert-hubbard/) ## More by Carson McCullers > [“Because things accumulate around your name," said Berenice. "You have a name and one thing after another happens to you, and you behave in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carson-mccullers/because-things-accumulate-around-your-name-said-berenice-you-have-a/) [Carson McCullers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carson-mccullers/) > [It was like she was cheated. Only nobody had cheated her. So there was nobody to take it out on. However, just the same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carson-mccullers/it-was-like-she-was-cheated-only-nobody-had-cheated-her-so-there-was/) [Carson McCullers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carson-mccullers/) > [“Love is a joint experience between two persons—but the fact that it is a joint experience does not mean that it is a similar…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carson-mccullers/love-is-a-joint-experience-between-two-persons-but-the-fact-that-it/) [Carson McCullers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carson-mccullers/) > [The thinking mind is best controlled by the imagination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carson-mccullers/the-thinking-mind-is-best-controlled-by-the-imagination/) [Carson McCullers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carson-mccullers/) > [“He was like a man who had served a term in prison or had been to Harvard College or had left for a long…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carson-mccullers/he-was-like-a-man-who-had-served-a-term-in-prison-or-had-been-to/) [Carson McCullers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carson-mccullers/) > [Comparing the Brooklyn that I know with Manhattan is like comparing a comfortable and complacent duenna to her more brilliant and neurotic sister.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carson-mccullers/comparing-the-brooklyn-that-i-know-with-manhattan-is-like-comparing-a/) [Carson McCullers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carson-mccullers/) > [“Son, do you know how love should be begun?" The boy sat small and listening and still. Slowly he shook his head. The old…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carson-mccullers/son-do-you-know-how-love-should-be-begun-the-boy-sat-small-and/) [Carson McCullers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carson-mccullers/) > [The most fatal thing a man can do is try to stand alone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carson-mccullers/the-most-fatal-thing-a-man-can-do-is-try-to-stand-alone/) [Carson McCullers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carson-mccullers/) > [Now hoppin'-john was F. Jasmine's very favorite food. She had always warned them to wave a plate of rice and peas before her nose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carson-mccullers/now-hoppin-john-was-f-jasmine-s-very-favorite-food-she-had-always/) [Carson McCullers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carson-mccullers/) > [There's nothing that makes you so aware of the improvisation of human existence as a song unfinished. Or an old address book.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carson-mccullers/there-s-nothing-that-makes-you-so-aware-of-the-improvisation-of-human/) [Carson McCullers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carson-mccullers/) > [“Maybe when people longed for a thing that bad the longing made them trust in anything that might give it to them . .…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carson-mccullers/maybe-when-people-longed-for-a-thing-that-bad-the-longing-made-them/) [Carson McCullers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carson-mccullers/) > [“But the music did not come again. The tune was left broken, unfinished. And the drawn tightness she could no longer stand. She felt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carson-mccullers/but-the-music-did-not-come-again-the-tune-was-left-broken-unfinished/) [Carson McCullers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carson-mccullers/) > [“...we must remember that we all make the things of this earth of value because of labor.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carson-mccullers/we-must-remember-that-we-all-make-the-things-of-this-earth-of-value/) [Carson McCullers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carson-mccullers/) > [I have more to say than Hemingway, and God knows, I say it better than Faulkner.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carson-mccullers/i-have-more-to-say-than-hemingway-and-god-knows-i-say-it-better-than/) [Carson McCullers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carson-mccullers/) > [Passion is more important than justice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carson-mccullers/passion-is-more-important-than-justice/) [Carson McCullers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carson-mccullers/) [Explore all 211 Carson McCullers quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carson-mccullers/) ## More Accomplished quotes > [I never believed in trying to do anything. Whatever I set out to do I found I had already accomplished.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/i-never-believed-in-trying-to-do-anything-whatever-i-set-out-to-do-i/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [This is, for an accomplished Latino, an accomplished African American, an accomplished anyone who disproves stereotypes, it's a constant battle in your life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonia-sotomayor/this-is-for-an-accomplished-latino-an-accomplished-african-american/) [Sonia Sotomayor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sonia-sotomayor/) > [When you have accomplished your goal simply walk away. This is the path way to Heaven.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/when-you-have-accomplished-your-goal-simply-walk-away-this-is-the/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [... even the most sublimely accomplished non-stop talker can't consistently please.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-salinger-2/even-the-most-sublimely-accomplished-non-stop-talker-can-t/) [J. D. Salinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-salinger-2/) > [ \[U\]nless oppressed groups stick together, and on alliances of self interest rather than do-goodism; nothing can be accomplished in the long run to dismantle… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shulamith-firestone/u-nless-oppressed-groups-stick-together-and-on-alliances-of-self/) [Shulamith Firestone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shulamith-firestone/) > [Alas, you don't need monsters for monstrous deeds to be accomplished.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zygmunt-bauman/alas-you-don-t-need-monsters-for-monstrous-deeds-to-be-accomplished/) [Zygmunt Bauman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zygmunt-bauman/) > [Like all writers, he measured the achievements of others by what they had accomplished, asking of them that they measure him by what he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jorge-luis-borges/like-all-writers-he-measured-the-achievements-of-others-by-what-they/) [Jorge Luis Borges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jorge-luis-borges/) > [I'm proud of what I've accomplished and that is empowering.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/violet-chachki/i-m-proud-of-what-i-ve-accomplished-and-that-is-empowering/) [Violet Chachki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/violet-chachki/) > [We do not know today whether we are busy or idle. In times when we thought ourselves indolent, we have afterwards discovered that much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/we-do-not-know-today-whether-we-are-busy-or-idle-in-times-when-we/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [I don't know Beyoncé, but I have the impression that she's sincere, that she really is a feminist and wanted to put the word…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/i-don-t-know-beyonc-but-i-have-the-impression-that-she-s-sincere-that/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [The gain in self-confidence of having accomplished a tiresome labour is immense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arnold-bennett/the-gain-in-self-confidence-of-having-accomplished-a-tiresome-labour/) [Arnold Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arnold-bennett/) > [With Epcot Center, the Disney corporation has accomplished something I didn't think possible in today's world. They have created a land of make-believe that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/with-epcot-center-the-disney-corporation-has-accomplished-something-i/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Listing the polar bear under the Endangered Species Act could harm bear conservation efforts by eliminating revenues from the carefully-regulated sport hunting of polar…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-ridenour/listing-the-polar-bear-under-the-endangered-species-act-could-harm/) [Amy Ridenour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-ridenour/) > [“Great things can be accomplished, when it doesnt matter who gets the credit.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/great-things-can-be-accomplished-when-it-doesnt-matter-who-gets-the/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [If I could inspire you for even a moment to be yourself and love yourself, and not let what anyone has to say hinder…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-neal-hartry/if-i-could-inspire-you-for-even-a-moment-to-be-yourself-and-love/) [Joshua Neal Hartry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-neal-hartry/) [Browse all 1,379 Accomplished quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accomplished/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The dimensions of a work of art are seldom realized by the author until the work is accomplished. 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