--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is very bad for (an artist) to talk…" description: "\"It is very bad for (an artist) to talk about how he (creates). It is not the (artist's) province to explain or to run guided tours through the more dif..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9fe/ernest-hemingway-83_art_it-is-very-bad-for-an-artist-to-talk-abo_585806.jpg" --- # It is very bad for (an artist) to talk about how he… ![“It is very bad for (an artist) to talk about how he (creates). It is not the (artist's) province to explain or to run guided tours through the more difficult country of his work. It's none of their business that you had to learn. Let them think you were born that way.” quote by Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9fe/ernest-hemingway-83_art_it-is-very-bad-for-an-artist-to-talk-abo_585806.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9fe/ernest-hemingway-83_art_it-is-very-bad-for-an-artist-to-talk-abo_585806.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9fe/ernest-hemingway-83_art_it-is-very-bad-for-an-artist-to-talk-abo_585806.jpg) > “It is very bad for (an artist) to talk about how he (creates). It is not the (artist's) province to explain or to run guided tours through the more difficult country of his work. It's none of their business that you had to learn. Let them think you were born that way.” [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Hemingway argues that artists should not explain their work, as the creative process is personal and not for public instruction. **In simple terms:** Artists need not justify their creations. Key Takeaway Let art speak for itself. Themes art creativity privacy interpretation communication Mood reflective thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - gallery opening - literary critique - creative workshops - public speaking Key Concepts authorial intent mystery self-expression Questions to Reflect On - Should artists ever discuss their methods? - How does mystery affect appreciation? A Different Perspective Audiences may miss deeper meanings without guidance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Country](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/country/) [Running](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/running/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [There's been a time where I've actually given up my European Tour membership because playing two tours was too difficult.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-casey/there-s-been-a-time-where-i-ve-actually-given-up-my-european-tour/) [Paul Casey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-casey/) > [Asking an artist to talk about his work is like asking a plant to discuss horticulture.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/asking-an-artist-to-talk-about-his-work-is-like-asking-a-plant-to/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [Sometimes I say stuff to relate to people. It just really depends, because you don't have to be one type of artist and talk…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tyga/sometimes-i-say-stuff-to-relate-to-people-it-just-really-depends/) [Tyga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tyga/) > [When I was a kid and I would hear an artist talk about their depression, it would change my whole life and I would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noah-kahan/when-i-was-a-kid-and-i-would-hear-an-artist-talk-about-their/) [Noah Kahan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noah-kahan/) > [Create, artist, do not talk.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/create-artist-do-not-talk/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [We're creators by permission, by grace as it were. No one creates alone, of and by himself. An artist is an instrument that registers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-miller/we-re-creators-by-permission-by-grace-as-it-were-no-one-creates-alone/) [Henry Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-miller/) > [All authentic art is conceived at a sacred moment and nourished in a blessed hour; an inner impulse creates it, often without the artist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caspar-david-friedrich/all-authentic-art-is-conceived-at-a-sacred-moment-and-nourished-in-a/) [Caspar David Friedrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caspar-david-friedrich/) > [“It takes two to make a work of art: the artist and those for whom he creates; and no artist of any significance has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-craven/it-takes-two-to-make-a-work-of-art-the-artist-and-those-for-whom-he/) Thomas Craven > [“No One was born as good or evil, it is the world that creates an Artist or Adolf.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anum-sattar/no-one-was-born-as-good-or-evil-it-is-the-world-that-creates-an/) Anum Sattar > [I think the person creates the artist. And I think when you get lost within your person, your artistry get lost, too. It's like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monica-bellucci/i-think-the-person-creates-the-artist-and-i-think-when-you-get-lost/) [Monica Bellucci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monica-bellucci/) > [We all know that a good person can be a bad artist.But no one will ever be a genuine artist unless he is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-chagall/we-all-know-that-a-good-person-can-be-a-bad-artist-but-no-one-will/) [Marc Chagall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-chagall/) > [The difference between a bad artist and a good one is: the bad artist seems to copy a great deal; the good one really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/the-difference-between-a-bad-artist-and-a-good-one-is-the-bad-artist/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) > [Only a bad artist thinks he has a good idea. A good artist does not need anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ad-reinhardt/only-a-bad-artist-thinks-he-has-a-good-idea-a-good-artist-does-not/) [Ad Reinhardt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ad-reinhardt/) > [If you don't think a film looks good then that is just a reflection of how bad the artist was that was using the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-stanton/if-you-don-t-think-a-film-looks-good-then-that-is-just-a-reflection/) [Andrew Stanton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-stanton/) > [A bad artist almost always tries to conceal his incompetence by whooping up a new formula.