--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: This is a little off subject, but I'm…" description: "\"This is a little off subject, but I'm interested in those cases where someone is barking up the wrong tree, or misapplying their talent.\" — David Salle" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cc0/david-salle-11131_barking-up-the-wrong_this-is-a-little-off-subject-but-i-m-int_2427628.jpg" --- # This is a little off subject, but I'm interested in those… ![“This is a little off subject, but I'm interested in those cases where someone is barking up the wrong tree, or misapplying their talent.” quote by David Salle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cc0/david-salle-11131_barking-up-the-wrong_this-is-a-little-off-subject-but-i-m-int_2427628.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cc0/david-salle-11131_barking-up-the-wrong_this-is-a-little-off-subject-but-i-m-int_2427628.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cc0/david-salle-11131_barking-up-the-wrong_this-is-a-little-off-subject-but-i-m-int_2427628.jpg) > “This is a little off subject, but I'm interested in those cases where someone is barking up the wrong tree, or misapplying their talent.” [David Salle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-salle/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Misusing talent leads to frustration; ensure your abilities align with appropriate challenges. **In simple terms:** Use talent where it fits. Key Takeaway Align skills with proper tasks. Themes career talent fit Mood thoughtful critical Type advisory motivational When to use this quote - choosing a job - selecting a project - volunteering - creative pursuits Key Concepts misapplication skill alignment purpose Questions to Reflect On - Are you using your talent wisely? - What tasks match your strengths? A Different Perspective Talent wasted on wrong tasks can cause burnout. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Barking up the wrong tree](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/barking-up-the-wrong-tree/) [Talent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/talent/) [Tree](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tree/) ## Related quotes > [Until you learn to play what you want to hear, you're barking up the wrong tree.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-gibbons/until-you-learn-to-play-what-you-want-to-hear-you-re-barking-up-the/) [Billy Gibbons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-gibbons/) > [If you were a kid actor, if you had any plans of being an actor as an adult, you were really barking up the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-olsen/if-you-were-a-kid-actor-if-you-had-any-plans-of-being-an-actor-as-an/) [Susan Olsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-olsen/) > [“Then, without really realizing it, I start to think of one thing I did wrong for each tree I look at. Wide oak- I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-lacour/then-without-really-realizing-it-i-start-to-think-of-one-thing-i-did-2/) [Nina LaCour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-lacour/) > [I was like a cat always climbing the wrong tree.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carson-mccullers/i-was-like-a-cat-always-climbing-the-wrong-tree/) [Carson McCullers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carson-mccullers/) > [Some people have reach the highest branch to see it's the wrong tree.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/some-people-have-reach-the-highest-branch-to-see-it-s-the-wrong-tree/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I wonder how often I ended up on the short-end of the stick because I was climbing the wrong tree.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-d-lounsbrough/i-wonder-how-often-i-ended-up-on-the-short-end-of-the-stick-because-i/) [Craig D. Lounsbrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-d-lounsbrough/) > [“Then, without really realizing it, I start to think of one thing I did wrong for each tree I look at. Wide oak -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-lacour/then-without-really-realizing-it-i-start-to-think-of-one-thing-i-did/) [Nina LaCour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-lacour/) > [“But then I got into Joseph Campbell—The Power of Myth and The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Joseph Campbell was the first person to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-ferriss/but-then-i-got-into-joseph-campbell-the-power-of-myth-and-the-hero/) [Timothy Ferriss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-ferriss/) > [When you go and create something, you want to believe in it. If they don't, we're barking up the wrong tree. But when you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zachary-levi/when-you-go-and-create-something-you-want-to-believe-in-it-if-they/) [Zachary Levi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zachary-levi/) > [“To transcend blame and mistrust, you must face the inevitable: you’ve been barking up the wrong tree. This realization might be painful, but avoiding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vironika-tugaleva/to-transcend-blame-and-mistrust-you-must-face-the-inevitable-you-ve/) [Vironika Tugaleva](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vironika-tugaleva/) > [Everyone wants to understand art. Why not try to understand the song of a bird? Why does one love the night, flowers, everything around…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/everyone-wants-to-understand-art-why-not-try-to-understand-the-song-2/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [“Whatever. If she’s only here to get laid then the bitch is barking up the wrong tree. Because unless she has green eyes, red…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/k-c-lynn/whatever-if-she-s-only-here-to-get-laid-then-the-bitch-is-barking-up/) [K.C. Lynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/k-c-lynn/) > [You