--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Discipline in art is a fundamental…" description: "\"Discipline in art is a fundamental struggle to understand oneself, as much as to understand what one is drawing.\" — Henry Moore" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a03/henry-moore-8184_art_discipline-in-art-is-a-fundamental-strug_3160762.jpg" --- # Discipline in art is a fundamental struggle to understand… ![“Discipline in art is a fundamental struggle to understand oneself, as much as to understand what one is drawing.” quote by Henry Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a03/henry-moore-8184_art_discipline-in-art-is-a-fundamental-strug_3160762.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a03/henry-moore-8184_art_discipline-in-art-is-a-fundamental-strug_3160762.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a03/henry-moore-8184_art_discipline-in-art-is-a-fundamental-strug_3160762.jpg) > “Discipline in art is a fundamental struggle to understand oneself, as much as to understand what one is drawing.” [Henry Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-moore/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Artistic discipline forces self‑examination while also demanding deep observation of the subject being rendered. **In simple terms:** Art teaches self‑knowledge and observation. Key Takeaway Use discipline to explore inner and outer worlds. Themes self‑knowledge observation creativity Mood reflective inspired Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - painting - sculpture - personal journaling - teaching art Key Concepts psychology visual perception mindfulness Questions to Reflect On - How does discipline shape your creative voice? - What balance between structure and freedom works for you? A Different Perspective Discipline may stifle spontaneity if overly rigid. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Discipline](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/discipline/) [Discipline Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/discipline-art-509355/) [Drawing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/drawing/) [Fundamental Struggle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fundamental-struggle-4734266/) [Learning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/learning/) [Oneself](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/oneself/) [Struggle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/struggle/) [Struggle Understand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/struggle-understand-1232434/) [Understand Drawing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/understand-drawing-2615887/) ## Related quotes > [A great deal of world politics is a fundamental struggle, but it is also a struggle that has to be waged intelligently.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zbigniew-brzezinski/a-great-deal-of-world-politics-is-a-fundamental-struggle-but-it-is/) [Zbigniew Brzezinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zbigniew-brzezinski/) > [The architect must not only understand drawing, but music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-vitruvius-pollio/the-architect-must-not-only-understand-drawing-but-music/) [Marcus Vitruvius Pollio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-vitruvius-pollio/) > [Artists are people who are subject to irrational convictions of the sacred. Baudelaire said that an artist is a child who has acquired adult…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-schjeldahl/artists-are-people-who-are-subject-to-irrational-convictions-of-the/) [Peter Schjeldahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-schjeldahl/) > [“Living well is both a discipline and an art. Concentrate on staying close to Me, the divine Artist.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-young/living-well-is-both-a-discipline-and-an-art-concentrate-on-staying/) [Sarah Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-young/) > [“This hostility is a poor counterfeit of God’s program of learning discipline. Discipline is the art of teaching children self-control by using consequences. Irresponsible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-cloud/this-hostility-is-a-poor-counterfeit-of-god-s-program-of-learning/) [Henry Cloud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-cloud/) > [“Machiavelli’s descriptions of the strategic and tactical rules of this world are valuable despite an element of caricature: A Prince, therefore, should have no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-christian/machiavelli-s-descriptions-of-the-strategic-and-tactical-rules-of/) [David Christian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-christian/) > [In architecture, to do anything beyond object form is often treated as something extra-disciplinary - something outside the discipline that has nothing to do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keller-easterling/in-architecture-to-do-anything-beyond-object-form-is-often-treated-as/) [Keller Easterling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keller-easterling/) > [Art history is fine. I mean, that's a discipline. Art history is art history, and you start from the beginning and you end up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-weiner/art-history-is-fine-i-mean-that-s-a-discipline-art-history-is-art/) [Lawrence Weiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-weiner/) > [A prince must not have any objective nor any thought, nor take up any art, other than the art of war and its ordering…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niccolo-machiavelli/a-prince-must-not-have-any-objective-nor-any-thought-nor-take-up-any/) [Niccolo Machiavelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niccolo-machiavelli/) > [A prince must not have any other object nor any other thought… but war, its institutions, and its discipline; because that is the only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niccolo-machiavelli/a-prince-must-not-have-any-other-object-nor-any-other-thought-but-war/) [Niccolo Machiavelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niccolo-machiavelli/) > [“A prince should therefore have no other aim or thought, nor take up any other thing for his study, but war and its order…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-goldstone/a-prince-should-therefore-have-no-other-aim-or-thought-nor-take-up/) [Nancy Goldstone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-goldstone/) > [“The first discipline is the realization that there is a discipline—-that all art begins and ends with discipline, that any art is first and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/archibald-macleish/the-first-discipline-is-the-realization-that-there-is-a-discipline/) [Archibald MacLeish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/archibald-macleish/) > [“Some smart people may not believe themselves better than their peers but simply struggle to understand them and fit into their world. A history…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruby-lionsdrake/some-smart-people-may-not-believe-themselves-better-than-their-peers/) [Ruby Lionsdrake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruby-lionsdrake/) > [My dad was always interested in characters he didn't understand - he was such a great bad guy in movies. And that is really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-dern/my-dad-was-always-interested-in-characters-he-didn-t-understand-he/) [Laura Dern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-dern/) > [You'll never see me go into a fight and struggle to get up for it. I understand first and foremost what's at stake.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-bellew/you-ll-never-see-me-go-into-a-fight-and-struggle-to-get-up-for-it-i/) [Tony Bellew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-bellew/) ## More by Henry Moore > [Now I really make the little idea from clay, and I hold it in my hand. I can turn it, look at it from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-moore/now-i-really-make-the-little-idea-from-clay-and-i-hold-it-in-my-hand/) [Henry Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-moore/) > [The first hole made through a piece of stone is a revelation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-moore/the-first-hole-made-through-a-piece-of-stone-is-a-revelation/) [Henry Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-moore/) > [One never knows what each day is going to bring. The important thing is to be open and ready for it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-moore/one-never-knows-what-each-day-is-going-to-bring-the-important-thing/) [Henry Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-moore/) > [Recently I have been working in the country, where, carving in the open air, I find sculpture more natural than in a London studio,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-moore/recently-i-have-been-working-in-the-country-where-carving-in-the-open/) [Henry Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-moore/) > [There is a right physical size for every idea.