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/a-bad-artist-almost-always-tries-to-conceal-his-incompetence-by/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) ## More by Ernest Hemingway > [Wine is one of the most civilized things in the world and one of the most natural things of the world that has been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/wine-is-one-of-the-most-civilized-things-in-the-world-and-one-of-the/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“There was no wind, and, outside now of the warm air of the cave, heavy with smoke of both tobacco and charcoal, with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/there-was-no-wind-and-outside-now-of-the-warm-air-of-the-cave-heavy/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“It was not brilliant bull-fighting. It was only perfect bull-fighting.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/it-was-not-brilliant-bull-fighting-it-was-only-perfect-bull-fighting/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [One cat just leads to another. The place is so damned big it doesn't really seem as though there were many cats until you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/one-cat-just-leads-to-another-the-place-is-so-damned-big-it-doesn-t/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [Creation's probably overrated. After all, God made the world in only six days and rested on the seventh.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/creation-s-probably-overrated-after-all-god-made-the-world-in-only/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“Viva my husband who was Mayor of this town”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/viva-my-husband-who-was-mayor-of-this-town/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“The earth gets tired of being exploited.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/the-earth-gets-tired-of-being-exploited/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [What is moral is what you feel good after, and what is immoral is what you feel bad after.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/what-is-moral-is-what-you-feel-good-after-and-what-is-immoral-is-what/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“We drove out along the coast road. There was the green of the headlands, the white, red-roofed villas, patches of forest, and the ocean…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/we-drove-out-along-the-coast-road-there-was-the-green-of-the/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [As a Nobel Prize winner I cannot but regret that the award was never given to Mark Twain, nor to Henry James, speaking only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/as-a-nobel-prize-winner-i-cannot-but-regret-that-the-award-was-never/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [Oh, darling, I've been so miserable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/oh-darling-i-ve-been-so-miserable/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [I read my own books sometimes to cheer me when it is hard to write, and then I remember that it was always difficult,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/i-read-my-own-books-sometimes-to-cheer-me-when-it-is-hard-to-write/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“You find everything on earth at Harry's." "Yes, my Colonel. Except, possibly, happiness." "I'll damn well find happiness, too," the Colonel assured him. "Happiness,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/you-find-everything-on-earth-at-harry-s-yes-my-colonel-except/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“No. It's bad for me. Cole Porter wrote the words and the music. This knowledge that you're going mad for me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/no-it-s-bad-for-me-cole-porter-wrote-the-words-and-the-music-this/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“everything kills everything else in some way. Fishing kills me exactly as it keeps me alive. The boy keeps me alive, he thought. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/everything-kills-everything-else-in-some-way-fishing-kills-me-exactly/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) [Explore all 1,464 Ernest Hemingway quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) ## 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": "It is very bad for (an artist) to talk about how he (creates). It is not the (artist's) province to explain or to run guided tours through the more difficult country of his work. It's none of their business that you had to learn. Let them think you were born that way.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ernest Hemingway" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/it-is-very-bad-for-an-artist-to-talk-about-how-he-creates-it-is-not/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/it-is-very-bad-for-an-artist-to-talk-about-how-he-creates-it-is-not/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9fe/ernest-hemingway-83_art_it-is-very-bad-for-an-artist-to-talk-abo_585806.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9fe/ernest-hemingway-83_art_it-is-very-bad-for-an-artist-to-talk-abo_585806.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9fe/ernest-hemingway-83_art_it-is-very-bad-for-an-artist-to-talk-abo_585806.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It is very bad for (an artist) to talk about how he (creates). It is not the (artist's) province to explain…” — Ernest Hemingway", "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": "Ernest Hemingway", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "It is very bad for (an...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/it-is-very-bad-for-an-artist-to-talk-about-how-he-creates-it-is-not/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/it-is-very-bad-for-an-artist-to-talk-about-how-he-creates-it-is-not/#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 } } ] } ```