--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: An artist is a man who says a difficult…" description: "\"An artist is a man who says a difficult thing in a simple way\" — Charles Bukowski" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9d8/charles-bukowski-73_art_an-artist-is-a-man-who-says-a-difficult_410011.jpg" --- # An artist is a man who says a difficult thing in a simple… ![“An artist is a man who says a difficult thing in a simple way” quote by Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9d8/charles-bukowski-73_art_an-artist-is-a-man-who-says-a-difficult_410011.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9d8/charles-bukowski-73_art_an-artist-is-a-man-who-says-a-difficult_410011.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9d8/charles-bukowski-73_art_an-artist-is-a-man-who-says-a-difficult_410011.jpg) > “An artist is a man who says a difficult thing in a simple way” [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. An artist conveys complex ideas using clear, accessible language. **In simple terms:** Complex ideas made simple. Key Takeaway Simplify to communicate. Themes creativity communication clarity Mood thoughtful inspired Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - teaching - public speaking - writing - marketing Key Concepts minimalism artistic expression Questions to Reflect On - How can you convey depth without losing clarity? - When does simplicity become reduction? A Different Perspective Simplicity may oversimplify nuance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Artistry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artistry/) [Difficult thing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/difficult-thing/) [Difficult things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/difficult-things/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Novelists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novelists/) [Simple ways](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/simple-ways/) ## Related quotes > [The Runner Says its Possible but its Difficult & The Winner Says, its Difficult but its Possible So, ALWAYS Think Like a Winner…….](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sanjufago/the-runner-says-its-possible-but-its-difficult-the-winner-says-its/) [Sanjufago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sanjufago/) > [Intellectuals say simple things in difficult ways. Artists say difficult things in simple ways.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/intellectuals-say-simple-things-in-difficult-ways-artists-say/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [Everything was a trap: women, drugs, whiskey, wine, scotch, beer - even beer - cigars, and cigarettes. Traps: Work or no work. Traps: Artistry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/everything-was-a-trap-women-drugs-whiskey-wine-scotch-beer-even-beer/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [The artist is the man in any field, scientific or humanistic, who grasps the implications of his actions and of new knowledge in his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-mcluhan/the-artist-is-the-man-in-any-field-scientific-or-humanistic-who/) [Marshall McLuhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marshall-mcluhan/) > [“I have no sympathy with the belief that art is the restricted province of those who paint, sculpt, make music and verse. I hope…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-henri/i-have-no-sympathy-with-the-belief-that-art-is-the-restricted/) [Robert Henri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-henri/) > [The great artist is the man who most obviously succeeds in turning his pains to advantage, in letting suffering deepen his understanding and sensibility,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-kaufmann/the-great-artist-is-the-man-who-most-obviously-succeeds-in-turning/) [Walter Kaufmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kaufmann/) > [Art is a kind of innate drive that seizes a human being and makes him its instrument. The artist is not a person endowed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/art-is-a-kind-of-innate-drive-that-seizes-a-human-being-and-makes-him-3/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“An artist is a man who digests his own subjective impressions and knows how to find a general objective meaning in them, and how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maxim-gorky/an-artist-is-a-man-who-digests-his-own-subjective-impressions-and/) [Maxim Gorky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maxim-gorky/) > [Nothing can come out of an artist that is not in the man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/nothing-can-come-out-of-an-artist-that-is-not-in-the-man/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [The artist is a man who finds that the form or shape of things externally corresponds, in some strange way, to the movements of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-collier/the-artist-is-a-man-who-finds-that-the-form-or-shape-of-things/) Graham Collier > [An artist is a man who tries to express the inexpressible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alvin-langdon-coburn/an-artist-is-a-man-who-tries-to-express-the-inexpressible/) [Alvin Langdon Coburn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alvin-langdon-coburn/) > [Do whatever you do intensely. The artist is the man who leaves the crowd and goes pioneering. With him there is an idea which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-henri/do-whatever-you-do-intensely-the-artist-is-the-man-who-leaves-the/) [Robert Henri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-henri/) > [The artist is not a man who describes, but a man who feels.