could never be the man that I be. Never go to war with a dude like me. You'd be barking up the wrong…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-webby/you-could-never-be-the-man-that-i-be-never-go-to-war-with-a-dude-like/) [Chris Webby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-webby/) > [“Hey, Alec," he said. The man was on his hands and knees, leaning his face into the middle of a bush; he grunted something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-dashner/hey-alec-he-said-the-man-was-on-his-hands-and-knees-leaning-his-face/) [James Dashner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-dashner/) > [Everyone wants to understand art. Why not try to understand the song of a bird? ...people who try to explain pictures are usually barking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/everyone-wants-to-understand-art-why-not-try-to-understand-the-song/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) ## More by David Salle > [What most paintings do is give you a path for your eye to move around. The painting actually tells your eye, go here, now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-salle/what-most-paintings-do-is-give-you-a-path-for-your-eye-to-move-around/) [David Salle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-salle/) > [I've always read, I've always admired writers and was lucky really to meet some extraordinary ones and become friends. Certain times you just like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-salle/i-ve-always-read-i-ve-always-admired-writers-and-was-lucky-really-to/) [David Salle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-salle/) > [Truth is, I didn't know what the hell I was doing when I got out of Cal Arts. I think I wasted a lot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-salle/truth-is-i-didn-t-know-what-the-hell-i-was-doing-when-i-got-out-of/) [David Salle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-salle/) > [I feel that the only thing that really matters in art and life is to go against the tidal wave of literalism and literal-mindedness-to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-salle/i-feel-that-the-only-thing-that-really-matters-in-art-and-life-is-to/) [David Salle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-salle/) > [Since I moved six or seven times the first year I was in New York, I had to be able to roll up the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-salle/since-i-moved-six-or-seven-times-the-first-year-i-was-in-new-york-i/) [David Salle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-salle/) > [People are still making paintings. People are still enjoying paintings, looking at paintings. Paintings still have something to tell us. There's a way of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-salle/people-are-still-making-paintings-people-are-still-enjoying-paintings/) [David Salle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-salle/) > [I feel like all the American artists are aesthetically not very interesting and mired in a complaining relationship to its own culture, whereas the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-salle/i-feel-like-all-the-american-artists-are-aesthetically-not-very/) [David Salle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-salle/) > [I think people have to be given - or take - the permission to say that something is nothing. Just because it's in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-salle/i-think-people-have-to-be-given-or-take-the-permission-to-say-that/) [David Salle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-salle/) > [There are so many different ways to talk and think about art. We just spoke about when attitude becomes form. But when I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-salle/there-are-so-many-different-ways-to-talk-and-think-about-art-we-just/) [David Salle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-salle/) > [I started when I was nine. Really, everything I know about color theory, composition, drawing, and painting, I learned when I was a kid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-salle/i-started-when-i-was-nine-really-everything-i-know-about-color-theory/) [David Salle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-salle/) > [If you go to a concert, you will notice, is it loud? Is the music fast? Is it predominately strings or brass? There are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-salle/if-you-go-to-a-concert-you-will-notice-is-it-loud-is-the-music-fast/) [David Salle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-salle/) > [I was actually dumbfounded by how some artists talked to each other. For example, it was a normal night at a bar, nothing very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-salle/i-was-actually-dumbfounded-by-how-some-artists-talked-to-each-other/) [David Salle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-salle/) > [What if everything in a museum is crap? It's entirely possible; it's not the end of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-salle/what-if-everything-in-a-museum-is-crap-it-s-entirely-possible-it-s/) [David Salle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-salle/) > [“good art illustrates anything at all, it’s likely to be a story you didn’t even know needed telling.