--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I can't imagine a life without thinking…" description: "\"I can't imagine a life without thinking, doing art. I don't feel any need to be a world traveler or an adventurer. I'm very happy doing what I'm doing...." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/94e/john-baldessari-16840_adventure_i-can-t-imagine-a-life-without-thinking_2170333.jpg" --- # I can't imagine a life without thinking, doing art. I… ![“I can't imagine a life without thinking, doing art. I don't feel any need to be a world traveler or an adventurer. I'm very happy doing what I'm doing. I think somehow I know that I should have a larger vision of art, but I can't think of what that would be.” quote by John Baldessari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/94e/john-baldessari-16840_adventure_i-can-t-imagine-a-life-without-thinking_2170333.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/94e/john-baldessari-16840_adventure_i-can-t-imagine-a-life-without-thinking_2170333.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/94e/john-baldessari-16840_adventure_i-can-t-imagine-a-life-without-thinking_2170333.jpg) > “I can't imagine a life without thinking, doing art. I don't feel any need to be a world traveler or an adventurer. I'm very happy doing what I'm doing. I think somehow I know that I should have a larger vision of art, but I can't think of what that would be.” [John Baldessari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-baldessari/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker finds contentment in daily artistic practice, rejecting conventional aspirations of travel or grand visions, yet senses an undefined larger purpose. **In simple terms:** Happy with art, not travel. Key Takeaway Embrace your current creative path. Themes contentment art vision Mood contemplative peaceful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - artist planning exhibition - teacher focusing on studio work - writer avoiding travel for inspiration Key Concepts personal fulfillment creative identity Questions to Reflect On - What does a larger artistic vision look like for you? - How can you explore it without abandoning current joy? A Different Perspective A broader vision may emerge over time. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Adventure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adventure/) [Adventurer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adventurer/) [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Dreams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dreams/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Travel the world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/travel-the-world/) [Traveler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/traveler/) [Vision](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vision/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [I've been trying to... Having been an English literary graduate, I've been trying to avoid the idea of doing art ever since. I think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/i-ve-been-trying-to-having-been-an-english-literary-graduate-i-ve/) [Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/) > [One doesn't discover new lands without consenting to lose sight, for a very long time, of the shore.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-gide/one-doesn-t-discover-new-lands-without-consenting-to-lose-sight-for-a/) [Andre Gide](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-gide/) > [I see my path, but I don’t know where it leads…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosalia-de-castro/i-see-my-path-but-i-don-t-know-where-it-leads/) [Rosalia de Castro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosalia-de-castro/) > [According to the ancient Chinese proverb, A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-f-kennedy/according-to-the-ancient-chinese-proverb-a-journey-of-a-thousand/) [John F. Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-f-kennedy/) > ['I will go to France, to Yugoslavia, to China, and continue my profession.' 'As sanitary engineer?' 'No, Monsieur. As adventurer. I will see all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-chatwin/i-will-go-to-france-to-yugoslavia-to-china-and-continue-my-profession/) [Bruce Chatwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-chatwin/) > [Find the most puzzling kind of art you can think of, and then go out and try to approximate it with your camera. Take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-baldessari/find-the-most-puzzling-kind-of-art-you-can-think-of-and-then-go-out/) [John Baldessari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-baldessari/) > [Doing art that has a happy ending, that doesn't seem really corny, is extremely difficult to pull off convincingly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-drooker/doing-art-that-has-a-happy-ending-that-doesn-t-seem-really-corny-is/) [Eric Drooker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-drooker/) > [Doing my art came out of something very solitary and something that I had no intention of showing anybody, and yet once people saw…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-stanley/doing-my-art-came-out-of-something-very-solitary-and-something-that-i/) [Paul Stanley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-stanley/) > [There was no point in doing art if you were going to be second-rate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-bram/there-was-no-point-in-doing-art-if-you-were-going-to-be-second-rate/) [Christopher Bram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-bram/) > [I really want to continue doing art. 