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-e-cummings/the-artist-is-not-a-man-who-describes-but-a-man-who-feels/) [e. e. cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-e-cummings/) > [An artist, a man, a failure, must proceed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-e-cummings/an-artist-a-man-a-failure-must-proceed/) [e. e. cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-e-cummings/) > [We are not being true to the artist as a man if we consider his art work junk simply because we differ with his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/we-are-not-being-true-to-the-artist-as-a-man-if-we-consider-his-art/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Charles Bukowski > [“sometimes when everything seems at its worst when all conspires and gnaws and the hours, days, weeks years seem wasted – stretched there upon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/sometimes-when-everything-seems-at-its-worst-when-all-conspires-and/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [well, death says, as he walks by, I'm going to get you anyhow no matter what you've been: writer, cab-driver, pimp, butcher, sky-diver, I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/well-death-says-as-he-walks-by-i-m-going-to-get-you-anyhow-no-matter/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [“There is only one place to write and that is alone at a typewriter. A writer who has to go into the streets is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/there-is-only-one-place-to-write-and-that-is-alone-at-a-typewriter-a/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [Even the stove and the refrigerator looked human, I mean good human - they seemed to have arms and voices and they said, hang…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/even-the-stove-and-the-refrigerator-looked-human-i-mean-good-human/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [“nerves twitching in the sheets -- to face the sunlight again, that's clearly trouble. I like the city better when the neon lights are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/nerves-twitching-in-the-sheets-to-face-the-sunlight-again-that-s/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [“Their Love Is Average, Seeks Average But There Is Genius In Their Hatred”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/their-love-is-average-seeks-average-but-there-is-genius-in-their/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [“I climbed the stairway (there was no elevator) and put the key in. The door swung open. Somebody had changed all the furniture around,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/i-climbed-the-stairway-there-was-no-elevator-and-put-the-key-in-the/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [“Strangers when you meet, strangers when you part -a gymnasium of bodies namelessly masturbating each other. People with no morals often considered themselves more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/strangers-when-you-meet-strangers-when-you-part-a-gymnasium-of-bodies/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [I like to change liquor stores frequently because the clerks got to know your habits if you went in night and day and bought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/i-like-to-change-liquor-stores-frequently-because-the-clerks-got-to/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [“I was like a turd that drew flies instead of like a flower that butterflies and bees desired. I wanted to live alone,I felt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/i-was-like-a-turd-that-drew-flies-instead-of-like-a-flower-that/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [It's 4:30 in the morning, it's always 4:30 in the morning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/it-s-4-30-in-the-morning-it-s-always-4-30-in-the-morning/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [I had no feeling for the things so many others needed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/i-had-no-feeling-for-the-things-so-many-others-needed/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [“I am sick with caring.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/i-am-sick-with-caring/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [I went home each night dizzy and sick. He was murdering me with the sound of his voice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/i-went-home-each-night-dizzy-and-sick-he-was-murdering-me-with-the/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [“the nights you fight best are when all the weapons are pointed at you, when all the voices hurl their insults while the dream…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/the-nights-you-fight-best-are-when-all-the-weapons-are-pointed-at-you/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) [Explore all 1,492 Charles Bukowski quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) ## 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": "An artist is a man who says a difficult thing in a simple way", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Charles Bukowski" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/an-artist-is-a-man-who-says-a-difficult-thing-in-a-simple-way/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/an-artist-is-a-man-who-says-a-difficult-thing-in-a-simple-way/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9d8/charles-bukowski-73_art_an-artist-is-a-man-who-says-a-difficult_410011.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9d8/charles-bukowski-73_art_an-artist-is-a-man-who-says-a-difficult_410011.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9d8/charles-bukowski-73_art_an-artist-is-a-man-who-says-a-difficult_410011.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“An artist is a man who says a difficult thing in a simple way” — Charles Bukowski", "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 Bukowski", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "An artist is a man who...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/an-artist-is-a-man-who-says-a-difficult-thing-in-a-simple-way/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/an-artist-is-a-man-who-says-a-difficult-thing-in-a-simple-way/#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 } } ] } ```