--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: People often want the big dramatic works…" description: "\"People often want the big dramatic works, not the smaller quieter ones, but I don't worry about how it fits together anymore; I just have to do it. I f..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd5/cornelia-parker-4217_dramatic_people-often-want-the-big-dramatic-works_116220.jpg" --- # People often want the big dramatic works, not the smaller… ![“People often want the big dramatic works, not the smaller quieter ones, but I don't worry about how it fits together anymore; I just have to do it. I feel compelled to make a work: it's like an itch I have to scratch, and once it's been scratched, it goes away.” quote by Cornelia Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd5/cornelia-parker-4217_dramatic_people-often-want-the-big-dramatic-works_116220.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd5/cornelia-parker-4217_dramatic_people-often-want-the-big-dramatic-works_116220.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd5/cornelia-parker-4217_dramatic_people-often-want-the-big-dramatic-works_116220.jpg) > “People often want the big dramatic works, not the smaller quieter ones, but I don't worry about how it fits together anymore; I just have to do it. I feel compelled to make a work: it's like an itch I have to scratch, and once it's been scratched, it goes away.” [Cornelia Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelia-parker/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The creator describes an intrinsic drive to produce art, likening it to an itch that must be scratched, regardless of how the pieces fit together. **In simple terms:** Creative compulsion outweighs structural concerns. Key Takeaway Artistic impulse is a primary motivator. Themes creativity art motivation process Mood driven satisfied Type artistic motivational When to use this quote - painting - writing - music composition - design prototyping Key Concepts intrinsic motivation flow state Practical Applications - allow spontaneous creation before editing Questions to Reflect On - When does the urge to create become counterproductive? - How can one balance impulse with coherence? A Different Perspective Ignoring structure can lead to incoherent work that fails to communicate. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Dramatic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dramatic/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/work/) [Worry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/worry/) ## Related quotes > [“It's like an itch you can't scratch, knowing someone is suffering under your own roof.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephanie-meyer/it-s-like-an-itch-you-can-t-scratch-knowing-someone-is-suffering/) [Stephanie Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephanie-meyer/) > [One learns to itch where one can scratch.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/one-learns-to-itch-where-one-can-scratch/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [When something is empty, fill it. When something is full, empty it. When you have an itch, scratch it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dieter-dengler/when-something-is-empty-fill-it-when-something-is-full-empty-it-when/) Dieter Dengler > [“If there is an itch one does want to scratch; but it is much nicer to have neither the itch nor the scratch.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/if-there-is-an-itch-one-does-want-to-scratch-but-it-is-much-nicer-to/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [One bliss for which There is no match Is when you itch To up and scratch.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ogden-nash/one-bliss-for-which-there-is-no-match-is-when-you-itch-to-up-and/) [Ogden Nash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ogden-nash/) > [“There ain't nothing worse than an itch you can't scratch.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vanessa-reynolds/there-ain-t-nothing-worse-than-an-itch-you-can-t-scratch/) Vanessa Reynolds > [There's nothing worse than having an itch you can't scratch - except perhaps having an itch you can't even direct your PA to scratch:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liz-carr/there-s-nothing-worse-than-having-an-itch-you-can-t-scratch-except/) [Liz Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liz-carr/) > [“A tickle, an itch, and a scratch walk into a bar while I was in the corner drinking a thermos full of epidermis, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/a-tickle-an-itch-and-a-scratch-walk-into-a-bar-while-i-was-in-the/) [Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/) > [When I get an artistic itch, I have to scratch it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bonnie-mckee/when-i-get-an-artistic-itch-i-have-to-scratch-it/) [Bonnie McKee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bonnie-mckee/) > [Film is an itch I have yet to scratch.