--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There is material among us for the…" description: "\"There is material among us for the broadest comedies and the deepest tragedies, but, besides money and leisure, it needs patience, perseverance, courag..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/571/frances-harper-23401_art_there-is-material-among-us-for-the-broad_2538504.jpg" --- # There is material among us for the broadest comedies and… ![“There is material among us for the broadest comedies and the deepest tragedies, but, besides money and leisure, it needs patience, perseverance, courage, and the hand of an artist to weave it into the literature of the country.” quote by Frances Harper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/571/frances-harper-23401_art_there-is-material-among-us-for-the-broad_2538504.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/571/frances-harper-23401_art_there-is-material-among-us-for-the-broad_2538504.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/571/frances-harper-23401_art_there-is-material-among-us-for-the-broad_2538504.jpg) > “There is material among us for the broadest comedies and the deepest tragedies, but, besides money and leisure, it needs patience, perseverance, courage, and the hand of an artist to weave it into the literature of the country.” [Frances Harper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-harper/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Literature requires material, patience, perseverance, courage, and artistic skill to become a nation's cultural record. **In simple terms:** Writing needs material and artistic effort. Key Takeaway Cultivate patience and courage in creative work. Themes creativity national identity artistic discipline Mood reflective inspirational Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - writing a novel - documenting history - producing theater - curating exhibitions Key Concepts cultural production literary theory Questions to Reflect On - How does patience shape artistic expression? - What role does courage play in cultural preservation? A Different Perspective May overlook socioeconomic barriers that limit access to artistic resources. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Comedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comedy/) [Country](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/country/) [Courage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/courage/) [Hands](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hands/) [Leisure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/leisure/) [Literature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literature/) [Literature Country](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literature-country-888446/) [Materials](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/materials/) [Money](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/money/) [Needs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/needs/) [Needs Patience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/needs-patience-1411804/) [Patience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/patience/) [Patience Perseverance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/patience-perseverance/) [Perseverance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/perseverance/) [Tragedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tragedy/) ## Related quotes > [A warrior of light needs both patience and speed. He treats each situation as if it were unique.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/a-warrior-of-light-needs-both-patience-and-speed-he-treats-each/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [He needs both patience and speed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/he-needs-both-patience-and-speed/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [Change needs practice. And practice needs patience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fairclough/change-needs-practice-and-practice-needs-patience/) [John Fairclough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fairclough/) > [I learned patience, perseverance, and dedication. Now I really know myself, and I know my voice. It's a voice of pain and victory.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-hamilton/i-learned-patience-perseverance-and-dedication-now-i-really-know/) [Anthony Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-hamilton/) > [Wanting to win isn't enough. You have to go through a process to improve. That takes patience, perseverance, and intentionality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-c-maxwell/wanting-to-win-isn-t-enough-you-have-to-go-through-a-process-to/) [John C. Maxwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-c-maxwell/) > [“Change is not always easy, but with patience and perseverance, we can find the good in change.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-yannayon/change-is-not-always-easy-but-with-patience-and-perseverance-we-can-2/) [Kim Yannayon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-yannayon/) > [Change is not always easy, but with patience and perseverance, we can find good in change. Just remember, if nothing ever changed, there would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhishek-tiwari/change-is-not-always-easy-but-with-patience-and-perseverance-we-can/) [Abhishek Tiwari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhishek-tiwari/) > [Even if you have money, access to MoCap technology, and strong choreographic and computer-animation abilities, don't try to make a film like this if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martine-epoque/even-if-you-have-money-access-to-mocap-technology-and-strong/) [Martine Epoque](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martine-epoque/) > [To every obstacle oppose patience, perseverance and soothing language.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/to-every-obstacle-oppose-patience-perseverance-and-soothing-language/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [I love the fact publishers are still publishing unprofitable material. It's a challenge to the powers that be. It's saying there is a real…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/i-love-the-fact-publishers-are-still-publishing-unprofitable-material/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [I think about Chilean literature as a family, because I grew up reading the literature of my country. I feel like I have fathers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejandro-zambra/i-think-about-chilean-literature-as-a-family-because-i-grew-up/) [Alejandro Zambra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejandro-zambra/) > [If we can't stamp out literature in the country, we can at least stop its being brought in from outside.