---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: To create something does not mean to see…"
description: "\"“To create something does not mean to see through to its depths; we do not drain our children to the dregs by begetting them, but set them loose in the..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ded/graham-harman-59144_assemblage_to-create-something-does-not-mean-to-see_1386031.jpg"
---

#  To create something does not mean to see through to its…

![“To create something does not mean to see through to its depths; we do not drain our children to the dregs by begetting them, but set them loose in the world like wild dogs, beyond our control and often beyond our knowledge.” quote by Graham Harman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ded/graham-harman-59144_assemblage_to-create-something-does-not-mean-to-see_1386031.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ded/graham-harman-59144_assemblage_to-create-something-does-not-mean-to-see_1386031.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ded/graham-harman-59144_assemblage_to-create-something-does-not-mean-to-see_1386031.jpg)

> ““To create something does not mean to see through to its depths; we do not drain our children to the dregs by begetting them, but set them loose in the world like wild dogs, beyond our control and often beyond our knowledge.””

[Graham Harman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-harman/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Creating does not guarantee understanding; we must release our creations, allowing them to evolve beyond our control.

**In simple terms:** Creation is not about mastery but about letting go.

Key Takeaway

Embrace uncertainty in nurturing ideas.

Themes

creation control uncertainty growth philosophy

Mood

thoughtful philosophical cautious

Type

theoretical reflective

When to use this quote

- parenting
- artistic projects
- entrepreneurship
- education

Key Concepts

ontological autonomy creative freedom responsibility

Questions to Reflect On

- What responsibilities do creators have for their creations?
- How can we balance guidance and autonomy?

A Different Perspective

Unintended consequences can arise; freedom may lead to chaos.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Birth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/birth/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Creation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creation/) [Creativity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creativity/) [Society](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/society/) [Understanding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/understanding/) [Wild dogs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wild-dogs/)

## Related quotes

> [Choose a love and work to make it true, and somehow, something will happen, something you couldn’t plan, will come along to move like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-bach/choose-a-love-and-work-to-make-it-true-and-somehow-something-will/)

[Richard Bach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-bach/)

> [Choose the right employees and then set them loose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-slim/choose-the-right-employees-and-then-set-them-loose/)

[Carlos Slim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-slim/)

> [“Dyslexia, for me, is rather like being a six-fingered typist on LSD!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-richards/dyslexia-for-me-is-rather-like-being-a-six-fingered-typist-on-lsd/)

[Stephen Richards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-richards/)

> [“Some of the simplest of truths are also some of the most difficult of truths, but such is Christianity: 'If it's not about Christ,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/criss-jami/some-of-the-simplest-of-truths-are-also-some-of-the-most-difficult-of/)

[Criss Jami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/criss-jami/)

> [“Dyslexia is the affliction of a frozen genius.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-richards/dyslexia-is-the-affliction-of-a-frozen-genius/)

[Stephen Richards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-richards/)

> [“Well," she said again, turning to him and tipping back her head to meet his gaze. "As the begetting of an heir holds such…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-l-wilson/well-she-said-again-turning-to-him-and-tipping-back-her-head-to-meet/)

[C.L. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-l-wilson/)

> [“Begetting a child is at least as serious an act as murder...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-agee/begetting-a-child-is-at-least-as-serious-an-act-as-murder/)

[James Agee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-agee/)

> [Genius cannot escape the taint of its time more than a child the influence of its begetting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ouida/genius-cannot-escape-the-taint-of-its-time-more-than-a-child-the/)

[Ouida](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ouida/)

> [Wild dogs? Or just Clayton? -Nick Sorrentino (Bitten)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelley-armstrong/wild-dogs-or-just-clayton-nick-sorrentino-bitten/)

[Kelley Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelley-armstrong/)

> [Until we do something about wild dogs, kangaroos competing for pasture, your fortunes in life aren't gonna turn around.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-o-sullivan/until-we-do-something-about-wild-dogs-kangaroos-competing-for-pasture/)

[Barry O'Sullivan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-o-sullivan/)

> [“I’d rather have my nipples chewed of by a pack of wild dogs than go out with you, Tug.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/k-j-bell/i-d-rather-have-my-nipples-chewed-of-by-a-pack-of-wild-dogs-than-go/)

[K.J. Bell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/k-j-bell/)

> [Atheists are like wild feral dogs wih no master. But Christians are like loving dogs with a giving and loving master. Domesticated dogs will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-bacon/atheists-are-like-wild-feral-dogs-wih-no-master-but-christians-are/)

[Roger Bacon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-bacon/)

> [And not only did he learn by experience, but instincts long dead became alive again. The domesticated generations fell from him. In vague ways…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-london/and-not-only-did-he-learn-by-experience-but-instincts-long-dead/)

[Jack London](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-london/)

> [I always love going on a safari drive whenever I visit Ulusaba Private Game Reserve in South Africa. I've been fortunate to see so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-branson/i-always-love-going-on-a-safari-drive-whenever-i-visit-ulusaba/)

[Richard Branson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-branson/)

> [He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-repplier/he-is-your-friend-your-partner-your-defender-your-dog-you-are-his/)

[Agnes Repplier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-repplier/)

## More by Graham Harman

> [“What really lies beneath our feet at each moment is not a usefulness, but an inaccessible netherworld that we can use because it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-harman/what-really-lies-beneath-our-feet-at-each-moment-is-not-a-usefulness/)

[Graham Harman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-harman/)