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-moore/there-is-a-right-physical-size-for-every-idea/) [Henry Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-moore/) > [The construction of the human figure, its tremendous variety of balance, of size, of rhythm, all those things make the human form much more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-moore/the-construction-of-the-human-figure-its-tremendous-variety-of/) [Henry Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-moore/) > [I believe that nothing should be taboo - no theory or prejudice should close one's mind to a discovery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-moore/i-believe-that-nothing-should-be-taboo-no-theory-or-prejudice-should/) [Henry Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-moore/) > [So with the young African artists. What they have to learn from tribal art is not how to copy the traditional forms, but the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-moore/so-with-the-young-african-artists-what-they-have-to-learn-from-tribal/) [Henry Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-moore/) > [The hole connects one side to the other, making it immediately more three-dimensional. A hole can itself have as much shape-meaning as a solid…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-moore/the-hole-connects-one-side-to-the-other-making-it-immediately-more/) [Henry Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-moore/) > [If I set out to sculpt a standing man and it becomes a lying woman, I know I am making art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-moore/if-i-set-out-to-sculpt-a-standing-man-and-it-becomes-a-lying-woman-i/) [Henry Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-moore/) > [I have always been very interested in landscape... I find that all natural forms are a source of unending interest - tree trunks, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-moore/i-have-always-been-very-interested-in-landscape-i-find-that-all/) [Henry Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-moore/) > [I find in all the artists that I admire most a disturbing element, a distortion, giving evidence of a struggle . . . .…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-moore/i-find-in-all-the-artists-that-i-admire-most-a-disturbing-element-a/) [Henry Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-moore/) > [A work can have in it a pent-up energy, an intense life of its own, independent of the subject it may represent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-moore/a-work-can-have-in-it-a-pent-up-energy-an-intense-life-of-its-own/) [Henry Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-moore/) > [A sculptor is a person obsessed with the form and shape of things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-moore/a-sculptor-is-a-person-obsessed-with-the-form-and-shape-of-things/) [Henry Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-moore/) > [Abstraction means getting away from a visual interpretation but nearer to an emotional one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-moore/abstraction-means-getting-away-from-a-visual-interpretation-but/) [Henry Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-moore/) [Explore all 83 Henry Moore quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-moore/) ## 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. Accordingly...they became abominably wicked, and they were justly exterminated by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/before-noah-men-having-only-water-to-drink-could-not-find-the-truth/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [“Hear the sum of the whole matter in the compass of one brief word — every art possessed by man comes from Prometheus.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/hear-the-sum-of-the-whole-matter-in-the-compass-of-one-brief-word/) [Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/) > [I think most artists feel like they're outside society - no matter how many accolades they receive, or how much money is in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-rose/i-think-most-artists-feel-like-they-re-outside-society-no-matter-how/) [Aaron Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-rose/) > [The capacity to be puzzled is the premise of all creation, be it in art or in science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/the-capacity-to-be-puzzled-is-the-premise-of-all-creation-be-it-in/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [That's the great secret of creativity. 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](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taf-teh/) > [The house has to serve comfort. The work of art is revolutionary; the house is conservative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-loos/the-house-has-to-serve-comfort-the-work-of-art-is-revolutionary-the/) [Adolf Loos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-loos/) > [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [I think a business guy is different from an artist. They walk different paths. Artists create the best outputs when they're having fun. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-dragon/i-think-a-business-guy-is-different-from-an-artist-they-walk/) [G-Dragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-dragon/) > [“The only thing--I tell you this straight from the heart--that disgusts me in Salzburg is that one can't have any proper social intercourse with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/the-only-thing-i-tell-you-this-straight-from-the-heart-that-disgusts/) [Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/) > [The sublime in art is the attempt to express the infinite without finding in the realm of phenomena any object which proves itself fitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/the-sublime-in-art-is-the-attempt-to-express-the-infinite-without/) [Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/) > [Art isn't done to decorate apartments, but to wage war against the enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/art-isn-t-done-to-decorate-apartments-but-to-wage-war-against-the/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) [Browse all 48,643 Art quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Discipline in art is a fundamental struggle to understand oneself, as much as to understand what one is drawing.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Henry Moore" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-moore/discipline-in-art-is-a-fundamental-struggle-to-understand-oneself-as/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-moore/discipline-in-art-is-a-fundamental-struggle-to-understand-oneself-as/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a03/henry-moore-8184_art_discipline-in-art-is-a-fundamental-strug_3160762.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a03/henry-moore-8184_art_discipline-in-art-is-a-fundamental-strug_3160762.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a03/henry-moore-8184_art_discipline-in-art-is-a-fundamental-strug_3160762.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Discipline in art is a fundamental struggle to understand oneself, as much as to understand what one is…” — Henry Moore", "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": "Henry Moore", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-moore/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Discipline in art is a fundamental...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-moore/discipline-in-art-is-a-fundamental-struggle-to-understand-oneself-as/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-moore/discipline-in-art-is-a-fundamental-struggle-to-understand-oneself-as/#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 } } ] } ```