--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Artists are the people among us who…" description: "\"Artists are the people among us who realize creation didn't stop on the sixth day.\" — Joel-Peter Witkin" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3cf/joel-peter-witkin-34775_art_artists-are-the-people-among-us-who-real_181799.jpg" --- # Artists are the people among us who realize creation… ![“Artists are the people among us who realize creation didn't stop on the sixth day.” quote by Joel-Peter Witkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3cf/joel-peter-witkin-34775_art_artists-are-the-people-among-us-who-real_181799.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3cf/joel-peter-witkin-34775_art_artists-are-the-people-among-us-who-real_181799.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3cf/joel-peter-witkin-34775_art_artists-are-the-people-among-us-who-real_181799.jpg) > “Artists are the people among us who realize creation didn't stop on the sixth day.” [Joel-Peter Witkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-peter-witkin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Artists continue the act of creation beyond mythic origins, embodying ongoing innovation. **In simple terms:** Artists keep creating after the biblical creation story. Key Takeaway Embrace continual creative expression. Themes creativity innovation mythology human expression artistic legacy Mood reflective curious Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - studio practice - public installations - collaborative projects - art education Key Concepts aesthetic theory cultural evolution creative process mythic symbolism Questions to Reflect On - What drives your creative impulse? - How does art shape society? A Different Perspective Not all see art as essential; some view it as frivolous. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Creation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creation/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) ## Related quotes > [On the sixth day God saw He couldn't do it all, so He created ENGINEERS](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lois-mcmaster-bujold/on-the-sixth-day-god-saw-he-couldn-t-do-it-all-so-he-created-engineers/) [Lois McMaster Bujold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lois-mcmaster-bujold/) > [On the sixth day, God created the artist, realizing no doubt that He had far from exhausted the uses of color.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/on-the-sixth-day-god-created-the-artist-realizing-no-doubt-that-he/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [“When he read his father’s books, he was the first. He lived in a world shining and fresh and as uninspected as Eden on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/when-he-read-his-father-s-books-he-was-the-first-he-lived-in-a-world/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [“Five days shalt thou labour, as the Bible says. The seventh day is the Lord thy God's. The sixth day is for football”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-burgess/five-days-shalt-thou-labour-as-the-bible-says-the-seventh-day-is-the/) [Anthony Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-burgess/) > [The Bible declares that on the sixth day God created man. Right then and there, God should have demanded a damage deposit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-hightower/the-bible-declares-that-on-the-sixth-day-god-created-man-right-then/) [Jim Hightower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-hightower/) > [“And of the sixth day yet remained There wanted yet the master work, the end Of all yet done: a creature who not prone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/and-of-the-sixth-day-yet-remained-there-wanted-yet-the-master-work/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [If there hadn't been a sixth day, man would not exist; copper would always be copper; and lead just lead. It's true that everything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/if-there-hadn-t-been-a-sixth-day-man-would-not-exist-copper-would/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [“Oil patch lore suggests that on the sixth day, God made oil. He rested on the seventh day, because there’s nothing easy about makin’…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greig-grey/oil-patch-lore-suggests-that-on-the-sixth-day-god-made-oil-he-rested/) Greig Grey > [Artists are those people who sit at the intersection between the known and unknown, the rational and irrational, coming to terms with some of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/artists-are-those-people-who-sit-at-the-intersection-between-the/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [People expect artists to be too normal, I think. I've been around enough of them now to see that they're very extraordinary human beings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thelma-schoonmaker/people-expect-artists-to-be-too-normal-i-think-i-ve-been-around/) [Thelma Schoonmaker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thelma-schoonmaker/) > [Great artists are people who find the way to be themselves in their art. Any sort of pretension induces mediocrity in art and life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margot-fonteyn/great-artists-are-people-who-find-the-way-to-be-themselves-in-their/) [Margot Fonteyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margot-fonteyn/) > [Artists are the people for whom the world is not enough.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/artists-are-the-people-for-whom-the-world-is-not-enough/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [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/) > [Artists are people with a genius for finding a new answer, a new connection, or a new way of getting things done.