> [“In symbolic terms, Great Cthulhu should replace Minerva as the patron spirit of philosophers, and the Miskatonic must dwarf the Rhine and the Ister…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-harman/in-symbolic-terms-great-cthulhu-should-replace-minerva-as-the-patron/)

[Graham Harman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-harman/)

> [“A philosophical thought is not supposed to be impervious to all criticism; this is the error Whitehead describes of turning philosophy into geometry, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-harman/a-philosophical-thought-is-not-supposed-to-be-impervious-to-all/)

[Graham Harman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-harman/)

> [“To treat an object primarily as part of a network is to assume it can be reduced to that set of qualities and relations…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-harman/to-treat-an-object-primarily-as-part-of-a-network-is-to-assume-it-can/)

[Graham Harman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-harman/)

[Explore all 5 Graham Harman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-harman/)

## More Assemblage quotes

> [The paleontological evidence before us today clearly demonstrates ordered progressive change with the successive development of new faunal and floral assemblages through the changing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-phillips/the-paleontological-evidence-before-us-today-clearly-demonstrates/)

[Wendell Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-phillips/)

> [Identity is an assemblage of constellations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-deavere-smith/identity-is-an-assemblage-of-constellations/)

[Anna Deavere Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-deavere-smith/)

> [Whether it is photography, assemblage art or filmmaking, my work is to see beneath the surface.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christophe-agou/whether-it-is-photography-assemblage-art-or-filmmaking-my-work-is-to/)

[Christophe Agou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christophe-agou/)

> [I am intrigued with combining the remnant of memories, fragments of relics and ordinary objects, with the components of technology. It's a way of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betye-saar/i-am-intrigued-with-combining-the-remnant-of-memories-fragments-of/)

Betye Saar

> [There were a lot of apocalypses that didn't make it into this assemblage because they didn't suit the world. And defining that world and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucy-corin/there-were-a-lot-of-apocalypses-that-didn-t-make-it-into-this/)

[Lucy Corin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucy-corin/)

> [We are all incarnate Buddhas. We just have not realized it deeply. We have not moved the mind - what our friend Don Juan…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/we-are-all-incarnate-buddhas-we-just-have-not-realized-it-deeply-we/)

[Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/)

> [A tribute . . . is due to the talents, the rectitude, and the patriotism, which adorn the characters selected to devise and adopt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-washington/a-tribute-is-due-to-the-talents-the-rectitude-and-the-patriotism/)

[George Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-washington/)

> [In the great battle of life, no brilliancy of intellect, no perfection of bodily development, will count when weighed in the balance against the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/in-the-great-battle-of-life-no-brilliancy-of-intellect-no-perfection/)

[Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/)

> [Since the tubes of paint used by the artist are manufactured and ready-made products, we must conclude that all the paintings in the world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/since-the-tubes-of-paint-used-by-the-artist-are-manufactured-and/)

[Marcel Duchamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-duchamp/)

> [All systems of morality are fine. The gospel alone has exhibited a complete assemblage of the principles of morality, divested of all absurdity. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-bonaparte/all-systems-of-morality-are-fine-the-gospel-alone-has-exhibited-a/)

[Napoleon Bonaparte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-bonaparte/)

> [The universe, that vast assemblage of every thing that exists, presents only matter and motion: the whole offers to our contemplation, nothing but an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baron-d-holbach/the-universe-that-vast-assemblage-of-every-thing-that-exists-presents/)

[Baron d'Holbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baron-d-holbach/)

> [See what an atmosphere of holiness is here the pure air of the Ganga what an assemblage of Sadhus will you find anywhere a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/see-what-an-atmosphere-of-holiness-is-here-the-pure-air-of-the-ganga/)

[Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/)

> [The mere assemblage of peace loving people to interchange convincing reasons for their common faith, mere exhortation and argument to the public in favor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elihu-root/the-mere-assemblage-of-peace-loving-people-to-interchange-convincing/)

[Elihu Root](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elihu-root/)

> [I have this assemblage of small facts, which looks like intelligence but no real depth of knowledge about anything. That's why I'm an actor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-knight/i-have-this-assemblage-of-small-facts-which-looks-like-intelligence/)

[Wayne Knight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-knight/)

> [The brain is more than an assemblage of autonomous modules, each crucial for a specific mental function. Every one of these functionally specialized areas…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-sacks/the-brain-is-more-than-an-assemblage-of-autonomous-modules-each/)

[Oliver Sacks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-sacks/)

Browse all 50 Assemblage quotes

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "“To create something does not mean to see through to its depths; we do not drain our children to the dregs by begetting them, but set them loose in the world like wild dogs, beyond our control and often beyond our knowledge.”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Graham Harman"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-harman/to-create-something-does-not-mean-to-see-through-to-its-depths-we-do/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Assemblage"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-harman/to-create-something-does-not-mean-to-see-through-to-its-depths-we-do/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ded/graham-harman-59144_assemblage_to-create-something-does-not-mean-to-see_1386031.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ded/graham-harman-59144_assemblage_to-create-something-does-not-mean-to-see_1386031.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ded/graham-harman-59144_assemblage_to-create-something-does-not-mean-to-see_1386031.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“To create something does not mean to see through to its depths; we do not drain our children to the dregs by…” — Graham Harman",
                "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": "Graham Harman",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-harman/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“To create something does not mean...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-harman/to-create-something-does-not-mean-to-see-through-to-its-depths-we-do/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-harman/to-create-something-does-not-mean-to-see-through-to-its-depths-we-do/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
