--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The responsibility of the artist consists…" description: "\"The responsibility of the artist consists in perfecting his work so that it may become attractively disinteresting.\" — John Cage" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/29f/john-cage-2094_art_the-responsibility-of-the-artist-consist_2118946.png" --- # The responsibility of the artist consists in perfecting… ![“The responsibility of the artist consists in perfecting his work so that it may become attractively disinteresting.” quote by John Cage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/29f/john-cage-2094_art_the-responsibility-of-the-artist-consist_2118946.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/29f/john-cage-2094_art_the-responsibility-of-the-artist-consist_2118946.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/29f/john-cage-2094_art_the-responsibility-of-the-artist-consist_2118946.png) > “The responsibility of the artist consists in perfecting his work so that it may become attractively disinteresting.” [John Cage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cage/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Artists should refine their craft to achieve a balance where the work is engaging yet not overly sensational, allowing viewers to find depth in apparent simplicity. **In simple terms:** Refine art to be engaging yet subtly simple. Key Takeaway Focus on subtle mastery. Themes art craft balance subtlety Mood contemplative introspective Type philosophical artistic When to use this quote - gallery exhibitions - public installations - personal studio practice Key Concepts Aesthetic minimalism creative restraint Questions to Reflect On - How does restraint affect audience engagement? - When is simplicity more powerful than complexity? A Different Perspective May be perceived as bland or lacking excitement. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Interest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/interest/) [Responsibility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/responsibility/) ## Related quotes > [Your responsibility as an artist is to experiment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/squarepusher/your-responsibility-as-an-artist-is-to-experiment/) Squarepusher > [“Tarkovsky was right. The responsibility of the artist is to stir people’s hearts and minds toward loving others: to find the light and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/qiu-miaojin/tarkovsky-was-right-the-responsibility-of-the-artist-is-to-stir/) [Qiu Miaojin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/qiu-miaojin/) > [I think you have a responsibility as an artist to continually reach a hand out and try and inspire people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-todd/i-think-you-have-a-responsibility-as-an-artist-to-continually-reach-a/) [Tony Todd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-todd/) > [Despite the variety of my explorations, throughout it all it has been my contention that my responsibility as an artist is to work, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-mae-weems/despite-the-variety-of-my-explorations-throughout-it-all-it-has-been/) [Carrie Mae Weems](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-mae-weems/) > [The responsibility of an artist is to be honest with themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/talib-kweli/the-responsibility-of-an-artist-is-to-be-honest-with-themselves/) [Talib Kweli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/talib-kweli/) > [I think it's part of the responsibility of an artist to shock, to upset, to make people think differently, and to surprise people. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-plympton/i-think-it-s-part-of-the-responsibility-of-an-artist-to-shock-to/) [Bill Plympton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-plympton/) > [The responsibility of the artist is to transcend the human ego.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hubert-selby-jr/the-responsibility-of-the-artist-is-to-transcend-the-human-ego/) [Hubert Selby, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hubert-selby-jr/) > [It's my responsibility as an artist and public figure to put the right frequency out there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raheem-devaughn/it-s-my-responsibility-as-an-artist-and-public-figure-to-put-the/) [Raheem DeVaughn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raheem-devaughn/) > [I don't believe in rushing and saying this is done and over with. That form of rebellion doesn't make sense to me. I've always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/twyla-tharp/i-don-t-believe-in-rushing-and-saying-this-is-done-and-over-with-that/) [Twyla Tharp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/twyla-tharp/) > [My responsibility as an artist is to turn up at the page or the piano or the microphone. The rest is up to God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-cave/my-responsibility-as-an-artist-is-to-turn-up-at-the-page-or-the-piano/) [Nick Cave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-cave/) > [I think it’s a responsibility for any artist to protect freedom of expression and to use any way to extend this power.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ai-weiwei/i-think-it-s-a-responsibility-for-any-artist-to-protect-freedom-of/) [Ai Weiwei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ai-weiwei/) > [Films today show only a dream world and have lost touch with the way people really are... In this country, people die at 21.