--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There was no point in doing art if you…" description: "\"There was no point in doing art if you were going to be second-rate.\" — Christopher Bram" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/14c/christopher-bram-14723_art_there-was-no-point-in-doing-art-if-you-w_973948.png" --- # There was no point in doing art if you were going to be… ![“There was no point in doing art if you were going to be second-rate.” quote by Christopher Bram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/14c/christopher-bram-14723_art_there-was-no-point-in-doing-art-if-you-w_973948.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/14c/christopher-bram-14723_art_there-was-no-point-in-doing-art-if-you-w_973948.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/14c/christopher-bram-14723_art_there-was-no-point-in-doing-art-if-you-w_973948.png) > “There was no point in doing art if you were going to be second-rate.” [Christopher Bram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-bram/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Creating art without striving for excellence is pointless; mediocrity defeats artistic purpose. **In simple terms:** Art needs excellence to matter. Key Takeaway Aim for quality in creative work. Themes art excellence mediocrity purpose Mood motivational critical Type literary inspirational When to use this quote - starting a new art project - evaluating artistic goals - overcoming complacency Key Concepts creative standards self-improvement Questions to Reflect On - How to balance effort and enjoyment? A Different Perspective Is perfection necessary for art? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Art Going](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art-going-345027/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Doing Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doing-art-331328/) [Going Second](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/going-second-1620178/) [Point Doing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/point-doing-294369/) [Rate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rate/) [Second rate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/second-rate/) ## Related quotes > [Always be a first-rate version of yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audrey-hepburn/always-be-a-first-rate-version-of-yourself/) [Audrey Hepburn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audrey-hepburn/) > [The more perfect music we have, the more attractive the peculiarities and anomalies of human performance become. Perfection is a second rate idea.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-bone-burnett/the-more-perfect-music-we-have-the-more-attractive-the-peculiarities/) [T Bone Burnett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-bone-burnett/) > [You see only the productions of second-rate folk who are in a hurry to get wealth and fame. The true knowledge, the deadly knowledge,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-buchan/you-see-only-the-productions-of-second-rate-folk-who-are-in-a-hurry/) [John Buchan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-buchan/) > [I never tried to emulate my father. Anyone trying to do that would be a second-rate carbon copy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-fairbanks-jr/i-never-tried-to-emulate-my-father-anyone-trying-to-do-that-would-be/) [Douglas Fairbanks, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-fairbanks-jr/) > [I knew Id always be a second-rate academic, and I thought, Well, Id rather be a second-rate novelist or even a third-rate one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-waters/i-knew-id-always-be-a-second-rate-academic-and-i-thought-well-id/) [Sarah Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-waters/) > [It is always the sign of the second-rate man when the decision merely meets the present situation. It is the left-over in a decision…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-parker-follett/it-is-always-the-sign-of-the-second-rate-man-when-the-decision-merely/) [Mary Parker Follett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-parker-follett/) > [A fine marksman is with a second rate rifle is far more effective than the reverse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-cooper/a-fine-marksman-is-with-a-second-rate-rifle-is-far-more-effective/) [Jeff Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-cooper/) > [He must understand that if he is the world's finest plum and someone he loves does not like plums, he has the choice of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-buscaglia/he-must-understand-that-if-he-is-the-world-s-finest-plum-and-someone/) [Leo Buscaglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-buscaglia/) > [If an enterprise does not aspire to be the best of its kind, it will attract second-rate employees, and it will be soon forgotten.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mihaly-csikszentmihalyi/if-an-enterprise-does-not-aspire-to-be-the-best-of-its-kind-it-will/) [Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mihaly-csikszentmihalyi/) > [Love is like those second-rate hotels where all the luxury is in the lobby.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-jean-toulet/love-is-like-those-second-rate-hotels-where-all-the-luxury-is-in-the/) [Paul-Jean Toulet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-jean-toulet/) > [If a company is second rate, the logo will eventually be perceived as second rate. It is foolhardy to believe that a logo will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-rand/if-a-company-is-second-rate-the-logo-will-eventually-be-perceived-as/) [Paul Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-rand/) > [It is a melancholy experience for a professional mathematician to find himself writing about mathematics. The function of a mathematician is to do something,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-h-hardy/it-is-a-melancholy-experience-for-a-professional-mathematician-to/) [G. H. Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-h-hardy/) > [Why in the hell do journalists insist on coming up with a second rate Freudian evaluation on my lyrics when 90% of the time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-cobain/why-in-the-hell-do-journalists-insist-on-coming-up-with-a-second-rate/) [Kurt Cobain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-cobain/) > [“Nothing is more painful to me than the disdain with which people treat second-rate authors, as if there were room only for the first-raters.