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Don't say that what I am doing is art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/javier-bardem/but-don-t-call-me-an-actor-i-m-just-a-worker-i-am-an-entertainer-don/) [Javier Bardem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/javier-bardem/) > [If you can take something to levels that very few other people can reach, then what you're doing becomes art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-russell/if-you-can-take-something-to-levels-that-very-few-other-people-can/) [Bill Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-russell/) ## More by John Baldessari > [It's human desire to be understood. And we always feel we're not understood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-baldessari/it-s-human-desire-to-be-understood-and-we-always-feel-we-re-not/) [John Baldessari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-baldessari/) > [Talent is cheap, you have to be possessed or obsessed, rather. You really have to feel like you cannot not do art, and that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-baldessari/talent-is-cheap-you-have-to-be-possessed-or-obsessed-rather-you/) [John Baldessari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-baldessari/) > [The idea of vaudeville clowns and court jesters is always to show the flaw, to point out what's not working and why it's not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-baldessari/the-idea-of-vaudeville-clowns-and-court-jesters-is-always-to-show-the/) [John Baldessari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-baldessari/) > [I will not make anymore boring art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-baldessari/i-will-not-make-anymore-boring-art/) [John Baldessari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-baldessari/) > [Writing helped me understand what I was thinking about.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-baldessari/writing-helped-me-understand-what-i-was-thinking-about/) [John Baldessari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-baldessari/) > [Probably one of the worst things that happened to photography is that cameras have viewfinders.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-baldessari/probably-one-of-the-worst-things-that-happened-to-photography-is-that/) [John Baldessari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-baldessari/) > [There's no such thing as a bad photograph.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-baldessari/there-s-no-such-thing-as-a-bad-photograph/) [John Baldessari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-baldessari/) > [I think I live such a boring life. But I can't imagine any other kind of life, so I guess it's the life I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-baldessari/i-think-i-live-such-a-boring-life-but-i-can-t-imagine-any-other-kind/) [John Baldessari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-baldessari/) > [I was teaching live drawing in a community college and students started zoning in on the face and spending a couple of hours on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-baldessari/i-was-teaching-live-drawing-in-a-community-college-and-students/) [John Baldessari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-baldessari/) > [Ideally I would like the work to be a hybrid between painting and photography.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-baldessari/ideally-i-would-like-the-work-to-be-a-hybrid-between-painting-and/) [John Baldessari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-baldessari/) > [Most of my friends are women. I think women are more interesting to talk to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-baldessari/most-of-my-friends-are-women-i-think-women-are-more-interesting-to/) [John Baldessari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-baldessari/) > [The idea was to take fine art and put it into the location of the movie scripts. The script itself is collage - some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-baldessari/the-idea-was-to-take-fine-art-and-put-it-into-the-location-of-the/) [John Baldessari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-baldessari/) > [If I saw the art around me that I liked, then I wouldn't do art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-baldessari/if-i-saw-the-art-around-me-that-i-liked-then-i-wouldn-t-do-art/) [John Baldessari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-baldessari/) > [I could never figure out why photography and art had separate histories. So I decided to explore both.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-baldessari/i-could-never-figure-out-why-photography-and-art-had-separate/) [John Baldessari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-baldessari/) > [I go back and forth between wanting to be abundantly simple and maddeningly complex.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-baldessari/i-go-back-and-forth-between-wanting-to-be-abundantly-simple-and/) [John Baldessari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-baldessari/) [Explore all 38 John Baldessari quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-baldessari/) ## More Adventure quotes > [I'm trying to write a film with my friend. 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In the end,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-branson/as-an-adventurer-i-try-to-protect-against-the-downside-i-make-sure-i/) [Richard Branson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-branson/) > [“Love can give you such happiness, then can break the very heart it filled, leaving a hole that can never be fixed or protected…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-mcleod/love-can-give-you-such-happiness-then-can-break-the-very-heart-it/) Kevin McLeod > [“It always gave Wolf a peculiar thrill thus to tighten his grip upon his stick, thus to wrap himself more closely in his faded…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cowper-powys/it-always-gave-wolf-a-peculiar-thrill-thus-to-tighten-his-grip-upon/) [John Cowper Powys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cowper-powys/) > [“It all had to be squeezed and squeezed again, to provide a thrill, to provide enjoyment. 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