--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I am, as they say, the classic starving…" description: "\"I am, as they say, the classic starving artist.\" — Cheryl Strayed" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/363/cheryl-strayed-605_art_i-am-as-they-say-the-classic-starving-ar_2188996.png" --- # I am, as they say, the classic starving artist. ![“I am, as they say, the classic starving artist.” quote by Cheryl Strayed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/363/cheryl-strayed-605_art_i-am-as-they-say-the-classic-starving-ar_2188996.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/363/cheryl-strayed-605_art_i-am-as-they-say-the-classic-starving-ar_2188996.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/363/cheryl-strayed-605_art_i-am-as-they-say-the-classic-starving-ar_2188996.png) > “I am, as they say, the classic starving artist.” [Cheryl Strayed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cheryl-strayed/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The "starving artist" trope reflects creative struggle and financial scarcity. **In simple terms:** Artists often face poverty. Key Takeaway Seek sustainable support for creative work. Themes art poverty creativity Mood practical empathetic Type advice inspirational When to use this quote - freelance work - grant applications - budgeting - mental health Key Concepts economic struggle artist myth Questions to Reflect On - How can artists secure stable income? - What resources help creative professionals? A Different Perspective Romanticizing poverty can be harmful. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Classic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/classic/) [Classic Starving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/classic-starving-4760097/) [Say Classic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/say-classic-2383195/) [Starving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/starving/) [Starving artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/starving-artist/) ## Related quotes > [People say I am a classic designer. I don't try to be classic, but I do try to be simple and elegant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hubert-de-givenchy/people-say-i-am-a-classic-designer-i-don-t-try-to-be-classic-but-i-do/) [Hubert de Givenchy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hubert-de-givenchy/) > [I often have an argument with people. I say name me a classic song that's not sad in some kind of way. And even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danger-mouse/i-often-have-an-argument-with-people-i-say-name-me-a-classic-song/) [Danger Mouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danger-mouse/) > [I was a starving artist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erika-jayne/i-was-a-starving-artist/) [Erika Jayne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erika-jayne/) > [I remembered my New Orleans days, living on two five-cent candy bars a day for weeks at a time in order to have leisure…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/i-remembered-my-new-orleans-days-living-on-two-five-cent-candy-bars-a/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [When you're a starving artist, you make do. It didn't matter that I didn't know where my rent was coming from.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tanya-saracho/when-you-re-a-starving-artist-you-make-do-it-didn-t-matter-that-i/) [Tanya Saracho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tanya-saracho/) > [It's really hard to find materials. Also, prices of metal have gone completely through the roof, insanely expensive. And if you go to a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/z-ev/it-s-really-hard-to-find-materials-also-prices-of-metal-have-gone/) [Z'EV](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/z-ev/) > [A starving artist has only so many brush stokes before he fades away...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-victor-paskavich/a-starving-artist-has-only-so-many-brush-stokes-before-he-fades-away/) [Stanley Victor Paskavich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-victor-paskavich/) > [Somehow, the French got this idea of the starving artist. Very romantic, except it's not so romantic for the starving artist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-lynch/somehow-the-french-got-this-idea-of-the-starving-artist-very-romantic/) [David Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-lynch/) > [Starving artist' is acceptable at age 20, suspect at age 40, and problematical at age 60.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-genn/starving-artist-is-acceptable-at-age-20-suspect-at-age-40-and/) [Robert Genn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-genn/) > [I didn't really go the starving-artist route. 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I was really a starving artist; the poster child for starving artists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/creed-bratton/in-my-early-days-i-was-about-145-pounds-i-was-really-a-starving/) [Creed Bratton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/creed-bratton/) > [I'm an entrepreneur, a businessman. I've got a lot of money, and that doesn't go very well with the whole 'starving artist in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-dennis/i-m-an-entrepreneur-a-businessman-i-ve-got-a-lot-of-money-and-that/) [Felix Dennis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-dennis/) > [I was planning on being a starving artist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-hillenburg/i-was-planning-on-being-a-starving-artist/) [Stephen Hillenburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-hillenburg/) ## More by Cheryl Strayed > [“She understands that attention is the first and final act of love, and that the ultimate dwindling resource in the human arrangement isn’t cheap…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cheryl-strayed/she-understands-that-attention-is-the-first-and-final-act-of-love-and/) [Cheryl Strayed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cheryl-strayed/) > [“The most terrible and beautiful and interesting things happen in life. For some of you, those things have already happened. 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No matter what is hard.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cheryl-strayed/and-you-have-to-do-it-no-matter-what-is-true-no-matter-what-is-hard/) [Cheryl Strayed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cheryl-strayed/) > [“Don’t listen to those people who suggest you should be “over” your daughter’s death by now. 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And it’s stating your own intentions, not what you hope theirs will be.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cheryl-strayed/your-ultimatum-is-simple-it-s-fair-and-it-s-stating-your-own/) [Cheryl Strayed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cheryl-strayed/) > [“We aren't poor," my mother said, again and again. "Because we're rich in love.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cheryl-strayed/we-aren-t-poor-my-mother-said-again-and-again-because-we-re-rich-in/) [Cheryl Strayed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cheryl-strayed/) [Explore all 450 Cheryl Strayed quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cheryl-strayed/) ## 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](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/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. 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