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cassavetes/films-today-show-only-a-dream-world-and-have-lost-touch-with-the-way/) [John Cassavetes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cassavetes/) > [Even if you're playing the most well-known repertoire under the sun, I still believe you have a responsibility as an artist to tell the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-hazlewood/even-if-you-re-playing-the-most-well-known-repertoire-under-the-sun-i/) [Charles Hazlewood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-hazlewood/) > [My responsibility is to the artist first. There's something that artists intrinsically know about their music and their fanbase that neither the record company…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nile-rodgers/my-responsibility-is-to-the-artist-first-there-s-something-that/) [Nile Rodgers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nile-rodgers/) > [That is the responsibility of the artist, of the actor, to inhabit these roles and put on somebody else's shoes. It's the responsibility and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-slater/that-is-the-responsibility-of-the-artist-of-the-actor-to-inhabit/) [Christian Slater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-slater/) ## More by John Cage > [If something is boring after two minutes, try it for four. If still boring, then eight. Then sixteen. Then thirty-two. Eventually one discovers that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cage/if-something-is-boring-after-two-minutes-try-it-for-four-if-still/) [John Cage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cage/) > [ It was at Harvard not quite forty years ago that I went into an anechoic \[totally silent\] chamber not expecting in that silent room… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cage/it-was-at-harvard-not-quite-forty-years-ago-that-i-went-into-an/) [John Cage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cage/) > [So somebody has talent? So what? Dime a dozen. And we're overpopulated. Actually we have more food than we have people and more art.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cage/so-somebody-has-talent-so-what-dime-a-dozen-and-we-re-overpopulated/) [John Cage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cage/) > [“...the important questions are answered by not liking only but disliking and accepting equally what one likes and dislikes. Otherwise there is no access…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cage/the-important-questions-are-answered-by-not-liking-only-but-disliking/) [John Cage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cage/) > [The material of music is sound and silence. Integrating these is composing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cage/the-material-of-music-is-sound-and-silence-integrating-these-is/) [John Cage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cage/) > [There is poetry as soon as we realize that we possess nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cage/there-is-poetry-as-soon-as-we-realize-that-we-possess-nothing/) [John Cage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cage/) > [To see, one must go beyond the imiagination and for that one must stand absolutely still as though at the center of a leap.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cage/to-see-one-must-go-beyond-the-imiagination-and-for-that-one-must/) [John Cage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cage/) > [Value judgments are destructive to our proper business, which is curiosity and awareness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cage/value-judgments-are-destructive-to-our-proper-business-which-is/) [John Cage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cage/) > [Our intention is to affirm this life, not to bring order out of chaos, nor to suggest improvements in creation, but simply to wake…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cage/our-intention-is-to-affirm-this-life-not-to-bring-order-out-of-chaos/) [John Cage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cage/) > [There are some good people in it, but the orchestra as a whole is equivalent to a gang bent on destruction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cage/there-are-some-good-people-in-it-but-the-orchestra-as-a-whole-is/) [John Cage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cage/) > [Art's purpose is to sober and quiet the mind so that it is in accord with what happens.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cage/art-s-purpose-is-to-sober-and-quiet-the-mind-so-that-it-is-in-accord/) [John Cage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cage/) > [People who aren't artists often feel that artists are inspired. But if you work at your art you don't have time to be inspired.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cage/people-who-aren-t-artists-often-feel-that-artists-are-inspired-but-if/) [John Cage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cage/) > [“Farting, don't think, just fart.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cage/farting-don-t-think-just-fart/) [John Cage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cage/) > [Not one sound fears the silence that extinguishes it. And no silence exists that is not pregnant with sound.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cage/not-one-sound-fears-the-silence-that-extinguishes-it-and-no-silence/) [John Cage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cage/) > [My work became an exploration of non-intention.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cage/my-work-became-an-exploration-of-non-intention/) [John Cage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cage/) [Explore all 186 John Cage quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cage/) ## 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": "The responsibility of the artist consists in perfecting his work so that it may become attractively disinteresting.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Cage" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cage/the-responsibility-of-the-artist-consists-in-perfecting-his-work-so/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cage/the-responsibility-of-the-artist-consists-in-perfecting-his-work-so/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/29f/john-cage-2094_art_the-responsibility-of-the-artist-consist_2118946.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/29f/john-cage-2094_art_the-responsibility-of-the-artist-consist_2118946.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/29f/john-cage-2094_art_the-responsibility-of-the-artist-consist_2118946.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The responsibility of the artist consists in perfecting his work so that it may become attractively…” — John Cage", "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": "John Cage", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cage/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The responsibility of the artist consists...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cage/the-responsibility-of-the-artist-consists-in-perfecting-his-work-so/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cage/the-responsibility-of-the-artist-consists-in-perfecting-his-work-so/#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 } } ] } ```