--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: No artist knows everything... but since…" description: "\"No artist knows everything... but since every artist knows more than he can tell, all art is lying by omission.\" — Glen Duncan" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5e1/glen-duncan-1307_art_no-artist-knows-everything-but-since-eve_328974.png" --- # No artist knows everything... but since every artist knows… ![“No artist knows everything... but since every artist knows more than he can tell, all art is lying by omission.” quote by Glen Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5e1/glen-duncan-1307_art_no-artist-knows-everything-but-since-eve_328974.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5e1/glen-duncan-1307_art_no-artist-knows-everything-but-since-eve_328974.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5e1/glen-duncan-1307_art_no-artist-knows-everything-but-since-eve_328974.png) > “No artist knows everything... but since every artist knows more than he can tell, all art is lying by omission.” [Glen Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-duncan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Artists often conceal truth; omission creates a deceptive narrative. **In simple terms:** Art hides truth through omission. Key Takeaway Recognize hidden gaps in creative works. Themes art truth deception Mood analytical curious Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - literary analysis - film critique - media literacy - personal expression Key Concepts aesthetics philosophy Questions to Reflect On - What does omission reveal about the creator? - When is omission a valid artistic tool? A Different Perspective Omission may be intentional, not always deceitful. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Goals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/goals/) [Lying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lying/) [Omission](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/omission/) ## Related quotes > [“No artist knows everything (yea, even this artist - piss-artist, con-artist, body-artist) but since every artist knows more than he can tell, all art…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-duncan/no-artist-knows-everything-yea-even-this-artist-piss-artist-con/) [Glen Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-duncan/) > [“Are you lying by omission? Because by not telling me something I should know you are lying to me still. Or allowing me to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dark-calling/are-you-lying-by-omission-because-by-not-telling-me-something-i/) Dark Calling > [“Stop lying by omission”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-caine/stop-lying-by-omission/) [Rachel Caine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-caine/) > [I think if you don't say something it's lying by omission. I personally think it's immoral.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/viggo-mortensen/i-think-if-you-don-t-say-something-it-s-lying-by-omission-i/) [Viggo Mortensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/viggo-mortensen/) > [Anyone who doesn't know anything about art knows the name of at least one artist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dasha-zhukova/anyone-who-doesn-t-know-anything-about-art-knows-the-name-of-at-least/) [Dasha Zhukova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dasha-zhukova/) > [The chief problem in historical honesty is not outright lying. It is omission or de-emphasis of important data. The definition of 'important', of course,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/the-chief-problem-in-historical-honesty-is-not-outright-lying-it-is/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [As hypocrisy is said to be the highest compliment to virtue, the art of lying is the strongest acknowledgment of the force of truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/as-hypocrisy-is-said-to-be-the-highest-compliment-to-virtue-the-art/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [What we have to do, what at any rate it is our duty to do, is to revive the old art of Lying.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/what-we-have-to-do-what-at-any-rate-it-is-our-duty-to-do-is-to-revive/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Statistics is the art of lying by means of figures.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilhelm-stekel/statistics-is-the-art-of-lying-by-means-of-figures/) [Wilhelm Stekel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilhelm-stekel/) > [“and over our heads will float the bluebird singing of beautiful and impossible things, of things that are lovely and that never happen, of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/and-over-our-heads-will-float-the-bluebird-singing-of-beautiful-and/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > […is that branch of the art of lying which consists in nearly deceiving your friends.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/is-that-branch-of-the-art-of-lying-which-consists-in-nearly-deceiving/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“By building mountains out of molehills, through lying by omission, agenda-setting, framing stories and issues in a certain light, and by manipulating what is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-dice/by-building-mountains-out-of-molehills-through-lying-by-omission/) [Mark Dice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-dice/) > [“He wasn't yours to get hurt by. He was someone else's and you knew that, so why are you offended? What right do you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-lynn-hope/he-wasn-t-yours-to-get-hurt-by-he-was-someone-else-s-and-you-knew/) [Donna Lynn Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-lynn-hope/) > [“UN-Impressive Acts of Indiscretion • Forwarding other people's emails without getting permission. • Throwing other people under the bus to save yourself. • Talking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-c-young/un-impressive-acts-of-indiscretion-forwarding-other-people-s-emails/) [Susan C. Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-c-young/) > [I am tired of hiding and I am tired of lying by omission. I suffered for years because I was scared to be out.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-page/i-am-tired-of-hiding-and-i-am-tired-of-lying-by-omission-i-suffered/) [Ellen Page](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-page/) ## More by Glen Duncan > [Nineteenth-century English literature I know; 19th-century sewage systems, not so much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-duncan/nineteenth-century-english-literature-i-know-19th-century-sewage/) [Glen Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-duncan/) > [“For the longest time the romantic explanation for low rates of female infection endured: Possession of a womb, it was supposed, conferred a gentleness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-duncan/for-the-longest-time-the-romantic-explanation-for-low-rates-of-female/) [Glen Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-duncan/) > [“The question 'What was there before creation?' is meaningless. Time is a property of creation, therefore before creation there was no before creation.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-duncan/the-question-what-was-there-before-creation-is-meaningless-time-is-a/) [Glen Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-duncan/) > [“The beauty spot by her lip was one of a dozen or so scattered over her body. My new constellations.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-duncan/the-beauty-spot-by-her-lip-was-one-of-a-dozen-or-so-scattered-over/) [Glen Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-duncan/) > [Fairy tales read before bed tend to make me dream. They're all quite violent stories, as are my dreams.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-duncan/fairy-tales-read-before-bed-tend-to-make-me-dream-they-re-all-quite/) [Glen Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-duncan/) > [I don’t know where the universe came from or what happens to creatures when they die. I don’t know if the whole thing’s an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-duncan/i-don-t-know-where-the-universe-came-from-or-what-happens-to/) [Glen Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-duncan/) > [In a fit of pique, I said to my agent, 'I'm going to write something you can sell.' The idea was to write a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-duncan/in-a-fit-of-pique-i-said-to-my-agent-i-m-going-to-write-something-you/) [Glen Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-duncan/) > [“The Mortals are free, Lucifer. What they've done they've done from within themselves. - Raphael”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-duncan/the-mortals-are-free-lucifer-what-they-ve-done-they-ve-done-from/) [Glen Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-duncan/) > [One day the ordinariness will be terminally punctuated by the extraordinary full stop of death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-duncan/one-day-the-ordinariness-will-be-terminally-punctuated-by-the/) [Glen Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-duncan/) > [When I see gurgling retarded children (that's God's doing, by the way, not mine) happily styling their hair with their own stinking mards, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-duncan/when-i-see-gurgling-retarded-children-that-s-god-s-doing-by-the-way/) [Glen Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-duncan/) > [“She understood the genre constraints, the decencies we were supposed to be observing. 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I read somewhere that when you’re a kid it’s people’s cruelty that makes you cry, then when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-duncan/afterwards-sitting-on-my-bunk-i-cried-i-read-somewhere-that-when-you/) [Glen Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-duncan/) > [“The absurdity of it, she thought, this quest for the love of a man who was her equal. She loathed herself for it. She…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-duncan/the-absurdity-of-it-she-thought-this-quest-for-the-love-of-a-man-who/) [Glen Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-duncan/) [Explore all 259 Glen Duncan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-duncan/) ## 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. 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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 > [The house has to serve comfort. 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