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-salle/good-art-illustrates-anything-at-all-it-s-likely-to-be-a-story-you/) [David Salle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-salle/) > [“How a painter treats this edge is the real subject of realist painting; how the brush behaves in the vicinity of an edge gives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-salle/how-a-painter-treats-this-edge-is-the-real-subject-of-realist/) [David Salle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-salle/) [Explore all 61 David Salle quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-salle/) ## More Barking up the wrong tree quotes > [Everyone wants to understand art. Why not try to understand the song of a bird? ...people who try to explain pictures are usually barking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/everyone-wants-to-understand-art-why-not-try-to-understand-the-song/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [“Whatever. If she’s only here to get laid then the bitch is barking up the wrong tree. Because unless she has green eyes, red…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/k-c-lynn/whatever-if-she-s-only-here-to-get-laid-then-the-bitch-is-barking-up/) [K.C. Lynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/k-c-lynn/) > [“Hey, Alec," he said. The man was on his hands and knees, leaning his face into the middle of a bush; he grunted something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-dashner/hey-alec-he-said-the-man-was-on-his-hands-and-knees-leaning-his-face/) [James Dashner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-dashner/) > [If you were a kid actor, if you had any plans of being an actor as an adult, you were really barking up the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-olsen/if-you-were-a-kid-actor-if-you-had-any-plans-of-being-an-actor-as-an/) [Susan Olsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-olsen/) > [You could never be the man that I be. Never go to war with a dude like me. You'd be barking up the wrong…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-webby/you-could-never-be-the-man-that-i-be-never-go-to-war-with-a-dude-like/) [Chris Webby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-webby/) > [Until you learn to play what you want to hear, you're barking up the wrong tree.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-gibbons/until-you-learn-to-play-what-you-want-to-hear-you-re-barking-up-the/) [Billy Gibbons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-gibbons/) > [Everyone wants to understand art. Why not try to understand the song of a bird? Why does one love the night, flowers, everything around…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/everyone-wants-to-understand-art-why-not-try-to-understand-the-song-2/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [“To transcend blame and mistrust, you must face the inevitable: you’ve been barking up the wrong tree. This realization might be painful, but avoiding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vironika-tugaleva/to-transcend-blame-and-mistrust-you-must-face-the-inevitable-you-ve/) [Vironika Tugaleva](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vironika-tugaleva/) > [When you go and create something, you want to believe in it. If they don't, we're barking up the wrong tree. But when you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zachary-levi/when-you-go-and-create-something-you-want-to-believe-in-it-if-they/) [Zachary Levi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zachary-levi/) > [“But then I got into Joseph Campbell—The Power of Myth and The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Joseph Campbell was the first person to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-ferriss/but-then-i-got-into-joseph-campbell-the-power-of-myth-and-the-hero/) [Timothy Ferriss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-ferriss/) > [“In response to the intensifying cruelty of children to one another, schools all over this continent are rushing to design programs to inculcate social…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabor-mat/in-response-to-the-intensifying-cruelty-of-children-to-one-another/) [Gabor Maté](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabor-mat/) > [When we talk about settling the world's problems, we're barking up the wrong tree. The world is perfect. It's a mess. It has always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/when-we-talk-about-settling-the-world-s-problems-we-re-barking-up-the/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) [Browse all 13 Barking up the wrong tree quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/barking-up-the-wrong-tree/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "This is a little off subject, but I'm interested in those cases where someone is barking up the wrong tree, or misapplying their talent.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "David Salle" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-salle/this-is-a-little-off-subject-but-i-m-interested-in-those-cases-where/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Barking up the wrong tree" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-salle/this-is-a-little-off-subject-but-i-m-interested-in-those-cases-where/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cc0/david-salle-11131_barking-up-the-wrong_this-is-a-little-off-subject-but-i-m-int_2427628.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cc0/david-salle-11131_barking-up-the-wrong_this-is-a-little-off-subject-but-i-m-int_2427628.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cc0/david-salle-11131_barking-up-the-wrong_this-is-a-little-off-subject-but-i-m-int_2427628.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“This is a little off subject, but I'm interested in those cases where someone is barking up the wrong tree…” — David Salle", "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": "David Salle", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-salle/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "This is a little off subject,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-salle/this-is-a-little-off-subject-but-i-m-interested-in-those-cases-where/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-salle/this-is-a-little-off-subject-but-i-m-interested-in-those-cases-where/#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 } } ] } ```