--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What one seems to want in art, in…" description: "\"What one seems to want in art, in experiencing it, is the same thing that is necessary for its creation, a self-forgetful, perfectly useless concentrat..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b93/elizabeth-bishop-9054_art_what-one-seems-to-want-in-art-in-experie_2976780.jpg" --- # What one seems to want in art, in experiencing it, is the… ![“What one seems to want in art, in experiencing it, is the same thing that is necessary for its creation, a self-forgetful, perfectly useless concentration.” quote by Elizabeth Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b93/elizabeth-bishop-9054_art_what-one-seems-to-want-in-art-in-experie_2976780.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b93/elizabeth-bishop-9054_art_what-one-seems-to-want-in-art-in-experie_2976780.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b93/elizabeth-bishop-9054_art_what-one-seems-to-want-in-art-in-experie_2976780.jpg) > “What one seems to want in art, in experiencing it, is the same thing that is necessary for its creation, a self-forgetful, perfectly useless concentration.” [Elizabeth Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bishop/) ## 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 requires selfless, focused immersion that feels useless but is essential. **In simple terms:** True art demands self‑less, deep concentration. Key Takeaway Embrace focused, self‑less work. Themes art creativity focus Mood inspirational thoughtful Type philosophical creative When to use this quote - painting - writing - music - meditation Key Concepts mindfulness flow self‑transcendence Questions to Reflect On - How can you balance self‑less focus with daily responsibilities? - What does “useless” concentration feel like? A Different Perspective The idea may ignore practical constraints. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Art Experiencing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art-experiencing-4609718/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Concentration](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/concentration/) [Creation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creation/) [Focus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/focus/) [Forgetful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forgetful/) [Forgetful Perfectly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forgetful-perfectly-4609716/) [Necessary Creation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/necessary-creation-451935/) [Seems](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seems/) [Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self/) [Self Forgetful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self-forgetful-1275853/) [Useless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/useless/) [Useless Concentration](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/useless-concentration-4609715/) [Want](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/want/) ## Related quotes > [The gift of writing is to be self-forgetful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/the-gift-of-writing-is-to-be-self-forgetful/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [The gift of writing is to be self-forgetful … to get a surge of inner life or inner supply or unexpected sense of empowerment,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/the-gift-of-writing-is-to-be-self-forgetful-to-get-a-surge-of-inner/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [No art is sunk in the self, but rather, in art the self becomes self-forgetful in order to meet the demands of the thing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/no-art-is-sunk-in-the-self-but-rather-in-art-the-self-becomes-self/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [My mother's an artist. 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Me, that’s who.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/what-forgetful-moron-frantically-looks-for-car-keys-that-are-in-his/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Bah, Alzheimer’s. Grandma wouldn’t be so forgetful if she didn’t always have dick on her mind.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/bah-alzheimer-s-grandma-wouldn-t-be-so-forgetful-if-she-didn-t-always/) [Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/) > [Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet, Lest we forget--lest we forget!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudyard-kipling/lord-god-of-hosts-be-with-us-yet-lest-we-forget-lest-we-forget/) [Rudyard Kipling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudyard-kipling/) > [There is a perennial nobleness, and even sacredness, in work. Were he never so benighted, forgetful of his high calling, there is always hope…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/there-is-a-perennial-nobleness-and-even-sacredness-in-work-were-he/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [“When my children complain that I'm forgetful, I remind them that DAD is just ADD spelled sideways.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harvey-stanbrough/when-my-children-complain-that-i-m-forgetful-i-remind-them-that-dad/) [Harvey Stanbrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harvey-stanbrough/) > [Daily fervent prayers seeking forgiveness and special help and direction are essential to our lives and the nourishment of our testimonies. When we become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-l-staheli/daily-fervent-prayers-seeking-forgiveness-and-special-help-and/) [Donald L. Staheli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-l-staheli/) > [Towers in a modern town are a frill and a survival; they seem like the raised hands of the various churches, afraid of being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/towers-in-a-modern-town-are-a-frill-and-a-survival-they-seem-like-the/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [“You can't not help people just because they're stupid or forgetful or unpleasant... If I don't help them, who will?