---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Progress comes by experiment, and this…"
description: "\"Progress comes by experiment, and this from ennui that leads to voyages, wars, revolutions, and plainly to change in the arts of expression; that cries..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2b0/edmund-clarence-stedman-19685_art_progress-comes-by-experiment-and-this-fr_2686706.jpg"
---

#  Progress comes by experiment, and this from ennui that…

![“Progress comes by experiment, and this from ennui that leads to voyages, wars, revolutions, and plainly to change in the arts of expression; that cries out to the imagination, and is the nurse of the invention whereof we term necessity the mother.” quote by Edmund Clarence Stedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2b0/edmund-clarence-stedman-19685_art_progress-comes-by-experiment-and-this-fr_2686706.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2b0/edmund-clarence-stedman-19685_art_progress-comes-by-experiment-and-this-fr_2686706.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2b0/edmund-clarence-stedman-19685_art_progress-comes-by-experiment-and-this-fr_2686706.jpg)

> “Progress comes by experiment, and this from ennui that leads to voyages, wars, revolutions, and plainly to change in the arts of expression; that cries out to the imagination, and is the nurse of the invention whereof we term necessity the mother.”

[Edmund Clarence Stedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-clarence-stedman/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Experiment fuels progress; boredom sparks imagination, leading to wars, revolutions, artistic change, and invention.

**In simple terms:** Boredom drives creative breakthroughs.

Key Takeaway

Embrace curiosity and experiment.

Themes

creativity conflict innovation

Mood

reflective inspired

Type

philosophical motivational

When to use this quote

- personal growth
- historical change
- creative projects

Key Concepts

necessity imagination artistic expression

Questions to Reflect On

- How can you channel boredom into productive experiments?
- What risks are worth taking for innovation?

A Different Perspective

Experimentation can be costly and risky.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Comes Experiment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comes-experiment-2625077/) [Cry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cry/) [Ennui](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ennui/) [Experiments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/experiments/) [Expression](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/expression/) [Growth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/growth/) [Imagination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagination/) [Imagination Nurse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagination-nurse-2625078/) [Innovation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/innovation/) [Invention](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/invention/) [Mother](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mother/) [Necessity Mother](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/necessity-mother-320100/) [Nurse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nurse/) [Nurse Invention](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nurse-invention-2625076/) [Parenting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parenting/) [Progress](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/progress/) [Progress Comes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/progress-comes-700949/) [Revolution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/revolution/) [Term](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/term/) [Travel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/travel/) [Voyages](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/voyages/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/)

## Related quotes

> [Progress comes from the intelligent use of experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elbert-hubbard/progress-comes-from-the-intelligent-use-of-experience/)

[Elbert Hubbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elbert-hubbard/)

> [With progress comes challenges. With challenges... progress.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-jay-taylor/with-progress-comes-challenges-with-challenges-progress/)

[T Jay Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-jay-taylor/)

> [“To the unenlightened man this will seem to be all fantasy, yet all progress comes from those who do not take the accepted view,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neville/to-the-unenlightened-man-this-will-seem-to-be-all-fantasy-yet-all/)

[Neville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neville/)

> [Progress comes at a price. You have to be willing to make tough calls and take the hits.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aja-brown/progress-comes-at-a-price-you-have-to-be-willing-to-make-tough-calls/)

[Aja Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aja-brown/)

> [Progress comes to those who train and train; reliance on secret techniques will get you nowhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/morihei-ueshiba/progress-comes-to-those-who-train-and-train-reliance-on-secret/)

[Morihei Ueshiba](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/morihei-ueshiba/)

> [Progress comes from caring more about what needs to be done than about who gets the credit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-height/progress-comes-from-caring-more-about-what-needs-to-be-done-than/)

[Dorothy Height](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-height/)

> [Real progress comes from people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tsakhiagiin-elbegdorj/real-progress-comes-from-people/)

[Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tsakhiagiin-elbegdorj/)

> [All progress comes from the creative minority.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-gilder/all-progress-comes-from-the-creative-minority/)

[George Gilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-gilder/)

> [I think that it's when we step out of the road, step outside the box, become our own person, and we walk fearlessly down…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mcafee/i-think-that-it-s-when-we-step-out-of-the-road-step-outside-the-box/)

[John McAfee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mcafee/)

> [“Progress comes from rolling up your sleeves and getting to work.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-rodham-clinton/progress-comes-from-rolling-up-your-sleeves-and-getting-to-work/)

[Hillary Rodham Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-rodham-clinton/)

> [True progress comes not through action, but through awakening.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-cohen/true-progress-comes-not-through-action-but-through-awakening/)

[Alan Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-cohen/)

> [It seems to me that progress, more-often-than-not, comes under the cloak of compromise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-jay-taylor/it-seems-to-me-that-progress-more-often-than-not-comes-under-the/)

[T Jay Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-jay-taylor/)

> [Americans have been selling this view around the world: that progress comes from perfect protection of intellectual property.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-lessig/americans-have-been-selling-this-view-around-the-world-that-progress/)

[Lawrence Lessig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-lessig/)

> [“Progress comes through capacity to learn, and is irresistible.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idries-shah/progress-comes-through-capacity-to-learn-and-is-irresistible/)

[Idries Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idries-shah/)

> [“Progress comes via the improbable. Embrace it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sravani-saha-nakhro/progress-comes-via-the-improbable-embrace-it/)