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/nothing-is-more-painful-to-me-than-the-disdain-with-which-people/) [Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/) > [Music is of two kinds: one petty, poor, second-rate, never varying, its base the hundred or so phrasings which all musicians understand, a babbling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/music-is-of-two-kinds-one-petty-poor-second-rate-never-varying-its/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) ## More by Christopher Bram > [“A disproportionate number of stories are love stories – and what is homosexuality but a special narrative of love?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-bram/a-disproportionate-number-of-stories-are-love-stories-and-what-is/) [Christopher Bram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-bram/) > [“Sociologists say a neighbourhood is perceived as gay if anywhere between 15 to 25 percent of the residents are homosexual.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-bram/sociologists-say-a-neighbourhood-is-perceived-as-gay-if-anywhere/) [Christopher Bram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-bram/) > [“In the new style, homosexuals and heterosexuals could be equally unhappy, equally happy, and equally screwed up.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-bram/in-the-new-style-homosexuals-and-heterosexuals-could-be-equally/) [Christopher Bram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-bram/) > [Being a Boy Scout saved my life. I was a bookish, introverted kid, shy and withdrawn, unhappy and easily bullied. I was also gay,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-bram/being-a-boy-scout-saved-my-life-i-was-a-bookish-introverted-kid-shy/) [Christopher Bram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-bram/) > [“Art is long and life is short.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-bram/art-is-long-and-life-is-short/) [Christopher Bram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-bram/) > [“A younger writer, David Leavitt, would later say he envied White for having “such a representative life”. And it’s true: the zeitgeist blew through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-bram/a-younger-writer-david-leavitt-would-later-say-he-envied-white-for/) [Christopher Bram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-bram/) > [“Ginsberg was the favourite bohemian poet of straight college boys who wanted to transgress, and of gay college boys who were not yet ready…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-bram/ginsberg-was-the-favourite-bohemian-poet-of-straight-college-boys-who/) [Christopher Bram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-bram/) > [“Good prose is solitary work.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-bram/good-prose-is-solitary-work/) [Christopher Bram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-bram/) > [“Vidal himself joked that at a certain age lawsuits took the place of sex.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-bram/vidal-himself-joked-that-at-a-certain-age-lawsuits-took-the-place-of/) [Christopher Bram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-bram/) > [Stories have the ability to take us inside all kinds of life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-bram/stories-have-the-ability-to-take-us-inside-all-kinds-of-life/) [Christopher Bram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-bram/) > [“Yeats was straight, but as Auden wrote in ‘In Memory of WB Yeats’: “You were silly like us.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-bram/yeats-was-straight-but-as-auden-wrote-in-in-memory-of-wb-yeats-you/) [Christopher Bram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-bram/) > [“Short stories are often treated as the poor cousins of novels.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-bram/short-stories-are-often-treated-as-the-poor-cousins-of-novels/) [Christopher Bram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-bram/) > [“Everybody is Other in Maupin.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-bram/everybody-is-other-in-maupin/) [Christopher Bram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-bram/) > [“A writer who can’t use his firsthand experience must turn to secondhand experience, which can lead to thirdhand clichés.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-bram/a-writer-who-can-t-use-his-firsthand-experience-must-turn-to/) [Christopher Bram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-bram/) > [“If oppression produced saints, we’d want everyone to be oppressed.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-bram/if-oppression-produced-saints-we-d-want-everyone-to-be-oppressed/) [Christopher Bram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-bram/) [Explore all 45 Christopher Bram quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-bram/) ## 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. 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": "There was no point in doing art if you were going to be second-rate.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Christopher Bram" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-bram/there-was-no-point-in-doing-art-if-you-were-going-to-be-second-rate/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-bram/there-was-no-point-in-doing-art-if-you-were-going-to-be-second-rate/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/14c/christopher-bram-14723_art_there-was-no-point-in-doing-art-if-you-w_973948.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/14c/christopher-bram-14723_art_there-was-no-point-in-doing-art-if-you-w_973948.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/14c/christopher-bram-14723_art_there-was-no-point-in-doing-art-if-you-w_973948.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There was no point in doing art if you were going to be second-rate.” — Christopher Bram", "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": "Christopher Bram", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-bram/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "There was no point in doing...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-bram/there-was-no-point-in-doing-art-if-you-were-going-to-be-second-rate/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-bram/there-was-no-point-in-doing-art-if-you-were-going-to-be-second-rate/#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 } } ] } ```