--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I am not a painter. I am a poet. / Why? I…" description: "\"I am not a painter. I am a poet. / Why? I think I would rather be / a painter, but I am not.\" — Frank O'Hara" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db7/frank-o-hara-6706_painter_i-am-not-a-painter-i-am-a-poet-why-i-thi_2987174.png" --- # I am not a painter. I am a poet. / Why? I think I would… ![“I am not a painter. I am a poet. / Why? I think I would rather be / a painter, but I am not.” quote by Frank O'Hara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db7/frank-o-hara-6706_painter_i-am-not-a-painter-i-am-a-poet-why-i-thi_2987174.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db7/frank-o-hara-6706_painter_i-am-not-a-painter-i-am-a-poet-why-i-thi_2987174.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db7/frank-o-hara-6706_painter_i-am-not-a-painter-i-am-a-poet-why-i-thi_2987174.png) > “I am not a painter. I am a poet. / Why? I think I would rather be / a painter, but I am not.” [Frank O'Hara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-o-hara/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker denies being a painter, identifies as a poet, yet wishes to paint, revealing identity conflict. **In simple terms:** I’m a poet, not a painter, but I wish otherwise. Key Takeaway Explore creative identity. Themes art identity creativity Mood introspective conflicted Type personal artistic When to use this quote - writing workshop - art class - personal journaling Key Concepts self‑concept artistic expression Questions to Reflect On - What defines your creative label? - Can one be both poet and painter? A Different Perspective May reflect indecision. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Painter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/painter/) [Painter Poet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/painter-poet-1385934/) [Painting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/painting/) [Poet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poet/) [Poet Think](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poet-think-1292187/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Think Painter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/think-painter-1195611/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [I have no ideas about what the paintings imply about the world. I don't think that's a painter's business. 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I sometimes think that if Samuel Beckett made films, he'd make them like Kiarostami makes… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-minghella/abbas-kiarostami-is-a-great-artist-and-a-poet-i-sometimes-think-that/) [Anthony Minghella](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-minghella/) ## More by Frank O'Hara > [“The stars blink like a hairnet that was dropped / on a seat and now it is lying in the alley behind / the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-o-hara/the-stars-blink-like-a-hairnet-that-was-dropped-on-a-seat-and-now-it/) [Frank O'Hara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-o-hara/) > [“It's a bright summer day, and I want to be wanted more than anything else in the world.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-o-hara/it-s-a-bright-summer-day-and-i-want-to-be-wanted-more-than-anything/) [Frank O'Hara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-o-hara/) > [See how free we are! as a nation of persons.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-o-hara/see-how-free-we-are-as-a-nation-of-persons/) [Frank O'Hara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-o-hara/) > [I don't believe in god, so I don't have to make elaborately sounded structures. ... 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You just go on your nerve. If someone's chasing you down the street with a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-o-hara/i-don-t-like-rhythm-assonance-all-that-stuff-you-just-go-on-your/) [Frank O'Hara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-o-hara/) > [“One need never leave the confines of New York to get all the greenery one wishes--I can't even enjoy a blade of grass unless…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-o-hara/one-need-never-leave-the-confines-of-new-york-to-get-all-the-greenery/) [Frank O'Hara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-o-hara/) > [“Now That I Am in Madrid I Can Think " I think of you and the continents brilliant and arid and the slender heart…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-o-hara/now-that-i-am-in-madrid-i-can-think-i-think-of-you-and-the-continents/) [Frank O'Hara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-o-hara/) > [Kerouac: You're ruining American poetry, O'Hara. O'Hara: That's more than you ever did for it, Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-o-hara/kerouac-you-re-ruining-american-poetry-o-hara-o-hara-that-s-more-than/) [Frank O'Hara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-o-hara/) > [I am ashamed of my century, but I have to smile.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-o-hara/i-am-ashamed-of-my-century-but-i-have-to-smile/) [Frank O'Hara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-o-hara/) > [I call to the spirits of other lands to make fecund my existence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-o-hara/i-call-to-the-spirits-of-other-lands-to-make-fecund-my-existence/) [Frank O'Hara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-o-hara/) > [...but it is good to be several floors up in the dead of night wondering whether you are any good or not and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-o-hara/but-it-is-good-to-be-several-floors-up-in-the-dead-of-night-wondering/) [Frank O'Hara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-o-hara/) > [There were occasionally rifts in the cloud where the face of a woman appeared, frowning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-o-hara/there-were-occasionally-rifts-in-the-cloud-where-the-face-of-a-woman/) [Frank O'Hara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-o-hara/) [Explore all 98 Frank O'Hara quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-o-hara/) ## More Painter quotes > [One is a painter because one wants so-called freedom; one doesn't want to go to the office every morning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/one-is-a-painter-because-one-wants-so-called-freedom-one-doesn-t-want/) [Marcel Duchamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-duchamp/) > [While the world of reality has its limits, the world of your imagination is without boundaries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-dyer/while-the-world-of-reality-has-its-limits-the-world-of-your/) [Wayne Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-dyer/) > [Not everyone is capable of madness; and of those lucky enough to be capable, not many have the courage for it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/august-strindberg/not-everyone-is-capable-of-madness-and-of-those-lucky-enough-to-be/) [August Strindberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/august-strindberg/) > [A painter should begin every canvas with a wash of black, because all things in nature are dark except where exposed by the light.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonardo-da-vinci/a-painter-should-begin-every-canvas-with-a-wash-of-black-because-all/) [Leonardo da Vinci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonardo-da-vinci/) > [“To all the secret writers, late-night painters, would-be singers, lapsed and scared artists of every stripe, dig out your paintbrush, or your flute, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shauna-niequist/to-all-the-secret-writers-late-night-painters-would-be-singers-lapsed/) [Shauna Niequist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shauna-niequist/) > [Sometimes I envy painters, it is wonderful to remain in front of a bouquet of flowers a whole morning, or even longer. A photographer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edouard-boubat/sometimes-i-envy-painters-it-is-wonderful-to-remain-in-front-of-a/) [Edouard Boubat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edouard-boubat/) > [It's different if you're a painter. You can hidethe ones that don't work. You can't do that with movies. They tellthe story of who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-tucci/it-s-different-if-you-re-a-painter-you-can-hidethe-ones-that-don-t/) [Stanley Tucci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-tucci/) > [Virtue is as little to be acquired by learning as genius; nay, the idea is barren, and is only to be employed as an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-schopenhauer/virtue-is-as-little-to-be-acquired-by-learning-as-genius-nay-the-idea/) [Arthur Schopenhauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-schopenhauer/) > [When I was 12 years old, I went to Natchitoches, La.; it was summer vacation with my family. We visited a plantation, Melrose. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-wilson/when-i-was-12-years-old-i-went-to-natchitoches-la-it-was-summer/) [Robert Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-wilson/) > [A combination of the qualities of the scholar, the master cook, the painter, the gastronomer, the sportsman and the pantologist, assisted by the skill…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-ellwanger/a-combination-of-the-qualities-of-the-scholar-the-master-cook-the/) [George Ellwanger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-ellwanger/) > [But where does by far the bulk, the whole ambulance load, of pain really come from? Where must it come from? Isn't the true…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-salinger-2/but-where-does-by-far-the-bulk-the-whole-ambulance-load-of-pain/) [J. D. Salinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-salinger-2/) > [I've gradually fooled myself into becoming a real painter... I really just like to sit in my air-conditioned Rome painting studio surrounded by Medieval…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-kostabi/i-ve-gradually-fooled-myself-into-becoming-a-real-painter-i-really/) [Mark Kostabi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-kostabi/) > [I wanted to be a painter and an artist. 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