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-godin/artists-are-people-with-a-genius-for-finding-a-new-answer-a-new/) [Seth Godin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-godin/) > [I don't know if I actually respect other artists as people as much as I should. I look at their work as excellent data…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-berman/i-don-t-know-if-i-actually-respect-other-artists-as-people-as-much-as/) [David Berman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-berman/) ## More by Joel-Peter Witkin > [If there is pain in my photographs, it relates to the pain in my own existence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-peter-witkin/if-there-is-pain-in-my-photographs-it-relates-to-the-pain-in-my-own/) [Joel-Peter Witkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-peter-witkin/) > [Extreme things are like miracles. Nothing is as boring as a person who is just okay.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-peter-witkin/extreme-things-are-like-miracles-nothing-is-as-boring-as-a-person-who/) [Joel-Peter Witkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-peter-witkin/) > [My work would have the impact of my unreality - my doubts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-peter-witkin/my-work-would-have-the-impact-of-my-unreality-my-doubts/) [Joel-Peter Witkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-peter-witkin/) > [People who hate what I make hate me, too. They must think I am a demon or some kind of evil sorcerer. Those who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-peter-witkin/people-who-hate-what-i-make-hate-me-too-they-must-think-i-am-a-demon/) [Joel-Peter Witkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-peter-witkin/) > [I operate out of confusion, towards clarity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-peter-witkin/i-operate-out-of-confusion-towards-clarity/) [Joel-Peter Witkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-peter-witkin/) > [I never photograph anything I don't believe in. If I love working with death, it's because even in death I find this power of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-peter-witkin/i-never-photograph-anything-i-don-t-believe-in-if-i-love-working-with/) [Joel-Peter Witkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-peter-witkin/) > [I could easily live in a world populated with disjunctive, bizarre things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-peter-witkin/i-could-easily-live-in-a-world-populated-with-disjunctive-bizarre/) [Joel-Peter Witkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-peter-witkin/) > [To me extreme things are like miracles. There is nothing as boring as a person who is just okay. But I could easily live…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-peter-witkin/to-me-extreme-things-are-like-miracles-there-is-nothing-as-boring-as/) [Joel-Peter Witkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-peter-witkin/) > [I've come to realize that the mark is the primal gesture, the internal connection of the caveman to the cosmos; an impossibility similar to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-peter-witkin/i-ve-come-to-realize-that-the-mark-is-the-primal-gesture-the-internal/) [Joel-Peter Witkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-peter-witkin/) > [I have consecrated my life to changing matter into spirit with the hope of someday seeing it all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-peter-witkin/i-have-consecrated-my-life-to-changing-matter-into-spirit-with-the/) [Joel-Peter Witkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-peter-witkin/) > [I wanted my photographs to be as powerful as the last thing a person sees or remembers before death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-peter-witkin/i-wanted-my-photographs-to-be-as-powerful-as-the-last-thing-a-person/) [Joel-Peter Witkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-peter-witkin/) > [I have consecrated my life to changing matter into spirit with the hope of one day seeing it all. Seeing in its total form,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-peter-witkin/i-have-consecrated-my-life-to-changing-matter-into-spirit-with-the-2/) [Joel-Peter Witkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-peter-witkin/) > [My purpose is to acknowledge the wonder of being part of Creation. Though I myself don't create anything, I make from what has been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-peter-witkin/my-purpose-is-to-acknowledge-the-wonder-of-being-part-of-creation/) [Joel-Peter Witkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-peter-witkin/) [Explore all 14 Joel-Peter Witkin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-peter-witkin/) ## 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 > [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": "Artists are the people among us who realize creation didn't stop on the sixth day.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Joel-Peter Witkin" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-peter-witkin/artists-are-the-people-among-us-who-realize-creation-didn-t-stop-on/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-peter-witkin/artists-are-the-people-among-us-who-realize-creation-didn-t-stop-on/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3cf/joel-peter-witkin-34775_art_artists-are-the-people-among-us-who-real_181799.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3cf/joel-peter-witkin-34775_art_artists-are-the-people-among-us-who-real_181799.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3cf/joel-peter-witkin-34775_art_artists-are-the-people-among-us-who-real_181799.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Artists are the people among us who realize creation didn't stop on the sixth day.” — Joel-Peter Witkin", "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": "Joel-Peter Witkin", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-peter-witkin/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Artists are the people among us...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-peter-witkin/artists-are-the-people-among-us-who-realize-creation-didn-t-stop-on/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-peter-witkin/artists-are-the-people-among-us-who-realize-creation-didn-t-stop-on/#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 } } ] } ```