--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: No art is less spontaneous than mine…" description: "\"No art is less spontaneous than mine. What I do is the result of reflection and the study of the great masters.\" — Edgar Degas" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e3a/edgar-degas-4615_art_no-art-is-less-spontaneous-than-mine-wha_2816511.png" --- # No art is less spontaneous than mine. What I do is the… ![“No art is less spontaneous than mine. What I do is the result of reflection and the study of the great masters.” quote by Edgar Degas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e3a/edgar-degas-4615_art_no-art-is-less-spontaneous-than-mine-wha_2816511.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e3a/edgar-degas-4615_art_no-art-is-less-spontaneous-than-mine-wha_2816511.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e3a/edgar-degas-4615_art_no-art-is-less-spontaneous-than-mine-wha_2816511.png) > “No art is less spontaneous than mine. What I do is the result of reflection and the study of the great masters.” [Edgar Degas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-degas/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. His art is deliberate, built on reflection and studying masters, not spontaneous creation. **In simple terms:** Art results from study, not spontaneity. Key Takeaway Create through reflection and study. Themes artistic process learning reflection Mood analytical inspirational Type artistic philosophical When to use this quote - painting - art education - personal style Key Concepts mastery creative discipline Questions to Reflect On - How balance study with creative flow? - What role does reflection play in art? A Different Perspective Over‑analysis can stifle spontaneity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Reflection](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reflection/) [Self-Awareness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self-awareness-2/) [Spontaneity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spontaneity/) [Spontaneous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spontaneous/) ## Related quotes > [What is saved in the cinema when it achieves art is a spontaneous continuity with all mankind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/what-is-saved-in-the-cinema-when-it-achieves-art-is-a-spontaneous/) [John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) > [Art is about the spontaneous connection of the artist to his own unconscious - about insight beyond reason. If his insight were reasonable, anyone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mamet/art-is-about-the-spontaneous-connection-of-the-artist-to-his-own/) [David Mamet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mamet/) > [“No event is spontaneous; it is the result of many past events. This is karma. The events in your life are the result of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/devdutt-pattanaik/no-event-is-spontaneous-it-is-the-result-of-many-past-events-this-is/) [Devdutt Pattanaik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/devdutt-pattanaik/) > [What is saved in the cinema when it achieves art is a spontaneous continuity with all mankind. It is not an art of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/what-is-saved-in-the-cinema-when-it-achieves-art-is-a-spontaneous-2/) [John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) > [Just the pleasure of moving and the pleasure of using your body is, I think, maybe the main point. And the pleasure of dancing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-paxton/just-the-pleasure-of-moving-and-the-pleasure-of-using-your-body-is-i/) Steve Paxton > [“Being spontaneous is being able to respond with confidence; calmly trusting that, whatever the outcome, you will have a positive if challenging experience that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-clare/being-spontaneous-is-being-able-to-respond-with-confidence-calmly/) [Sylvia Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-clare/) > [“You can't be spontaneous within reason.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brittany-delabarrera/you-can-t-be-spontaneous-within-reason/) Brittany DeLaBarrera > [I don't write any of my material down. I like to improvise and be spontaneous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dane-cook/i-don-t-write-any-of-my-material-down-i-like-to-improvise-and-be/) [Dane Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dane-cook/) > [There is no sex without a cue. People who date have their cues at home, before they meet. You think about where to go,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esther-perel/there-is-no-sex-without-a-cue-people-who-date-have-their-cues-at-home/) [Esther Perel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esther-perel/) > [“I have seen travel plans happen only when they were made overnight.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sanhita-baruah/i-have-seen-travel-plans-happen-only-when-they-were-made-overnight/) [Sanhita Baruah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sanhita-baruah/) > [“The goal of any spiritual person is to strive towards attaining self-realization by living spontaneously in the present moment of physical reality, free from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kilroy-j-oldster/the-goal-of-any-spiritual-person-is-to-strive-towards-attaining-self/) [Kilroy J. Oldster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kilroy-j-oldster/) > [Love can flourish only as long as it is free and spontaneous; it tends to be killed by the thought of duty. To say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/love-can-flourish-only-as-long-as-it-is-free-and-spontaneous-it-tends/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [It's a matter of keeping people on a spontaneous edge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-zorn/it-s-a-matter-of-keeping-people-on-a-spontaneous-edge/) [John Zorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-zorn/) > [The growth of the intellect is spontaneous in every expansion. The mind that grows could not predict the times, the means, the mode of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-growth-of-the-intellect-is-spontaneous-in-every-expansion-the/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Singing has always seemed to me the most perfect means of expression. It is so spontaneous. And after singing, I think the violin. Since…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georgia-o-keeffe/singing-has-always-seemed-to-me-the-most-perfect-means-of-expression/) [Georgia O'Keeffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georgia-o-keeffe/) ## More by Edgar Degas > [There are some women who should barely be spoken to; they should only be caressed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-degas/there-are-some-women-who-should-barely-be-spoken-to-they-should-only/) [Edgar Degas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-degas/) > [The air we see in the paintings of the old masters is never the air we breathe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-degas/the-air-we-see-in-the-paintings-of-the-old-masters-is-never-the-air/) [Edgar Degas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-degas/) > [Even in front of nature one must compose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-degas/even-in-front-of-nature-one-must-compose/) [Edgar Degas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-degas/) > [Art is vice. One does not wed it, one rapes it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-degas/art-is-vice-one-does-not-wed-it-one-rapes-it/) [Edgar Degas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-degas/) > [What a delightful thing is the conversation of specialists! One understands absolutely nothing and it's charming.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-degas/what-a-delightful-thing-is-the-conversation-of-specialists-one/) [Edgar Degas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-degas/) > [Instantaneity is photography.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-degas/instantaneity-is-photography/) [Edgar Degas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-degas/) > [Women can never forgive me; they hate me, they feel that I am disarming them. I show them without their coquetry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-degas/women-can-never-forgive-me-they-hate-me-they-feel-that-i-am-disarming/) [Edgar Degas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-degas/) > [In painting you must give the idea of the true by means of the false.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-degas/in-painting-you-must-give-the-idea-of-the-true-by-means-of-the-false/) [Edgar Degas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-degas/) > [I would have been in mortal misery all my life for fear my wife might say, 'That's a pretty little thing,' after I had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-degas/i-would-have-been-in-mortal-misery-all-my-life-for-fear-my-wife-might/) [Edgar Degas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-degas/) > [Great patience is called for on the hard path that I have entered on.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-degas/great-patience-is-called-for-on-the-hard-path-that-i-have-entered-on/) [Edgar Degas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-degas/) > [There is too much talk and gossip; pictures are apparently made, like stock-market prices, by competition of people eager for profits... All this traffic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-degas/there-is-too-much-talk-and-gossip-pictures-are-apparently-made-like/) [Edgar Degas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-degas/) > [What is certain is that setting a piece of nature in place and drawing it are two very different things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-degas/what-is-certain-is-that-setting-a-piece-of-nature-in-place-and/) [Edgar Degas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-degas/) > [I should like to be famous and unknown.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-degas/i-should-like-to-be-famous-and-unknown/) [Edgar Degas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-degas/) > [Art is really a battle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-degas/art-is-really-a-battle/) [Edgar Degas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-degas/) > [A picture is an artificial work, outside nature. It calls for as much cunning as the commission of a crime.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-degas/a-picture-is-an-artificial-work-outside-nature-it-calls-for-as-much/) [Edgar Degas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-degas/) [Explore all 108 Edgar Degas quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-degas/) ## 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": "No art is less spontaneous than mine. 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