--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: My center does not come from my mind - it…" description: "\"My center does not come from my mind - it feels in me like a plot of warm moist well tilled earth with the sun shining hot on it... It seems I would ra..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/255/georgia-o-keeffe-2763_doe_my-center-does-not-come-from-my-mind-it_2346416.jpg" --- # My center does not come from my mind - it feels in me like… ![“My center does not come from my mind - it feels in me like a plot of warm moist well tilled earth with the sun shining hot on it... It seems I would rather feel starkly empty than let any thing be planted that cannot be tended to the fullest possibility of its growth...” quote by Georgia O'Keeffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/255/georgia-o-keeffe-2763_doe_my-center-does-not-come-from-my-mind-it_2346416.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/255/georgia-o-keeffe-2763_doe_my-center-does-not-come-from-my-mind-it_2346416.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/255/georgia-o-keeffe-2763_doe_my-center-does-not-come-from-my-mind-it_2346416.jpg) > “My center does not come from my mind - it feels in me like a plot of warm moist well tilled earth with the sun shining hot on it... It seems I would rather feel starkly empty than let any thing be planted that cannot be tended to the fullest possibility of its growth...” [Georgia O'Keeffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georgia-o-keeffe/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The artist describes a deep, earthy connection to creativity, preferring emptiness over unfulfilled potential. **In simple terms:** Creative energy feels like fertile soil. Key Takeaway Cultivate ideas that can fully grow. Themes creativity nature metaphor self‑reflection Mood reflective poetic Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - artistic process - personal growth - creative block Key Concepts soil growth potential emptiness Questions to Reflect On - What does “empty” mean for your projects? - How can you tend to ideas before they with? A Different Perspective It may romanticize struggle over practical action. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Doe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doe/) [Earth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earth/) [Empty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/empty/) [Feel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feel/) [Feel Starkly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feel-starkly-5697614/) [Feels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feels/) [Feels Like](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feels-like/) [Growth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/growth/) [Hot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hot/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Mind Feels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind-feels-512934/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Plot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/plot/) [Possibility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/possibility/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Seems](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seems/) [Shining](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shining/) [Sun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sun/) [Sun Shining](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sun-shining/) [Warm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/warm/) [Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wells/) ## Related quotes > [I know what it's like to make a choice that feels like it's so destructive to everybody around you, but in your own mind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lacey-sturm/i-know-what-it-s-like-to-make-a-choice-that-feels-like-it-s-so/) [Lacey Sturm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lacey-sturm/) > [Distance, to the mind it feels so far away… but with the heart, it feels like your right next to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wes-campton/distance-to-the-mind-it-feels-so-far-away-but-with-the-heart-it-feels/) [Wes Campton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wes-campton/) > [I would say there is a conversation happening between your body and mind all the time. 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My soul loses everything in translation.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cody-edward-lee-miller/my-mind-feels-in-philosophical-form-my-heart-thinks-in-poetic-verse/) [Cody Edward Lee Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cody-edward-lee-miller/) > [I believe that every human mind feels pleasure in doing good to another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/i-believe-that-every-human-mind-feels-pleasure-in-doing-good-to/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [“but her mind feels feverish as it races through the crowded hallways of the past”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thrity-umrigar/but-her-mind-feels-feverish-as-it-races-through-the-crowded-hallways/) [Thrity Umrigar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thrity-umrigar/) > [Exercise till the mind feels delight in reposing from the fatigue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/socrates/exercise-till-the-mind-feels-delight-in-reposing-from-the-fatigue/) [Socrates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/socrates/) > [An ingenuous mind feels in unmerited praise the bitterest reproof. 