---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A great spirit has been amongst us, and a…"
description: "\"“A great spirit has been amongst us, and a great artist is gone.”\" — Ezra Pound"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17b/ezra-pound-1208_art_a-great-spirit-has-been-amongst-us-and-a_578503.png"
---

#  A great spirit has been amongst us, and a great artist is…

![“A great spirit has been amongst us, and a great artist is gone.” quote by Ezra Pound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17b/ezra-pound-1208_art_a-great-spirit-has-been-amongst-us-and-a_578503.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17b/ezra-pound-1208_art_a-great-spirit-has-been-amongst-us-and-a_578503.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17b/ezra-pound-1208_art_a-great-spirit-has-been-amongst-us-and-a_578503.png)

> ““A great spirit has been amongst us, and a great artist is gone.””

[Ezra Pound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-pound/)

## About This Quote

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

A lament for a lost artistic genius, acknowledging both presence and absence.

**In simple terms:** Missing a great artist.

Key Takeaway

Remember and honor lost creators.

Themes

loss art legacy grief

Mood

somber reflective

Type

eulogy literary

When to use this quote

- museum curation
- art history curricula
- public memorials
- artist retrospectives

Key Concepts

creative influence cultural memory

Questions to Reflect On

- How do we preserve artistic contributions after death?
- What responsibilities do we have to living artists?

A Different Perspective

The quote may romanticize loss, overlooking the artist’s own agency.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Artist Gone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist-gone-4760271/) [Gone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gone/) [Great artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/great-artist/) [Great spirit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/great-spirit/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [Spirit Great](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spirit-great-1698143/)

## Related quotes

> [If you know Ryan Clark, you know he has great spirit and a great work ethic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-tomlin/if-you-know-ryan-clark-you-know-he-has-great-spirit-and-a-great-work/)

[Mike Tomlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-tomlin/)

> [A spirit is a great definition for me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-white/a-spirit-is-a-great-definition-for-me/)

[Paula White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-white/)

> [“Be patient. Don't force your experiences on others. The moving of spirit is a great mystery, and how or why or when certain people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-bell/be-patient-don-t-force-your-experiences-on-others-the-moving-of/)

[Rob Bell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-bell/)

> [“The Holy Spirit is our great Teacher.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/the-holy-spirit-is-our-great-teacher/)

[Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/)

> [Artists are the antennae of the race, but the bullet-headed many will never learn to trust the great artists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-pound/artists-are-the-antennae-of-the-race-but-the-bullet-headed-many-will/)

[Ezra Pound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-pound/)

> [There are so many great artists, I think, who kind of suffer from being icons, legends, acknowledged masters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-linklater/there-are-so-many-great-artists-i-think-who-kind-of-suffer-from-being/)

[Richard Linklater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-linklater/)

> [I think a great artist should be able to create any style, any form, anything from rock to pop to gospel to spiritual, just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-jackson/i-think-a-great-artist-should-be-able-to-create-any-style-any-form/)

[Michael Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-jackson/)

> [A great artist transforms our world, removes scales from our eyes, plugs from our ears, gloves from our fingertips, teaches us to perceive reality…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-edgar-wideman/a-great-artist-transforms-our-world-removes-scales-from-our-eyes/)

[John Edgar Wideman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-edgar-wideman/)

> [I cannot be convinced that great artists are moralists. Art is first appearances, then meaning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-paglia/i-cannot-be-convinced-that-great-artists-are-moralists-art-is-first/)

[Camille Paglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-paglia/)

> [One can be a great artist without being a great technician. There have been many famous ballet stars who did not have the ideal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-bujones/one-can-be-a-great-artist-without-being-a-great-technician-there-have/)

[Fernando Bujones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-bujones/)

> [Where today are the Pequot? Where are the Narragansett, the Mohican, the Pcanet, and other powerful tribes of our people? They have vanished before…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tecumseh/where-today-are-the-pequot-where-are-the-narragansett-the-mohican-the/)

[Tecumseh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tecumseh/)

> [We should understand well that all things are the work of the Great Spirit. We should know the Great Spirit is within all things:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/black-elk/we-should-understand-well-that-all-things-are-the-work-of-the-great/)

[Black Elk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/black-elk/)

> [As a kid, there was a painting of 'Appeal to the Great Spirit' that I would see when I would get oatmeal bowls out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lance-henriksen/as-a-kid-there-was-a-painting-of-appeal-to-the-great-spirit-that-i/)

[Lance Henriksen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lance-henriksen/)

> [Grown men may learn from very little children, for the hearts of little children are pure, and, therefore, the Great Spirit may show to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/black-elk/grown-men-may-learn-from-very-little-children-for-the-hearts-of/)

