--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Of course, a psychologist would find it…" description: "\"Of course, a psychologist would find it more direct to study the inspired poet. He would make concrete studies of inspiration in individual geniuses. B..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/63e/gaston-bachelard-2318_comparison_of-course-a-psychologist-would-find-it-m_3116514.png" --- # Of course, a psychologist would find it more direct to… ![“Of course, a psychologist would find it more direct to study the inspired poet. He would make concrete studies of inspiration in individual geniuses. But for all that, would he experience the phenomena of inspiration? His human documentation gathered from inspired poets could hardly be related…” quote by Gaston Bachelard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/63e/gaston-bachelard-2318_comparison_of-course-a-psychologist-would-find-it-m_3116514.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/63e/gaston-bachelard-2318_comparison_of-course-a-psychologist-would-find-it-m_3116514.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/63e/gaston-bachelard-2318_comparison_of-course-a-psychologist-would-find-it-m_3116514.png) > “Of course, a psychologist would find it more direct to study the inspired poet. He would make concrete studies of inspiration in individual geniuses. But for all that, would he experience the phenomena of inspiration? His human documentation gathered from inspired poets could hardly be related, except from the exterior, in an ideal of objective observations. Comparison of inspired poets would soon make us lose sight of inspiration.” [Gaston Bachelard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-bachelard/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Studying poets' inspiration scientifically may miss the lived experience; external analysis can't capture inner phenomena. **In simple terms:** Science may miss the feeling of inspiration. Key Takeaway Value subjective experience alongside analysis. Themes creativity inspiration methodology subjectivity Mood philosophical critical Type introspective inquisitive When to use this quote - art education - creative workshops - research design Key Concepts phenomenology psychology of art epistemology Questions to Reflect On - Can inspiration be measured? - What methods honor both data and feeling? A Different Perspective Risk of reducing art to data. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Comparison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comparison/) [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Genius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/genius/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Ideals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideals/) [Individual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/individual/) [Inspiration](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspiration/) [Observation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/observation/) [Poet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poet/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Psychologist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychologist/) ## Related quotes > [I'm inspired by the poets, so I'm always going to give in that direction, rather than in any other. It's the making of me...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roy-harper/i-m-inspired-by-the-poets-so-i-m-always-going-to-give-in-that/) [Roy Harper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roy-harper/) > [We all listened to a lot of recorded music, especially American jazz, modern jazz, and that's where our studies were and our inspiration came…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evan-parker/we-all-listened-to-a-lot-of-recorded-music-especially-american-jazz/) [Evan Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evan-parker/) > [“A Film has the potential to kindle such a spark of inspiration in an individual that it can alter the course of human progress.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/a-film-has-the-potential-to-kindle-such-a-spark-of-inspiration-in-an/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [I think that the richer and deeper documentation is on the web, the better off we all are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-goldsmith/i-think-that-the-richer-and-deeper-documentation-is-on-the-web-the/) [Kenneth Goldsmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-goldsmith/) > [I don't need a receipt for a doughnut. I'll just give you the money, and you give me the doughnut. End of transaction! We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-hedberg/i-don-t-need-a-receipt-for-a-doughnut-i-ll-just-give-you-the-money/) [Mitch Hedberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-hedberg/) > [I've always written songs to use music as a form of therapy or as a way to look at my obstacles or my memories…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-ragan/i-ve-always-written-songs-to-use-music-as-a-form-of-therapy-or-as-a/) [Chuck Ragan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-ragan/) > [“There were waves of genocide that overcame indigenous populations of Oceania and do we have a library of books or films to tell our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-b-dallocchio/there-were-waves-of-genocide-that-overcame-indigenous-populations-of/) [M.B. Dallocchio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-b-dallocchio/) > [It is deeply shocking and incomprehensible to me that despite volumes of documentation and living witnesses who can attest to the horrors of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-udall/it-is-deeply-shocking-and-incomprehensible-to-me-that-despite-volumes/) [Mark Udall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-udall/) > [Our reasons for believing Jesus existed and also that He was who He claimed to be - the God who came down - are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-koukl/our-reasons-for-believing-jesus-existed-and-also-that-he-was-who-he/) [Greg Koukl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-koukl/) > [Nowhere are prejudices more mistaken for truth, passion for reason and invective for documentation than in politics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mason-brown/nowhere-are-prejudices-more-mistaken-for-truth-passion-for-reason-and/) [John Mason Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mason-brown/) > [I think that people are constantly thinking about capturing things that they're not actually present for the moment they're trying to capture. I'm quite…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mackaye/i-think-that-people-are-constantly-thinking-about-capturing-things/) [Ian MacKaye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mackaye/) > [There