--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There is no such thing as a long piece of…" description: "\"There is no such thing as a long piece of work, except one that you dare not start.\" — Charles Baudelaire" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba8/charles-baudelaire-473_dare_there-is-no-such-thing-as-a-long-piece-o_44213.jpg" --- # There is no such thing as a long piece of work, except one… ![“There is no such thing as a long piece of work, except one that you dare not start.” quote by Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba8/charles-baudelaire-473_dare_there-is-no-such-thing-as-a-long-piece-o_44213.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba8/charles-baudelaire-473_dare_there-is-no-such-thing-as-a-long-piece-o_44213.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba8/charles-baudelaire-473_dare_there-is-no-such-thing-as-a-long-piece-o_44213.jpg) > “There is no such thing as a long piece of work, except one that you dare not start.” [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Procrastination disguises itself as a reluctance to begin, making any task seem endless until you take the first step. **In simple terms:** Fear of starting inflates perceived length. Key Takeaway Start to shrink the work. Themes procrastination motivation psychology productivity self‑discipline Mood determined encouraging Type motivational reflective When to use this quote - starting a new project - writing a paper - launching a product - learning a skill Key Concepts initiative perception effort Practical Applications - break tasks into small steps - set a timer to begin Questions to Reflect On - What small action can you take right now? - How does the idea of "daring" change your approach? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet ## Related quotes > [A short piece of work means as much to me as a long piece of work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-pinter/a-short-piece-of-work-means-as-much-to-me-as-a-long-piece-of-work/) [Harold Pinter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-pinter/) > [In order for a long piece of work to engage a novelist over an extended period of time, it has to deal with questions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/in-order-for-a-long-piece-of-work-to-engage-a-novelist-over-an/) [Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/) > [I've written a very long piece of music recently, the 'Veil of the Temple,' which lasts about seven hours. It's really a kind of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-tavener/i-ve-written-a-very-long-piece-of-music-recently-the-veil-of-the/) [John Tavener](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-tavener/) > [I am very, very old-fashioned and clumsy. I use those long reporter notebooks. This is what a troglodyte I am. The night before I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-quammen/i-am-very-very-old-fashioned-and-clumsy-i-use-those-long-reporter/) [David Quammen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-quammen/) > [You have to just do your thing, as long as you don't hurt anybody along the way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heidi-klum/you-have-to-just-do-your-thing-as-long-as-you-don-t-hurt-anybody/) [Heidi Klum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heidi-klum/) > [Life is full of surprises so don't hang on to one thing for too long.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-full-of-surprises-so-don-t-hang-on-to-one-thing-for-too-long/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Where you're born is sometimes all that separates a sure thing from a long shot.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tupelo-hassman/where-you-re-born-is-sometimes-all-that-separates-a-sure-thing-from-a/) [Tupelo Hassman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tupelo-hassman/) > [“You have to look at a thing long enough for it to really show itself to you...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-milford/you-have-to-look-at-a-thing-long-enough-for-it-to-really-show-itself/) [Kate Milford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-milford/) > [It doesn't matter if the item isn't your favorite thing as long it fits well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tan-france/it-doesn-t-matter-if-the-item-isn-t-your-favorite-thing-as-long-it/) [Tan France](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tan-france/) > [My whole thing has always been as long as everybody else is going through it, I can go through it as well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-sweat/my-whole-thing-has-always-been-as-long-as-everybody-else-is-going/) [Keith Sweat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-sweat/) > [“The next best thing never last for too long”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cecelia-ahern/the-next-best-thing-never-last-for-too-long/) [Cecelia Ahern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cecelia-ahern/) > [Letting you go is the hardest thing I ever done.. As long you happy I will do it](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-low/letting-you-go-is-the-hardest-thing-i-ever-done-as-long-you-happy-i/) [Alex Low](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-low/) > [I'm afraid that if you look at a thing long enough, it loses all of its meaning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-warhol/i-m-afraid-that-if-you-look-at-a-thing-long-enough-it-loses-all-of/) [Andy Warhol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-warhol/) > [The thing we long for, that we are For one transcendent moment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-russell-lowell/the-thing-we-long-for-that-we-are-for-one-transcendent-moment/) [James Russell Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-russell-lowell/) > [You cut their money back, for one thing... I go back a long way with the NEA.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlton-heston/you-cut-their-money-back-for-one-thing-i-go-back-a-long-way-with-the/) [Charlton Heston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlton-heston/) ## More by Charles Baudelaire > [Who would dare assign to art the sterile function of imitating nature?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/who-would-dare-assign-to-art-the-sterile-function-of-imitating-nature/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [“The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist”—Charles Baudelaire “The second greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/the-greatest-trick-the-devil-ever-pulled-was-convincing-the-world-he/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [“This life is a hospital in which each patient is possessed by the desire to change beds. One wants to suffer in front of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/this-life-is-a-hospital-in-which-each-patient-is-possessed-by-the/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [Our religion is itself profoundly sad - a religion of universal anguish, and one which, because of its very catholicity, grants full liberty to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/our-religion-is-itself-profoundly-sad-a-religion-of-universal-anguish/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [But the true voyagers are only those who leave Just to be leaving; hearts light, like balloons, They never turn aside from their fatality…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/but-the-true-voyagers-are-only-those-who-leave-just-to-be-leaving/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [Amer savoir, celui qu'on tire du voyage! Bitter is the knowledge gained in travelling.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/amer-savoir-celui-qu-on-tire-du-voyage-bitter-is-the-knowledge-gained/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [“Car je cherche le vide, el le noir, el le nu!