--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What matters most to me? To work with my…" description: "\"What matters most to me? To work with my model until I have it enough in me to be able to improvise, to let my hand run free...\" — Henri Matisse" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c30/henri-matisse-1641_able_what-matters-most-to-me-to-work-with-my_3227161.jpg" --- # What matters most to me? To work with my model until I… ![“What matters most to me? To work with my model until I have it enough in me to be able to improvise, to let my hand run free...” quote by Henri Matisse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c30/henri-matisse-1641_able_what-matters-most-to-me-to-work-with-my_3227161.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c30/henri-matisse-1641_able_what-matters-most-to-me-to-work-with-my_3227161.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c30/henri-matisse-1641_able_what-matters-most-to-me-to-work-with-my_3227161.jpg) > “What matters most to me? To work with my model until I have it enough in me to be able to improvise, to let my hand run free...” [Henri Matisse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-matisse/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. True mastery is achieved when skill becomes instinct, allowing spontaneous improvisation. **In simple terms:** Skill becomes second nature. Key Takeaway Practice until intuition guides you. Themes creativity mastery intuition Mood inspired focused determined Type creative philosophical When to use this quote - artistic practice - musical performance - writing - public speaking Key Concepts skill acquisition flow state Questions to Reflect On - When have you trusted your instinct? - How does practice become intuition? A Different Perspective Risk of losing discipline. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Able](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/able/) [Able Improvise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/able-improvise-305172/) [Enough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enough/) [Hands](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hands/) [Improvisation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/improvisation/) [Improvise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/improvise/) [Let Hand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/let-hand-732282/) [Matter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/matter/) [Matters Work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/matters-work-827444/) [Models](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/models/) [Running](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/running/) [What matters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/what-matters/) [Work Model](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/work-model-4333555/) ## Related quotes > [Being able to improvise is the basis for creating all characters and situations, for everything to do with performing, really. And it's good therapy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-kattan/being-able-to-improvise-is-the-basis-for-creating-all-characters-and/) [Chris Kattan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-kattan/) > [My roots are in classical music and jazz, and I want the freedom of being able to improvise. This freedom is possible only in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adnan-sami/my-roots-are-in-classical-music-and-jazz-and-i-want-the-freedom-of/) [Adnan Sami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adnan-sami/) > [You have to be able to improvise and respond to what's going on around you. Then you might get a good piece of work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ry-cooder/you-have-to-be-able-to-improvise-and-respond-to-what-s-going-on/) [Ry Cooder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ry-cooder/) > [The tide has changed. You have to be able to improvise in today's NFL.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-mcnair/the-tide-has-changed-you-have-to-be-able-to-improvise-in-today-s-nfl/) [Steve McNair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-mcnair/) > [It's really hard work being a model.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jasmine-guinness/it-s-really-hard-work-being-a-model/) [Jasmine Guinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jasmine-guinness/) > [I can't work without a model. I won't say I turn my back on nature ruthlessly in order to turn a study into a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vincent-van-gogh/i-can-t-work-without-a-model-i-won-t-say-i-turn-my-back-on-nature/) [Vincent Van Gogh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vincent-van-gogh/) > [This is a profession in which how you look dictates whether or not you get work, so a model has to be healthy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriella-wilde/this-is-a-profession-in-which-how-you-look-dictates-whether-or-not/) [Gabriella Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriella-wilde/) > [In front of the model I work with the same will to reproduce truth as if I were making a portrait. I do not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/auguste-rodin/in-front-of-the-model-i-work-with-the-same-will-to-reproduce-truth-as/) [Auguste Rodin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/auguste-rodin/) > [My wife and son are my world and being there for them in every way possible is the only thing that matters to me...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/spencer-matthews/my-wife-and-son-are-my-world-and-being-there-for-them-in-every-way/) [Spencer Matthews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/spencer-matthews/) > [Let me keep my mind on what matters, which is my work, which is mostly standing still and learning to be astonished.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/let-me-keep-my-mind-on-what-matters-which-is-my-work-which-is-mostly/) [Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/) > [“Let me keep my mind on what matters, which is my work, which is mostly standing still and learning to be astonished. (from "The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/let-me-keep-my-mind-on-what-matters-which-is-my-work-which-is-mostly-2/) [Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/) > [Everything that matters to we can work out as expected, in the event that we have the strength to seek after them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-disney/everything-that-matters-to-we-can-work-out-as-expected-in-the-event/) [Walt Disney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-disney/) > [“It's harder to do work that matters than work that doesn't!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mani-s-sivasubramanian/it-s-harder-to-do-work-that-matters-than-work-that-doesn-t/) [Mani S. Sivasubramanian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mani-s-sivasubramanian/) > [“It really matters when the work we are doing doesn't.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-mautz/it-really-matters-when-the-work-we-are-doing-doesn-t/) [Scott Mautz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-mautz/) > [“I understood that what matters is the work: the string of words propelled by God becoming a poem, the weave of color and graphite…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patti-smith/i-understood-that-what-matters-is-the-work-the-string-of-words/) [Patti Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patti-smith/) ## More by Henri Matisse > [The wall around the window does not create two worlds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-matisse/the-wall-around-the-window-does-not-create-two-worlds/) [Henri Matisse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-matisse/) > [Arrival = Prison, and the artist must never be a prisoner.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-matisse/arrival-prison-and-the-artist-must-never-be-a-prisoner/) [Henri Matisse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-matisse/) > [To arrive is to be in prison.