--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: You cannot go into the womb to form the…" description: "\"You cannot go into the womb to form the child; it is there and makes itself and comes forth whole-and there it is and you have made it and have felt it..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/379/gertrude-stein-667_child_you-cannot-go-into-the-womb-to-form-the_2925537.jpg" --- # You cannot go into the womb to form the child; it is there… ![“You cannot go into the womb to form the child; it is there and makes itself and comes forth whole-and there it is and you have made it and have felt it, but it has come itself.” quote by Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/379/gertrude-stein-667_child_you-cannot-go-into-the-womb-to-form-the_2925537.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/379/gertrude-stein-667_child_you-cannot-go-into-the-womb-to-form-the_2925537.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/379/gertrude-stein-667_child_you-cannot-go-into-the-womb-to-form-the_2925537.jpg) > “You cannot go into the womb to form the child; it is there and makes itself and comes forth whole-and there it is and you have made it and have felt it, but it has come itself.” [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The process of creation is autonomous, emerging fully formed without deliberate effort **In simple terms:** Creation happens naturally, without conscious planning Key Takeaway Allow ideas to develop organically Themes art creation philosophy Mood abstract thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - writing practice - musical improvisation - innovation cycles Key Concepts process theory ontological emergence Questions to Reflect On - How does this view affect artistic discipline? - Can spontaneity replace structured work? A Different Perspective The metaphor may oversimplify complex processes ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/child/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Womb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/womb/) ## Related quotes > [My art form is my child, and that's what I give my focus to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendy-whelan/my-art-form-is-my-child-and-that-s-what-i-give-my-focus-to/) [Wendy Whelan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendy-whelan/) > [It's the courage to raise a child that makes you a father.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-s-the-courage-to-raise-a-child-that-makes-you-a-father/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It is the child who makes the man, and no man exists who was not made by the child he once was.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-montessori/it-is-the-child-who-makes-the-man-and-no-man-exists-who-was-not-made/) [Maria Montessori](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-montessori/) > [Watching a child makes it obvious that the development of his mind comes through his movements.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-montessori/watching-a-child-makes-it-obvious-that-the-development-of-his-mind/) [Maria Montessori](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-montessori/) > [Do not erase the designs the child makes in the soft wax of his inner life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-montessori/do-not-erase-the-designs-the-child-makes-in-the-soft-wax-of-his-inner/) [Maria Montessori](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-montessori/) > [You don't necessarily need to go to film school to learn that part of it. But what I valued was that it gives you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meera-menon/you-don-t-necessarily-need-to-go-to-film-school-to-learn-that-part-of/) [Meera Menon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meera-menon/) > [I think hanging out is the best incubation for cultural creation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/torrey-peters/i-think-hanging-out-is-the-best-incubation-for-cultural-creation/) [Torrey Peters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/torrey-peters/) > [You must have a room, or a certain hour or so a day, where you don’t know what was in the newspapers that morning,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/you-must-have-a-room-or-a-certain-hour-or-so-a-day-where-you-don-t/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [I have wished to see chemistry applied to domestic objects, to malting, for instance, brewing, making cider, to fermentation and distillation generally, to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/i-have-wished-to-see-chemistry-applied-to-domestic-objects-to-malting/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Do not compute the totality of your poultry population until all the manifestations of incubation have been entirely completed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-jennings-bryan/do-not-compute-the-totality-of-your-poultry-population-until-all-the/) [William Jennings Bryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-jennings-bryan/) > [Art is the ability to communicate through an intermediary and to convey one's feelings through an isolated object. It's inspiration and incubation. Putting my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvester-stallone/art-is-the-ability-to-communicate-through-an-intermediary-and-to/) [Sylvester Stallone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvester-stallone/) > [“You can't force creatives into a box. If you try, they'll no longer be creative. And no one will want your box.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-lilly/you-can-t-force-creatives-into-a-box-if-you-try-they-ll-no-longer-be/) [Ryan Lilly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryan-lilly/) > [The "germ," wherever gathered, has ever been for me, "the germ of a story," and most of the stories strained to shape under my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-james/the-germ-wherever-gathered-has-ever-been-for-me-the-germ-of-a-story/) [Henry James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-james/) > [Generating ideas is not a problem. Incubation is. Acceleration is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rita-gunther-mcgrath/generating-ideas-is-not-a-problem-incubation-is-acceleration-is/) Rita Gunther McGrath > [I was on automatic pilot; ideas for gadgets kept coming, fed by a force of energy flowing through me and around me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trevor-baylis/i-was-on-automatic-pilot-ideas-for-gadgets-kept-coming-fed-by-a-force/) [Trevor Baylis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trevor-baylis/) ## More by Gertrude Stein > [I certainly do care for you Jeff Campbell less than you are always thinking and much more than you are ever knowing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/i-certainly-do-care-for-you-jeff-campbell-less-than-you-are-always/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [Americans are very friendly and very suspicious, that is what Americans are and that is what always upsets the foreigner, who deals with them,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/americans-are-very-friendly-and-very-suspicious-that-is-what/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [Just as everybody has the vote including women, I think children should, because as a child is conscious of itself then it has to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/just-as-everybody-has-the-vote-including-women-i-think-children/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [“When is there some discharge when. There never is.