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/you-can-t-not-help-people-just-because-they-re-stupid-or-forgetful-or/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [The debt immense of endless gratitude, So burthensome, still paying, still to owe; Forgetful what from him I still receivd, And understood not that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/the-debt-immense-of-endless-gratitude-so-burthensome-still-paying/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) ## More by Elizabeth Bishop > [“Exchanging Hats Unfunny uncles who insist in trying on a lady's hat, --oh, even if the joke falls flat, we share your slight transvestite…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bishop/exchanging-hats-unfunny-uncles-who-insist-in-trying-on-a-lady-s-hat/) [Elizabeth Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bishop/) > [“At the Fishhouses Although it is a cold evening, down by one of the fishhouses an old man sits netting, his net, in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bishop/at-the-fishhouses-although-it-is-a-cold-evening-down-by-one-of-the/) [Elizabeth Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bishop/) > [I am sorry for people who can't write letters. But I suspect also that you and I ... love to write them because it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bishop/i-am-sorry-for-people-who-can-t-write-letters-but-i-suspect-also-that/) [Elizabeth Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bishop/) > [Time to plant tears, says the almanac. The grandmother sings to the marvelous stove and the child draws another inscrutable house.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bishop/time-to-plant-tears-says-the-almanac-the-grandmother-sings-to-the/) [Elizabeth Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bishop/) > [“All the untidy activity continues, awful but cheerful.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bishop/all-the-untidy-activity-continues-awful-but-cheerful/) [Elizabeth Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bishop/) > [“But they made me realize more than I ever had the rarity of true originality, and also the sort of alienation it might involve.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bishop/but-they-made-me-realize-more-than-i-ever-had-the-rarity-of-true/) [Elizabeth Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bishop/) > [“Should we have stayed home and thought of here?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bishop/should-we-have-stayed-home-and-thought-of-here/) [Elizabeth Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bishop/) > [“The art of losing isn't hard to master; so many things seem filled with the intent to be lost that their loss is no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bishop/the-art-of-losing-isn-t-hard-to-master-so-many-things-seem-filled/) [Elizabeth Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bishop/) > [The armored cars of dreams, contrived to let us do so many a dangerous thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bishop/the-armored-cars-of-dreams-contrived-to-let-us-do-so-many-a-dangerous/) [Elizabeth Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bishop/) > [Hoping to live days of greater happiness, I forget that days of less happiness are passing by.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bishop/hoping-to-live-days-of-greater-happiness-i-forget-that-days-of-less/) [Elizabeth Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bishop/) > [Someone loves us all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bishop/someone-loves-us-all/) [Elizabeth Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bishop/) > [Open the book. (The gilt rubs off the edges of the pages and pollinates the fingertips.)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bishop/open-the-book-the-gilt-rubs-off-the-edges-of-the-pages-and-pollinates/) [Elizabeth Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bishop/) > [Democracy in the contemporary world demands, among other things, an educated and informed people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bishop/democracy-in-the-contemporary-world-demands-among-other-things-an/) [Elizabeth Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bishop/) > [All my life I have lived and behaved very much like the sandpiper - just running down the edges of different countries and continents,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bishop/all-my-life-i-have-lived-and-behaved-very-much-like-the-sandpiper/) [Elizabeth Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bishop/) > [“I leave a lovely opalescent ribbon: I know this.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bishop/i-leave-a-lovely-opalescent-ribbon-i-know-this/) [Elizabeth Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bishop/) [Explore all 75 Elizabeth Bishop quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bishop/) ## 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": "What one seems to want in art, in experiencing it, is the same thing that is necessary for its creation, a self-forgetful, perfectly useless concentration.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Elizabeth Bishop" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bishop/what-one-seems-to-want-in-art-in-experiencing-it-is-the-same-thing/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bishop/what-one-seems-to-want-in-art-in-experiencing-it-is-the-same-thing/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b93/elizabeth-bishop-9054_art_what-one-seems-to-want-in-art-in-experie_2976780.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b93/elizabeth-bishop-9054_art_what-one-seems-to-want-in-art-in-experie_2976780.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b93/elizabeth-bishop-9054_art_what-one-seems-to-want-in-art-in-experie_2976780.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“What one seems to want in art, in experiencing it, is the same thing that is necessary for its creation, a…” — Elizabeth Bishop", "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": "Elizabeth Bishop", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bishop/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "What one seems to want in...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bishop/what-one-seems-to-want-in-art-in-experiencing-it-is-the-same-thing/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bishop/what-one-seems-to-want-in-art-in-experiencing-it-is-the-same-thing/#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 } } ] } ```