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lea-michele/film-is-an-itch-i-have-yet-to-scratch/) [Lea Michele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lea-michele/) > [“April. Spring was on the land like an itch. The whole countryside seemed to be scratching itself awake—lazily, luxuriously, though occasionally scratching so hard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/april-spring-was-on-the-land-like-an-itch-the-whole-countryside/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [“Hilarity keeps you busy for several blocks, but there’s a sickness to it, like an itch that if you keep on scratching, will grind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-egan/hilarity-keeps-you-busy-for-several-blocks-but-there-s-a-sickness-to/) [Jennifer Egan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-egan/) > [“It's like an itch, isn't it? You can feel it in your throat. You want to scream for me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nenia-campbell/it-s-like-an-itch-isn-t-it-you-can-feel-it-in-your-throat-you-want-to/) [Nenia Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nenia-campbell/) > [“If you gotta scratch the itch, scratch it. Or, if you want to do away with the day job, scratch, itch or no!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deb-e-howell/if-you-gotta-scratch-the-itch-scratch-it-or-if-you-want-to-do-away/) Deb E. Howell > [“One might say that any sermon involves both an “itch” and a “scratch” and sermons are born when at least implicitly in the preacher’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-l-lowry/one-might-say-that-any-sermon-involves-both-an-itch-and-a-scratch-and/) [Eugene L. Lowry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-l-lowry/) ## More by Cornelia Parker > [I like the idea of taking three-dimensional objects and making them two-dimensional so that they look like cartoons.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelia-parker/i-like-the-idea-of-taking-three-dimensional-objects-and-making-them/) [Cornelia Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelia-parker/) > [As you get older, things don't work as well. I do Pilates, and that helps.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelia-parker/as-you-get-older-things-don-t-work-as-well-i-do-pilates-and-that-helps/) [Cornelia Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelia-parker/) > [The main trouble with this civilized world isn't that we adventure too much, but that we fail to adventure enough.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelia-parker/the-main-trouble-with-this-civilized-world-isn-t-that-we-adventure/) [Cornelia Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelia-parker/) > [I'm from a working-class background - I had free school meals all my life and then spent six years in art school.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelia-parker/i-m-from-a-working-class-background-i-had-free-school-meals-all-my/) [Cornelia Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelia-parker/) > [Violence is part of everybody's life, whether you like or express it or not. My work utilises all the energies that I have, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelia-parker/violence-is-part-of-everybody-s-life-whether-you-like-or-express-it/) [Cornelia Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelia-parker/) > [Dust, in the end, settles on everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelia-parker/dust-in-the-end-settles-on-everything/) [Cornelia Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelia-parker/) > [If I'm not doing the work I want, I usually suffer a psychological allergic reaction and get ill.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelia-parker/if-i-m-not-doing-the-work-i-want-i-usually-suffer-a-psychological/) [Cornelia Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelia-parker/) > [After leaving college, I was in a show called Sculpture by Women where I was asked to talk about my history of victimisation in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelia-parker/after-leaving-college-i-was-in-a-show-called-sculpture-by-women-where/) [Cornelia Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelia-parker/) > [I think my work is like a spiral: you keep coming back on yourself, but you're at a different place. It's like reading 'Nineteen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelia-parker/i-think-my-work-is-like-a-spiral-you-keep-coming-back-on-yourself-but/) [Cornelia Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelia-parker/) > [I think your subconscious knows far more than your conscious, so I trust it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelia-parker/i-think-your-subconscious-knows-far-more-than-your-conscious-so-i/) [Cornelia Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelia-parker/) > [Paul Auster is my favourite writer, and I'm sure he'd be a very interesting person to share a journey with.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelia-parker/paul-auster-is-my-favourite-writer-and-i-m-sure-he-d-be-a-very/) [Cornelia Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelia-parker/) > [Heaven grants the human being who has learned to live alone a deep measure of such rewards that verily would one hesitate to sacrifice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelia-parker/heaven-grants-the-human-being-who-has-learned-to-live-alone-a-deep/) [Cornelia Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelia-parker/) > [I was very physical as a child - we lived on a smallholding, and I was always outside making mud pies or building structures…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelia-parker/i-was-very-physical-as-a-child-we-lived-on-a-smallholding-and-i-was/) [Cornelia Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelia-parker/) > [As a working-class girl, receiving free school dinners, I studied art history. Having never had the chance to visit art galleries, I devoured the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelia-parker/as-a-working-class-girl-receiving-free-school-dinners-i-studied-art/) [Cornelia Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelia-parker/) > [My