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-matisse/to-arrive-is-to-be-in-prison/) [Henri Matisse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-matisse/) > [When I saw what a mess everything was in I asked for my money back on the ticket. I would have felt I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-matisse/when-i-saw-what-a-mess-everything-was-in-i-asked-for-my-money-back-on/) [Henri Matisse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-matisse/) > [A painting in an interior spreads joy around it by the colors, which calm us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-matisse/a-painting-in-an-interior-spreads-joy-around-it-by-the-colors-which/) [Henri Matisse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-matisse/) > [Color was not given to us in order that we should imitate Nature. It was given to us so that we can express our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-matisse/color-was-not-given-to-us-in-order-that-we-should-imitate-nature-it/) [Henri Matisse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-matisse/) > [If it is practiced by a man of taste, the photograph will have the appearance of art (but) the photographer must...intervene as little as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-matisse/if-it-is-practiced-by-a-man-of-taste-the-photograph-will-have-the/) [Henri Matisse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-matisse/) > [I have always tried to hide my efforts and wished my works to have a light joyousness of springtime which never lets anyone suspect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-matisse/i-have-always-tried-to-hide-my-efforts-and-wished-my-works-to-have-a/) [Henri Matisse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-matisse/) > [The chief function of color should be to serve expression as well as possible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-matisse/the-chief-function-of-color-should-be-to-serve-expression-as-well-as/) [Henri Matisse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-matisse/) > [One gets into a state of creativity by conscious work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-matisse/one-gets-into-a-state-of-creativity-by-conscious-work/) [Henri Matisse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-matisse/) > [My pictures are made up of four or five colors that collide with one another…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-matisse/my-pictures-are-made-up-of-four-or-five-colors-that-collide-with-one/) [Henri Matisse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-matisse/) > [What I dream of is an art of balance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-matisse/what-i-dream-of-is-an-art-of-balance/) [Henri Matisse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-matisse/) > [...I am driven on by an idea that I really only grasp as it grows with the picture.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-matisse/i-am-driven-on-by-an-idea-that-i-really-only-grasp-as-it-grows-with/) [Henri Matisse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-matisse/) > [I don't paint things. I only paint the difference between things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-matisse/i-don-t-paint-things-i-only-paint-the-difference-between-things/) [Henri Matisse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-matisse/) > [After a half-century of hard work and reflection the wall is still there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-matisse/after-a-half-century-of-hard-work-and-reflection-the-wall-is-still/) [Henri Matisse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-matisse/) [Explore all 219 Henri Matisse quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-matisse/) ## More Able quotes > [I am certain that children always know more than they are able to tell, and that makes the big difference between them and adults,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lusseyran/i-am-certain-that-children-always-know-more-than-they-are-able-to/) [Jacques Lusseyran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lusseyran/) > [I have observed this in my experience of slavery, - that whenever my condition was improved, instead of its increasing my contentment, it only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/i-have-observed-this-in-my-experience-of-slavery-that-whenever-my/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [There is something about the South that accepts the supernatural. If you don't accept it and you're having a conversation with someone who does,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-englert/there-is-something-about-the-south-that-accepts-the-supernatural-if/) [Alice Englert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-englert/) > [In the '80s, the way radio was programmed, if you didn't have a hit record you weren't going to be able to make any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/huey-lewis/in-the-80s-the-way-radio-was-programmed-if-you-didn-t-have-a-hit/) [Huey Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/huey-lewis/) > [I think I've had the longest career of strength, focus, and still being able to sell records. I think I'm that guy. I'm still…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nas/i-think-i-ve-had-the-longest-career-of-strength-focus-and-still-being/) [Nas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nas/) > [I have that need in me, I want everyone to love me, but I'm embarrassed by that need, so I wanted to cover it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-jeselnik/i-have-that-need-in-me-i-want-everyone-to-love-me-but-i-m-embarrassed/) [Anthony Jeselnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-jeselnik/) > [Thinking about the things that happened, I don't know any other ball player would could have done what he (Jackie Robinson) did. To be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pee-wee-reese/thinking-about-the-things-that-happened-i-don-t-know-any-other-ball/) [Pee Wee Reese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pee-wee-reese/) > [I wanted to remember in order to be able to return.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/i-wanted-to-remember-in-order-to-be-able-to-return/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [Government schools, with your tax money, now discourage the teaching of multiplication tables by rote memorization but teach reading by the 'look-and-say' method which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-perry/government-schools-with-your-tax-money-now-discourage-the-teaching-of/) [Greg Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-perry/) > [I don't know if I would qualify as mainstream. I think I have managed to function pretty successfully on the fringes of the music…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-metheny/i-don-t-know-if-i-would-qualify-as-mainstream-i-think-i-have-managed/) [Pat Metheny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-metheny/) > [What we're supposed to do as actors is be able to portray real human beings and emotions. And if you grow up in this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-browning/what-we-re-supposed-to-do-as-actors-is-be-able-to-portray-real-human/) [Emily Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-browning/) > [The reason that Apple is able to create products like iPad is because we always try to be at the intersection of technology and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-jobs/the-reason-that-apple-is-able-to-create-products-like-ipad-is-because/) [Steve Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-jobs/) > [It was an important period for us, because even though we weren't a "punk band", and what became a model for a punk band,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-mallinder/it-was-an-important-period-for-us-because-even-though-we-weren-t-a/) [Stephen Mallinder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-mallinder/) > [- You look fine. - Right. I look fine. Except I don't, said Zora, tugging sadly at her man's nightshirt. This was why Kiki…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/you-look-fine-right-i-look-fine-except-i-don-t-said-zora-tugging/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) > [There is a way to be a woman, ask for what we deserve and be able to negotiate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracee-ellis-ross/there-is-a-way-to-be-a-woman-ask-for-what-we-deserve-and-be-able-to/) [Tracee Ellis Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracee-ellis-ross/) [Browse all 17,257 Able quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/able/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "What matters most to me? 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