[Black Elk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/black-elk/)

> [Almost any dog thinks almost any human is the Great Spirit, the Primal Creator, and the Universal Force Behind the Sun and Tides. What…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-holland/almost-any-dog-thinks-almost-any-human-is-the-great-spirit-the-primal/)

[Barbara Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-holland/)

## More by Ezra Pound

> [“I once saw a small child go to an electric light switch as say, "Mamma, can I open the light?" She was using the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-pound/i-once-saw-a-small-child-go-to-an-electric-light-switch-as-say-mamma/)

[Ezra Pound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-pound/)

> [“Till now they send him dreams and no more deed; So doth he flame again with might for action, Forgetful of the council of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-pound/till-now-they-send-him-dreams-and-no-more-deed-so-doth-he-flame-again/)

[Ezra Pound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-pound/)

> [A great age of literature is perhaps always a great age of translations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-pound/a-great-age-of-literature-is-perhaps-always-a-great-age-of/)

[Ezra Pound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-pound/)

> [It would be about as easy for an American to become a Chinaman or a Hindoo as for him to acquire an Englishness or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-pound/it-would-be-about-as-easy-for-an-american-to-become-a-chinaman-or-a/)

[Ezra Pound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-pound/)

> [Poets who are not interested in music are, or become, bad poets.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-pound/poets-who-are-not-interested-in-music-are-or-become-bad-poets/)

[Ezra Pound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-pound/)

> [Anyone who is too lazy to master the comparatively small glossary necessary to understand Chaucer deserves to be shut out from the reading of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-pound/anyone-who-is-too-lazy-to-master-the-comparatively-small-glossary/)

[Ezra Pound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-pound/)

> [Mass ought to be in Latin, unless you could do it in Greek or Chinese. In fact, any abracadabra that no bloody member of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-pound/mass-ought-to-be-in-latin-unless-you-could-do-it-in-greek-or-chinese/)

[Ezra Pound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-pound/)

> [where the dead walked and the living were made of cardboard.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-pound/where-the-dead-walked-and-the-living-were-made-of-cardboard/)

[Ezra Pound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-pound/)

> [Liberty is not a right but a duty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-pound/liberty-is-not-a-right-but-a-duty/)

[Ezra Pound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-pound/)

> [The artist is always beginning. Any work of art which is not a beginning, an invention, a discovery is of little worth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-pound/the-artist-is-always-beginning-any-work-of-art-which-is-not-a/)

[Ezra Pound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-pound/)

> [“Any general statement is like a cheque drawn on a bank. Its value depends on what is there to meet it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-pound/any-general-statement-is-like-a-cheque-drawn-on-a-bank-its-value/)

[Ezra Pound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-pound/)

> [The author's conviction on this day of New Year is that music begins to atrophy when it departs too far from the dance; that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-pound/the-author-s-conviction-on-this-day-of-new-year-is-that-music-begins/)

[Ezra Pound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-pound/)

> [In case I conk out, this is provisionally what I have to do: I must clarify obscurities; I must make clearer definite ideas or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-pound/in-case-i-conk-out-this-is-provisionally-what-i-have-to-do-i-must/)

[Ezra Pound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-pound/)

> [“Adolf Hitler was a Jeanne d'Arc, a saint. He was a martyr.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-pound/adolf-hitler-was-a-jeanne-d-arc-a-saint-he-was-a-martyr/)

[Ezra Pound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-pound/)

> [I could I trust starve like a gentleman. It's listed as part of the poetic training, you know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-pound/i-could-i-trust-starve-like-a-gentleman-it-s-listed-as-part-of-the/)

[Ezra Pound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-pound/)

[Explore all 273 Ezra Pound quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-pound/)

## 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": "“A great spirit has been amongst us, and a great artist is gone.”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Ezra Pound"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-pound/a-great-spirit-has-been-amongst-us-and-a-great-artist-is-gone/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Art"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-pound/a-great-spirit-has-been-amongst-us-and-a-great-artist-is-gone/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17b/ezra-pound-1208_art_a-great-spirit-has-been-amongst-us-and-a_578503.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17b/ezra-pound-1208_art_a-great-spirit-has-been-amongst-us-and-a_578503.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17b/ezra-pound-1208_art_a-great-spirit-has-been-amongst-us-and-a_578503.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“A great spirit has been amongst us, and a great artist is gone.” — Ezra Pound",
                "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": "Ezra Pound",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-pound/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“A great spirit has been amongst...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-pound/a-great-spirit-has-been-amongst-us-and-a-great-artist-is-gone/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-pound/a-great-spirit-has-been-amongst-us-and-a-great-artist-is-gone/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