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It longs for the repose of conviction; and to gain this repose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-chalmers/the-human-mind-feels-restless-and-dissatisfied-under-the-anxieties-of/) [Thomas Chalmers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-chalmers/) > [When your mind feels like giving up, let heart whisper one more time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nishan-panwar/when-your-mind-feels-like-giving-up-let-heart-whisper-one-more-time/) [Nishan Panwar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nishan-panwar/) > [The state of that man's mind who feels too intense an interest as to future events, must be most deplorable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/the-state-of-that-man-s-mind-who-feels-too-intense-an-interest-as-to/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) ## More by Georgia O'Keeffe > [Singing has always seemed to me the most perfect means of expression. It is so spontaneous. And after singing, I think the violin. Since…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georgia-o-keeffe/singing-has-always-seemed-to-me-the-most-perfect-means-of-expression/) [Georgia O'Keeffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georgia-o-keeffe/) > [When I think of death, I only regret that I will not be able to see this beautiful country anymore unless the Indians are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georgia-o-keeffe/when-i-think-of-death-i-only-regret-that-i-will-not-be-able-to-see/) [Georgia O'Keeffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georgia-o-keeffe/) > [Sometimes I start in a very realistic fashion, and as I go on from one painting to another of the same kind, it becomes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georgia-o-keeffe/sometimes-i-start-in-a-very-realistic-fashion-and-as-i-go-on-from-one/) [Georgia O'Keeffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georgia-o-keeffe/) > [I have a single track mind. I work on an idea for a long time. 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I couldn't do any better than they, or even as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georgia-o-keeffe/i-d-been-taught-to-paint-like-other-people-and-i-thought-what-s-the/) [Georgia O'Keeffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georgia-o-keeffe/) > [I believe an artist is the last person in the world who can afford to be affected.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georgia-o-keeffe/i-believe-an-artist-is-the-last-person-in-the-world-who-can-afford-to/) [Georgia O'Keeffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georgia-o-keeffe/) > [My first memory is of the brightness of light ... light all around. I was sitting among pillows on a quilt on the ground…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georgia-o-keeffe/my-first-memory-is-of-the-brightness-of-light-light-all-around-i-was/) [Georgia O'Keeffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georgia-o-keeffe/) > [Before I put brush to canvas, I question, 'Is this mine? ...Is it influenced by some idea which I have acquired from some man?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georgia-o-keeffe/before-i-put-brush-to-canvas-i-question-is-this-mine-is-it-influenced/) [Georgia O'Keeffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georgia-o-keeffe/) > [I decided to start anew-to strip away what I had been taught, to accept as true my own thinking. This was one of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georgia-o-keeffe/i-decided-to-start-anew-to-strip-away-what-i-had-been-taught-to/) [Georgia O'Keeffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georgia-o-keeffe/) > [“I decided I was a very stupid fool not to at least paint as I wanted to ... I found that I could say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georgia-o-keeffe/i-decided-i-was-a-very-stupid-fool-not-to-at-least-paint-as-i-wanted/) [Georgia O'Keeffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georgia-o-keeffe/) > [My painting is what I have to give back to the world for what the world gives to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georgia-o-keeffe/my-painting-is-what-i-have-to-give-back-to-the-world-for-what-the/) [Georgia O'Keeffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georgia-o-keeffe/) > [He wanted head and hands and arms on a pillow - in many different positions. 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MARTIN LUTHER, letter to Chancellor Gregory Brück, January 13,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-de-la-bruyere/i-cannot-forbid-a-person-to-marry-several-wives-for-it-does-not/) [Jean de la Bruyere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-de-la-bruyere/) > [For successful education there must always be a certain freshness in the knowledge dealt with. It must be either new in itself or invested…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/for-successful-education-there-must-always-be-a-certain-freshness-in/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [The prophet who fails to present a bearable alternative and yet preaches doom is part of the trap that he postulates. Not only does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mead/the-prophet-who-fails-to-present-a-bearable-alternative-and-yet/) [Margaret Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mead/) > [Sometimes a sign or a quote is simply interesting by itself and does not require anything beyond being framed on a page.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-vincent-benet/sometimes-a-sign-or-a-quote-is-simply-interesting-by-itself-and-does/) [Stephen Vincent Benet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-vincent-benet/) > [A home is not a museum. It doesn't have to be furnished with Picasso paintings, or Sheraton suites, or Oriental rugs, or Chinese pottery.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-m-cain/a-home-is-not-a-museum-it-doesn-t-have-to-be-furnished-with-picasso/) [James M. Cain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-m-cain/) > [The image of blacks usually is one of people who are suffering from hunger, unemployment, and poverty. 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Not necessarily.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-bernanke/if-wall-street-crashes-does-main-street-follow-not-necessarily/) [Ben Bernanke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-bernanke/) > [It does not seem to me to be sufficiently recognized everywhere among the officials that the existence or non-existence of our people and Empire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-von-hindenburg/it-does-not-seem-to-me-to-be-sufficiently-recognized-everywhere-among/) [Paul von Hindenburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-von-hindenburg/) [Browse all 25,574 Doe quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doe/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "My center does not come from my mind - it feels in me like a plot of warm moist well tilled earth with the sun shining hot on it... 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