[Sravani Saha Nakhro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sravani-saha-nakhro/)

## More by Edmund Clarence Stedman

> [Above the clouds I lift my wing To hear the bells of Heaven ring; Some of their music, though my fights be wild, To…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-clarence-stedman/above-the-clouds-i-lift-my-wing-to-hear-the-bells-of-heaven-ring-some/)

[Edmund Clarence Stedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-clarence-stedman/)

> [Whither away, Bluebird, Whither away? The blast is chill, yet in the upper sky Thou still canst find the color of thy wing, The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-clarence-stedman/whither-away-bluebird-whither-away-the-blast-is-chill-yet-in-the/)

[Edmund Clarence Stedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-clarence-stedman/)

> [No clouds are in the morning sky, The vapors hug the stream, Who says that life and love can die In all this northern…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-clarence-stedman/no-clouds-are-in-the-morning-sky-the-vapors-hug-the-stream-who-says/)

[Edmund Clarence Stedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-clarence-stedman/)

> [The poet is a creator, not an iconoclast, and never will tamely endeavor to say in prose what can only be expressed in song.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-clarence-stedman/the-poet-is-a-creator-not-an-iconoclast-and-never-will-tamely/)

[Edmund Clarence Stedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-clarence-stedman/)

> [Give us a man of God's own mould Born to marshall his fellow-men; One whose fame is not bought and sold At the stroke…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-clarence-stedman/give-us-a-man-of-god-s-own-mould-born-to-marshall-his-fellow-men-one/)

[Edmund Clarence Stedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-clarence-stedman/)

> [Lo, as I gaze, the statured man, Built up from you large hand appears: A type that nature wills to plan But once in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-clarence-stedman/lo-as-i-gaze-the-statured-man-built-up-from-you-large-hand-appears-a/)

[Edmund Clarence Stedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-clarence-stedman/)

> [Natural emotion is the soul of poetry, as melody is of music; the same faults are engendered by over-study of either art; there is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-clarence-stedman/natural-emotion-is-the-soul-of-poetry-as-melody-is-of-music-the-same/)

[Edmund Clarence Stedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-clarence-stedman/)

> [Alas, by what rude fate Our lives, like ships at sea, an instant meet, Then part forever on their courses fleet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-clarence-stedman/alas-by-what-rude-fate-our-lives-like-ships-at-sea-an-instant-meet/)

[Edmund Clarence Stedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-clarence-stedman/)

> [Fashion is a potency in art, making it hard to judge between the temporary and the lasting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-clarence-stedman/fashion-is-a-potency-in-art-making-it-hard-to-judge-between-the/)

[Edmund Clarence Stedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-clarence-stedman/)

> [Music waves eternal wands,-- Enchantress of the souls of mortals!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-clarence-stedman/music-waves-eternal-wands-enchantress-of-the-souls-of-mortals/)

[Edmund Clarence Stedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-clarence-stedman/)

> [Faith and joy are the ascensive forces of song.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-clarence-stedman/faith-and-joy-are-the-ascensive-forces-of-song/)

[Edmund Clarence Stedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-clarence-stedman/)

> [Genius does not need a special language; it uses newly whatever tongue it finds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-clarence-stedman/genius-does-not-need-a-special-language-it-uses-newly-whatever-tongue/)

[Edmund Clarence Stedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-clarence-stedman/)

> [Look on this cast, and know the hand That bore a nation in its hold; From this mute witness understand What Lincoln was -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-clarence-stedman/look-on-this-cast-and-know-the-hand-that-bore-a-nation-in-its-hold/)

[Edmund Clarence Stedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-clarence-stedman/)

> [The imagination never dies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-clarence-stedman/the-imagination-never-dies/)

[Edmund Clarence Stedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-clarence-stedman/)

> [No, he was no such charlatan-- Count de Hoboken Flash-in-the-Pan-- Full of gasconade and bravado, But a regular, rich Don Rataplane, Santa Claus de…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-clarence-stedman/no-he-was-no-such-charlatan-count-de-hoboken-flash-in-the-pan-full-of/)

[Edmund Clarence Stedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-clarence-stedman/)

[Explore all 32 Edmund Clarence Stedman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-clarence-stedman/)

## 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": "Progress comes by experiment, and this from ennui that leads to voyages, wars, revolutions, and plainly to change in the arts of expression; that cries out to the imagination, and is the nurse of the invention whereof we term necessity the mother.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Edmund Clarence Stedman"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-clarence-stedman/progress-comes-by-experiment-and-this-from-ennui-that-leads-to/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Art"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-clarence-stedman/progress-comes-by-experiment-and-this-from-ennui-that-leads-to/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2b0/edmund-clarence-stedman-19685_art_progress-comes-by-experiment-and-this-fr_2686706.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2b0/edmund-clarence-stedman-19685_art_progress-comes-by-experiment-and-this-fr_2686706.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2b0/edmund-clarence-stedman-19685_art_progress-comes-by-experiment-and-this-fr_2686706.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Progress comes by experiment, and this from ennui that leads to voyages, wars, revolutions, and plainly to…” — Edmund Clarence Stedman",
                "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": "Edmund Clarence Stedman",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-clarence-stedman/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Progress comes by experiment, and this...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-clarence-stedman/progress-comes-by-experiment-and-this-from-ennui-that-leads-to/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-clarence-stedman/progress-comes-by-experiment-and-this-from-ennui-that-leads-to/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