mother was German, and I was brought up with 'Struwwelpeter' stories, which are invested with all sorts of horrors waiting for you if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelia-parker/my-mother-was-german-and-i-was-brought-up-with-struwwelpeter-stories/) [Cornelia Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelia-parker/) [Explore all 114 Cornelia Parker quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelia-parker/) ## More Dramatic quotes > [One of the deepest and strangest of all human moods is the mood which will suddenly strike us perhaps in a garden at night,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/one-of-the-deepest-and-strangest-of-all-human-moods-is-the-mood-which/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I think if I have any kind of unique gift, it's more in the comedy area than it is in the dramatic area.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sullivan/i-think-if-i-have-any-kind-of-unique-gift-it-s-more-in-the-comedy/) [Susan Sullivan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sullivan/) > [A counted number of pulses only is given to us of a variegated, dramatic life. How may we see in them all that is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-pater/a-counted-number-of-pulses-only-is-given-to-us-of-a-variegated/) [Walter Pater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-pater/) > [Sure, I’m dramatic and sloppily semi-cynical and semi-sentimental. But, in leisure years I could grow and choose my way. Now I am living on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/sure-i-m-dramatic-and-sloppily-semi-cynical-and-semi-sentimental-but/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [There is a comfort zone of knowing where things are going and having characters in place, but the action gets more and more dramatic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-b-jenkins/there-is-a-comfort-zone-of-knowing-where-things-are-going-and-having/) [Jerry B. Jenkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-b-jenkins/) > [I really think the biopic thing so rarely works, because peoples lives dont have a dramatic shape that can be satisfying.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-condon/i-really-think-the-biopic-thing-so-rarely-works-because-peoples-lives/) [Bill Condon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-condon/) > [“I am yours. It's both as dramatic and as simple as that.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-ridley/i-am-yours-it-s-both-as-dramatic-and-as-simple-as-that/) Erica Ridley > [My illness is one often characterized by dramatic overspending - in my case through frenzied shopping sprees, credit card abuse, excessive hoarding of unnecessary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-behrman/my-illness-is-one-often-characterized-by-dramatic-overspending-in-my/) [Andy Behrman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-behrman/) > [We have committed ourselves to pursue joint policies, but then national governments say, "We aren't bound by that." That is a dramatic situation, because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-schulz/we-have-committed-ourselves-to-pursue-joint-policies-but-then/) [Martin Schulz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-schulz/) > [Failure in the theater is more dramatic and uglier than any other form of writing. It costs so much, you feel so guilty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lillian-hellman/failure-in-the-theater-is-more-dramatic-and-uglier-than-any-other/) [Lillian Hellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lillian-hellman/) > [Schengen cannot survive without the most dramatic reform, and the external borders of Europe must be rapidly strengthened.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-soames/schengen-cannot-survive-without-the-most-dramatic-reform-and-the/) [Nicholas Soames](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-soames/) > [In 2008, Bitcoin was mysteriously introduced to the world in an obscure, technical paper written under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto. By late 2013, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-hanke/in-2008-bitcoin-was-mysteriously-introduced-to-the-world-in-an/) [Steve Hanke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-hanke/) > [I was going to say 'my friend Stuart', but I suppose he's not a friend any more. I seem to have lost a number…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-coe/i-was-going-to-say-my-friend-stuart-but-i-suppose-he-s-not-a-friend/) [Jonathan Coe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-coe/) > [I think that I originally became an actor because I was super, super dramatic. Over the top, all the time. I was the kid…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alanna-masterson/i-think-that-i-originally-became-an-actor-because-i-was-super-super/) Alanna Masterson > [Maybe my movie isn't over, I say, because sometimes moviemakers trick the audience with a false bad ending, and just when you think the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-quick/maybe-my-movie-isn-t-over-i-say-because-sometimes-moviemakers-trick/) [Matthew Quick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-quick/) [Browse all 1,590 Dramatic quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dramatic/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "People often want the big dramatic works, not the smaller quieter ones, but I don't worry about how it fits together anymore; I just have to do it. 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