is a book called San Francisco Tape Music Centre:1960s Counterculture and the Avant-Garde and this book describes everything that you want to know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pauline-oliveros/there-is-a-book-called-san-francisco-tape-music-centre-1960s/) [Pauline Oliveros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pauline-oliveros/) > [The obsessive documentation is itself adjacent to hyper-consumption in our society. The desire to just have everything all the time and adjacent to that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-leo/the-obsessive-documentation-is-itself-adjacent-to-hyper-consumption/) [Ted Leo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-leo/) > [Developing fewer features allows you to conserve development resources and spend more time refining those features that users really need. Fewer features mean fewer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jakob-nielsen/developing-fewer-features-allows-you-to-conserve-development/) [Jakob Nielsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jakob-nielsen/) > [Once you realize that documentation should be laughed at, peed upon, put on fire, and just ridiculed in general, then, and only then, have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linus-torvalds/once-you-realize-that-documentation-should-be-laughed-at-peed-upon/) [Linus Torvalds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linus-torvalds/) ## More by Gaston Bachelard > [Dreaming by the river, I dedicated my imagination to water, to clear, green water, the water that makes the meadows green.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-bachelard/dreaming-by-the-river-i-dedicated-my-imagination-to-water-to-clear/) [Gaston Bachelard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-bachelard/) > [If we did not have a feminine being within us, how would we rest ourselves?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-bachelard/if-we-did-not-have-a-feminine-being-within-us-how-would-we-rest/) [Gaston Bachelard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-bachelard/) > [The image can only be studied through the image, by dreaming images as they gather in reverie. It is a non-sense to claim to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-bachelard/the-image-can-only-be-studied-through-the-image-by-dreaming-images-as/) [Gaston Bachelard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-bachelard/) > [If there is any realm where distinction is especially difficult, it is the realm of childhood memories, the realm of beloved images harbored in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-bachelard/if-there-is-any-realm-where-distinction-is-especially-difficult-it-is/) [Gaston Bachelard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-bachelard/) > [In scientific thought, the concept functions all the better for being cut off from all background images. In its full exercise, the scientific concept…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-bachelard/in-scientific-thought-the-concept-functions-all-the-better-for-being/) [Gaston Bachelard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-bachelard/) > [It is through the intentionality of poetic imagination that the poet's soul discovers the opening of consciousness common to all true poetry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-bachelard/it-is-through-the-intentionality-of-poetic-imagination-that-the-poet/) [Gaston Bachelard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-bachelard/) > [In writing, you discover interior sonorities in words. Dipthongs sound differently beneath the pen. One hears them with their sounds divorced.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-bachelard/in-writing-you-discover-interior-sonorities-in-words-dipthongs-sound/) [Gaston Bachelard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-bachelard/) > [Here we are at the very core of the thesis we wish to defend in the present essay: reverie is under the sign of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-bachelard/here-we-are-at-the-very-core-of-the-thesis-we-wish-to-defend-in-the/) [Gaston Bachelard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-bachelard/) > [There are children who will leave a game to go and be bored in a corner of the garret. How often have I wished…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-bachelard/there-are-children-who-will-leave-a-game-to-go-and-be-bored-in-a/) [Gaston Bachelard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-bachelard/) > [Ideas are refined and multiplied in the commerce of minds. In their splendor, images effect a very simple communion of souls.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-bachelard/ideas-are-refined-and-multiplied-in-the-commerce-of-minds-in-their/) [Gaston Bachelard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-bachelard/) > [The poetic image is a sudden salience on the surface of the psyche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-bachelard/the-poetic-image-is-a-sudden-salience-on-the-surface-of-the-psyche/) [Gaston Bachelard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-bachelard/) > [In our view any awareness is an increment to consciousness, an added light, a reinforcement of psychic coherence. Its swiftness or instantaneity can hide…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-bachelard/in-our-view-any-awareness-is-an-increment-to-consciousness-an-added/) [Gaston Bachelard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-bachelard/) > [Imagination is a tree. It has the integrative virtues of a tree. It is root and boughs. It lives between earth and sky. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-bachelard/imagination-is-a-tree-it-has-the-integrative-virtues-of-a-tree-it-is/) [Gaston Bachelard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-bachelard/) > [Two half philosophers will probably never a whole metaphysician make.