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/car-je-cherche-le-vide-el-le-noir-el-le-nu/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [“I can barely conceive a type of beauty in which there is no melancholy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/i-can-barely-conceive-a-type-of-beauty-in-which-there-is-no-melancholy/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [The vices of man, as full of horror as one might suppose them to be, contain the proof (if in nothing else but their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/the-vices-of-man-as-full-of-horror-as-one-might-suppose-them-to-be/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [Multitude, solitude: equal and interchangeable terms for the active and prolific poet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/multitude-solitude-equal-and-interchangeable-terms-for-the-active-and/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [Any healthy man can go without food for two days - but not without poetry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/any-healthy-man-can-go-without-food-for-two-days-but-not-without/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [Drink wine, drink poetry, drink virtue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/drink-wine-drink-poetry-drink-virtue/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [Man loves man so much that when he flees the city, it is still to seek the crowd, that is, to rebuild the city…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/man-loves-man-so-much-that-when-he-flees-the-city-it-is-still-to-seek/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [“—But why is she weeping? She, the perfect beauty, Who could put at her feet the conquered human race, What secret malady gnaws at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/but-why-is-she-weeping-she-the-perfect-beauty-who-could-put-at-her/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [Beauty is the sole ambition, the exclusive goal of Taste.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/beauty-is-the-sole-ambition-the-exclusive-goal-of-taste/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) [Explore all 454 Charles Baudelaire quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) ## More Dare quotes > [down with ought with because with every brain that thinks it thinks nor dares to feel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/down-with-ought-with-because-with-every-brain-that-thinks-it-thinks/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [This is no time for ease and comfort. It is time to dare and endure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/this-is-no-time-for-ease-and-comfort-it-is-time-to-dare-and-endure/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [Life is more complicated than we think, yet far simpler than anyone dares to imagine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-durrell/life-is-more-complicated-than-we-think-yet-far-simpler-than-anyone/) [Lawrence Durrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-durrell/) > [I should not dare to call my soul my own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-barrett-browning/i-should-not-dare-to-call-my-soul-my-own/) [Elizabeth Barrett Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-barrett-browning/) > [Nobody calls me a racist when I do redneck jokes. Jeff Foxworthy can do as many 'You might be a redneck jokes' as he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-mencia/nobody-calls-me-a-racist-when-i-do-redneck-jokes-jeff-foxworthy-can/) [Carlos Mencia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-mencia/) > [Dare to dream! Never underestimate the Power of Our Dream!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/dare-to-dream-never-underestimate-the-power-of-our-dream/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Why stop now? Seduce me, Brian.I dare you." "I've always found it hard to turn aside a dare.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nora-roberts/why-stop-now-seduce-me-brian-i-dare-you-i-ve-always-found-it-hard-to/) [Nora Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nora-roberts/) > [This moment in which you experience stillness is every moment. Don't let the mind seduce you into the past or future. Stay in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adyashanti/this-moment-in-which-you-experience-stillness-is-every-moment-don-t/) [Adyashanti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adyashanti/) > [Never can true courage dwell with them, Who, playing tricks with conscience, dare not look At their own vices.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-taylor-coleridge/never-can-true-courage-dwell-with-them-who-playing-tricks-with/) [Samuel Taylor Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-taylor-coleridge/) > [I tend to get reactions just by being on screen, because I guess I'm physically queer-coded or something. Especially with 'Star Wars;' I get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katy-o-brian/i-tend-to-get-reactions-just-by-being-on-screen-because-i-guess-i-m/) [Katy O'Brian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katy-o-brian/) > [Who would dare assign to art the sterile function of imitating nature?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/who-would-dare-assign-to-art-the-sterile-function-of-imitating-nature/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [The privilege of prayer to me is one of the most cherished possessions, because faith and experience alike convince me that God himself sees…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-grenfell/the-privilege-of-prayer-to-me-is-one-of-the-most-cherished/) [Wilfred Grenfell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-grenfell/) > [Let a man who has to make his fortune in life remember this maxim: Attacking is the only secret. 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The farthest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/valerie-solanas/the-male-dares-to-be-different-to-the-degree-that-he-accepts-his/) [Valerie Solanas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/valerie-solanas/) > [I drink, I huff, I strut, look big and stare; And all this I can do, because I dare.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theresa-villiers/i-drink-i-huff-i-strut-look-big-and-stare-and-all-this-i-can-do/) [Theresa Villiers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theresa-villiers/) Browse all 2,415 Dare quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There is no such thing as a long piece of work, except one that you dare not start.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Charles Baudelaire" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/there-is-no-such-thing-as-a-long-piece-of-work-except-one-that-you/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Dare" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/there-is-no-such-thing-as-a-long-piece-of-work-except-one-that-you/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba8/charles-baudelaire-473_dare_there-is-no-such-thing-as-a-long-piece-o_44213.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba8/charles-baudelaire-473_dare_there-is-no-such-thing-as-a-long-piece-o_44213.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba8/charles-baudelaire-473_dare_there-is-no-such-thing-as-a-long-piece-o_44213.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There is no such thing as a long piece of work, except one that you dare not start.” — Charles Baudelaire", "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": "Charles Baudelaire", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "There is no such thing as...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/there-is-no-such-thing-as-a-long-piece-of-work-except-one-that-you/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/there-is-no-such-thing-as-a-long-piece-of-work-except-one-that-you/#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 } } ] } ```