--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I once saw a small child go to an…" description: "\"“I once saw a small child go to an electric light switch as say, \"Mamma, can I open the light?\" She was using the age-old language of exploration, the ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4bb/ezra-pound-1208_art_i-once-saw-a-small-child-go-to-an-electr_7156.png" --- # I once saw a small child go to an electric light switch as… ![“I once saw a small child go to an electric light switch as say, "Mamma, can I open the light?" She was using the age-old language of exploration, the language of art. It was a sort of metaphor, but she was not using it as ornamentation.” quote by Ezra Pound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4bb/ezra-pound-1208_art_i-once-saw-a-small-child-go-to-an-electr_7156.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4bb/ezra-pound-1208_art_i-once-saw-a-small-child-go-to-an-electr_7156.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4bb/ezra-pound-1208_art_i-once-saw-a-small-child-go-to-an-electr_7156.png) > ““I once saw a small child go to an electric light switch as say, "Mamma, can I open the light?" She was using the age-old language of exploration, the language of art. It was a sort of metaphor, but she was not using it as ornamentation.”” [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 child’s innocent curiosity frames a mundane action as a creative act, showing how everyday exploration can be inherently artistic. **In simple terms:** Curiosity turns routine into art. Key Takeaway Explore with wonder. Themes curiosity artistic perception learning metaphor innocence Mood wonderful playful inspired Type observational philosophical When to use this quote - teaching children - design thinking workshops - innovation brainstorming Key Concepts exploration language creative mindset Practical Applications - stimulating creative problem solving - encouraging playful inquiry Questions to Reflect On - How does framing tasks as artistic change outcomes? - What everyday actions can be reimagined as creative? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Creativity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creativity/) [Electric light](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/electric-light/) [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Travel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/travel/) ## Related quotes > [I once saw a small child go to an electric light switch as say, Mamma, can I open the light? 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Begin to open up to your light.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritu-ghatourey/you-are-so-much-bigger-and-so-much-brighter-than-you-can-fathom-begin/) [Ritu Ghatourey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritu-ghatourey/) > [I am Black because I come from the earth's inside now take my word for jewel in the open light.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/i-am-black-because-i-come-from-the-earth-s-inside-now-take-my-word/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [If the eyes are open and there is light, seeing occurs; the stimulus is but a condition of the fulfillment of the proper function…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/if-the-eyes-are-open-and-there-is-light-seeing-occurs-the-stimulus-is/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [A pure heart, open to the Light, will be filled with the elixir of Truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/a-pure-heart-open-to-the-light-will-be-filled-with-the-elixir-of-truth/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [There is a morning inside you waiting to burst open into light.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/there-is-a-morning-inside-you-waiting-to-burst-open-into-light/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [This country has achieved its commercial and financial supremacy under a regime of private ownership. 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Sucking on it!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/we-talked-death-with-burned-up-intensity-both-of-us-drawn-to-it-like/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [“And what is the state but a servant and a convenience for a large number of people, just like the electric light and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/and-what-is-the-state-but-a-servant-and-a-convenience-for-a-large/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [I compare the Twist to the electric light, The Twist is me, and I'm it. I'm the electric light.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chubby-checker/i-compare-the-twist-to-the-electric-light-the-twist-is-me-and-i-m-it/) [Chubby Checker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chubby-checker/) > [We are striking it big in the electric light, better than my vivid imagination first conceived. 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Edison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-a-edison/) > [We live technologically, with man as the master of nature, man as the engineer, and let anyone who raises his voice against it stop…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-frisch/we-live-technologically-with-man-as-the-master-of-nature-man-as-the/) [Max Frisch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-frisch/) ## More by 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. 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