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-bachelard/two-half-philosophers-will-probably-never-a-whole-metaphysician-make/) [Gaston Bachelard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-bachelard/) > [Irony gives us, at little expense, the impression that we are experienced psychologists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-bachelard/irony-gives-us-at-little-expense-the-impression-that-we-are/) [Gaston Bachelard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-bachelard/) [Explore all 166 Gaston Bachelard quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-bachelard/) ## More Comparison quotes > [Bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. Take what I cannot give: my heart, body, thoughts, time, abilities, money, health, strength,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-prentiss/bring-into-captivity-every-thought-to-the-obedience-of-christ-take/) [Elizabeth Prentiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-prentiss/) > [It is exactly in the repetition of the exercises that the education of the senses exists; not that the child shall know colors, forms…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-montessori/it-is-exactly-in-the-repetition-of-the-exercises-that-the-education/) [Maria Montessori](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-montessori/) > [Geometry, which should only obey Physics, when united with it sometimes commands it. If it happens that the question which we wish to examine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-le-rond-d-alembert/geometry-which-should-only-obey-physics-when-united-with-it-sometimes/) [Jean le Rond d'Alembert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-le-rond-d-alembert/) > [I like to say that women are those who form life in their wombs - and this is a comparison I make - they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-francis/i-like-to-say-that-women-are-those-who-form-life-in-their-wombs-and/) [Pope Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-francis/) > [You are Insignificant. One of millions, neither special nor unique. I did not ask for this ignominy, and I resent the comparison. Fine. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-k-jemisin/you-are-insignificant-one-of-millions-neither-special-nor-unique-i/) [N.K. Jemisin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-k-jemisin/) > [President Obama's achievements and failures must be evaluated by comparison to those chief executives who have come before him and not be measured against…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-garrow/president-obama-s-achievements-and-failures-must-be-evaluated-by/) [David Garrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-garrow/) > [Composing a piece of music is very feminine. It is sensitive, emotional, contemplative. By comparison, doing housework is positively masculine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kolb/composing-a-piece-of-music-is-very-feminine-it-is-sensitive-emotional/) Barbara Kolb > [I think the first person to call me 'Britain's Obama' was Martin Bright at the New Statesman. Harriet Harman made the comparison once at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuka-umunna/i-think-the-first-person-to-call-me-britain-s-obama-was-martin-bright/) [Chuka Umunna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuka-umunna/) > [The insolence of base minds in success is boundless; and would scarce admit of a comparison, did not they themselves furnish us with one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/the-insolence-of-base-minds-in-success-is-boundless-and-would-scarce/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [The wise man does not permit himself to set up even in his own mind any comparisons of his friends. His friendship is capable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dudley-warner/the-wise-man-does-not-permit-himself-to-set-up-even-in-his-own-mind/) [Charles Dudley Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dudley-warner/) > [It’s always going to be easy to live like others or other’s life, because creating or innovating something of own is always difficult in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anuj/it-s-always-going-to-be-easy-to-live-like-others-or-other-s-life/) [Anuj](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anuj/) > [The streets, at least in this part of town, seemed impossibly clean in comparison to London. The public telephones were unvandalised. For a London…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-james/the-streets-at-least-in-this-part-of-town-seemed-impossibly-clean-in/) [Clive James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-james/) > [It is only through contact and comparison that the relative value or worthlessness of the various cultural elements can be clearly and critically seen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hu-shih/it-is-only-through-contact-and-comparison-that-the-relative-value-or/) [Hu Shih](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hu-shih/) > [I feel I'm in 2006 form to be honest. I hear a lot of comparisons to 2004, but I never changed. Last year was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alecko-eskandarian/i-feel-i-m-in-2006-form-to-be-honest-i-hear-a-lot-of-comparisons-to/) Alecko Eskandarian > [Perhaps the comparison is closer to the Chinese cook who leaves hardly any part of a duck unserved.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/perhaps-the-comparison-is-closer-to-the-chinese-cook-who-leaves/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) [Browse all 1,152 Comparison quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comparison/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Of course, a psychologist would find it more direct to study the inspired poet. He would make concrete studies of inspiration in individual geniuses. But for all that, would he experience the phenomena of inspiration? His human documentation gathered from inspired poets could hardly be related, except from the exterior, in an ideal of objective observations. Comparison of inspired poets would soon make us lose sight of inspiration.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Gaston Bachelard" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-bachelard/of-course-a-psychologist-would-find-it-more-direct-to-study-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Comparison" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-bachelard/of-course-a-psychologist-would-find-it-more-direct-to-study-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/63e/gaston-bachelard-2318_comparison_of-course-a-psychologist-would-find-it-m_3116514.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/63e/gaston-bachelard-2318_comparison_of-course-a-psychologist-would-find-it-m_3116514.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/63e/gaston-bachelard-2318_comparison_of-course-a-psychologist-would-find-it-m_3116514.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Of course, a psychologist would find it more direct to study the inspired poet. He would make concrete…” — Gaston Bachelard", "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": "Gaston Bachelard", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-bachelard/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Of course, a psychologist would find...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-bachelard/of-course-a-psychologist-would-find-it-more-direct-to-study-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-bachelard/of-course-a-psychologist-would-find-it-more-direct-to-study-the/#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 } } ] } ```