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evelyn-waugh/if-we-can-t-stamp-out-literature-in-the-country-we-can-at-least-stop/) [Evelyn Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evelyn-waugh/) > [The naturalistic literature of this country has reached such a state that no family of characters is considered true to life whichdoes not include…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/the-naturalistic-literature-of-this-country-has-reached-such-a-state/) [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) > [“The thing about the literature of any country is that it is a sort of climate that one breathes,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-fletcher-geniesse/the-thing-about-the-literature-of-any-country-is-that-it-is-a-sort-of/) [Jane Fletcher Geniesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-fletcher-geniesse/) > [“If things have always come easily to you, being challenged will appear frustrating.  It’s not because you don’t need the challenge.  It’s because you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teresa-rose/if-things-have-always-come-easily-to-you-being-challenged-will-appear/) [Teresa Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teresa-rose/) ## More by Frances Harper > [We are all bound up together in one great bundle of humanity, and society cannot trample on the weakest and feeblest of its members…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-harper/we-are-all-bound-up-together-in-one-great-bundle-of-humanity-and/) [Frances Harper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-harper/) > [I belong to this race, and when it is down I belong to a down race; when it is up I belong to a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-harper/i-belong-to-this-race-and-when-it-is-down-i-belong-to-a-down-race/) [Frances Harper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-harper/) > [I find, by close observation, that the mothers are the levers which move in education. The men talk about it . . . but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-harper/i-find-by-close-observation-that-the-mothers-are-the-levers-which/) [Frances Harper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-harper/) > [If we have had no past, it is well for us to look hopefully to the future - for the shadows bear the promise…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-harper/if-we-have-had-no-past-it-is-well-for-us-to-look-hopefully-to-the/) [Frances Harper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-harper/) > [I like the character of Moses. He is the first disunionist we read of in the Jewish Scriptures.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-harper/i-like-the-character-of-moses-he-is-the-first-disunionist-we-read-of/) [Frances Harper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-harper/) > [But two things are wanting in American civilization - a keener and deeper, broader and tenderer sense of justice - a sense of humanity,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-harper/but-two-things-are-wanting-in-american-civilization-a-keener-and/) [Frances Harper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-harper/) > [Every mother should endeavor to be a true artist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-harper/every-mother-should-endeavor-to-be-a-true-artist/) [Frances Harper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-harper/) > [I envy neither the heart nor the head of any legislator who has been born to an inheritance of privileges, who has behind him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-harper/i-envy-neither-the-heart-nor-the-head-of-any-legislator-who-has-been/) [Frances Harper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-harper/) > [I do not think the mere extension of the ballot a panacea for all the ills of our national life. What we need to-day…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-harper/i-do-not-think-the-mere-extension-of-the-ballot-a-panacea-for-all-the/) [Frances Harper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-harper/) > [No man can feel the iron which enters another man's soul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-harper/no-man-can-feel-the-iron-which-enters-another-man-s-soul/) [Frances Harper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-harper/) > [My hands were weak, but I reached them out To feebler ones than mine, and over the shadow of my life Stole the light…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-harper/my-hands-were-weak-but-i-reached-them-out-to-feebler-ones-than-mine/) [Frances Harper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-harper/) > [True politeness is to social life what oil is to machinery, a thing to oil the ruts and grooves of existence. False politeness can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-harper/true-politeness-is-to-social-life-what-oil-is-to-machinery-a-thing-to/) [Frances Harper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-harper/) > [The true aim of female education should be, not a development of one or two, but all the faculties of the human soul, because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-harper/the-true-aim-of-female-education-should-be-not-a-development-of-one/) [Frances Harper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-harper/) > [A room to myself is a luxury that I do not always enjoy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-harper/a-room-to-myself-is-a-luxury-that-i-do-not-always-enjoy/) [Frances Harper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-harper/) > [The respect that is only bought by gold is not worth much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-harper/the-respect-that-is-only-bought-by-gold-is-not-worth-much/) [Frances Harper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-harper/) [Explore all 26 Frances Harper quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-harper/) ## 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": "There is material among us for the broadest comedies and the deepest tragedies, but, besides money and leisure, it needs patience, perseverance, courage, and the hand of an artist to weave it into the literature of the country.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Frances Harper" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-harper/there-is-material-among-us-for-the-broadest-comedies-and-the-deepest/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-harper/there-is-material-among-us-for-the-broadest-comedies-and-the-deepest/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/571/frances-harper-23401_art_there-is-material-among-us-for-the-broad_2538504.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/571/frances-harper-23401_art_there-is-material-among-us-for-the-broad_2538504.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/571/frances-harper-23401_art_there-is-material-among-us-for-the-broad_2538504.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There is material among us for the broadest comedies and the deepest tragedies, but, besides money and…” — Frances Harper", "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": "Frances Harper", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-harper/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "There is material among us for...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-harper/there-is-material-among-us-for-the-broadest-comedies-and-the-deepest/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-harper/there-is-material-among-us-for-the-broadest-comedies-and-the-deepest/#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 } } ] } ```