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/when-is-there-some-discharge-when-there-never-is/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [There is no such thing as repetition. Only insistance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/there-is-no-such-thing-as-repetition-only-insistance/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [I am I because my little dog knows me but, creatively speaking the little dog knowing that you are you and your recognising that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/i-am-i-because-my-little-dog-knows-me-but-creatively-speaking-the/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [How likely are definitions to be pleasurable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/how-likely-are-definitions-to-be-pleasurable/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [ “What is the answer?" \[ I \[Alice B Toklas\] was silent \] In that case, what is the question?” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/what-is-the-answer-i-alice-b-toklas-was-silent-in-that-case-what-is/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [More and more I like to take a train. I understand why the French prefer it to automobiling it is so much more sociable,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/more-and-more-i-like-to-take-a-train-i-understand-why-the-french/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [Adventure is making the distant approach nearer but romance is having what is where it is which is not where you are stay where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/adventure-is-making-the-distant-approach-nearer-but-romance-is-having/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [Forensics is eloquence and reduction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/forensics-is-eloquence-and-reduction/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [Eating and sleeping are not like loving and breathing. Washing is not like eating and sleeping. Believing is like breathing and loving. Religion can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/eating-and-sleeping-are-not-like-loving-and-breathing-washing-is-not/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [I write for myself and strangers. The strangers, dear Readers, are an afterthought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/i-write-for-myself-and-strangers-the-strangers-dear-readers-are-an/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [“A bag which was left and not only taken but turned away was not found. The place was shown to be very like the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/a-bag-which-was-left-and-not-only-taken-but-turned-away-was-not-found/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [I don't envisage collectivism. There is no such animal, it is always individualism, sometimes the rest vote and sometimes they do not, and if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/i-don-t-envisage-collectivism-there-is-no-such-animal-it-is-always/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) [Explore all 418 Gertrude Stein quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) ## More Child quotes > [The thing about hitting kids is, think about if you were doing the same thing to another adult. Hitting your kid is really the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zach-braff/the-thing-about-hitting-kids-is-think-about-if-you-were-doing-the/) [Zach Braff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zach-braff/) > [“Children's lives are always beginning and adults' lives are always ending. Or is it the opposite? Your childhood is always ending and your adult…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-espach/children-s-lives-are-always-beginning-and-adults-lives-are-always/) [Alison Espach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-espach/) > [“As parents who make every effort we can to raise our children in loving security, we do not need to feel more guilt than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabor-mat/as-parents-who-make-every-effort-we-can-to-raise-our-children-in/) [Gabor Maté](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabor-mat/) > [I want to make my music and be a happy woman, a good wife, a good mom and one day hopefully have a child…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leann-rimes/i-want-to-make-my-music-and-be-a-happy-woman-a-good-wife-a-good-mom/) [LeAnn Rimes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leann-rimes/) > [I would have done well as a gypsy child, I think. A circus baby. I coulda played a great street urchin or ragamuffin. Or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natasha-lyonne/i-would-have-done-well-as-a-gypsy-child-i-think-a-circus-baby-i/) [Natasha Lyonne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natasha-lyonne/) > [We're raising children who have little tolerance for disappointment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bren-brown/we-re-raising-children-who-have-little-tolerance-for-disappointment/) [Brené Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bren-brown/) > [I'm a weirdo and an only child. That comes together to create one-woman shows.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-seales/i-m-a-weirdo-and-an-only-child-that-comes-together-to-create-one/) [Amanda Seales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-seales/) > [“Every child is born as angel.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/every-child-is-born-as-angel/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [To assist a child we must provide him with an environment which will enable him to develop freely.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-montessori/to-assist-a-child-we-must-provide-him-with-an-environment-which-will/) [Maria Montessori](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-montessori/) > [Almost everywhere we find . . . the use of various coercive measures, to rid ourselves as quickly as possible of the child withinus--i.e.,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-miller/almost-everywhere-we-find-the-use-of-various-coercive-measures-to-rid/) [Alice Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-miller/) > [Since I was a little child, my nose - I think it's too big.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/celine-dion/since-i-was-a-little-child-my-nose-i-think-it-s-too-big/) [Celine Dion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/celine-dion/) > [if we center our lives on BMWs, RVs, VCRs, PCs and the other acronyms of consumerism, we cannot expect our children to do otherwise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johnnetta-b-cole/if-we-center-our-lives-on-bmws-rvs-vcrs-pcs-and-the-other-acronyms-of/) [Johnnetta B. Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johnnetta-b-cole/) > [Bring up your children in the way you think other peoples children should go.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikrant-parsai/bring-up-your-children-in-the-way-you-think-other-peoples-children/) [Vikrant Parsai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikrant-parsai/) > [Parents who are stressed or disturbed will have more difficulty in meeting their children's needs. 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