---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Literature has drawn a funny perimeter…"
description: "\"Literature has drawn a funny perimeter that other art forms haven't.\" — Jonathan Safran Foer"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f5/jonathan-safran-foer-136_art_literature-has-drawn-a-funny-perimeter-t_3020378.png"
---

#  Literature has drawn a funny perimeter that other art…

![“Literature has drawn a funny perimeter that other art forms haven't.” quote by Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f5/jonathan-safran-foer-136_art_literature-has-drawn-a-funny-perimeter-t_3020378.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f5/jonathan-safran-foer-136_art_literature-has-drawn-a-funny-perimeter-t_3020378.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f5/jonathan-safran-foer-136_art_literature-has-drawn-a-funny-perimeter-t_3020378.png)

> “Literature has drawn a funny perimeter that other art forms haven't.”

[Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Literature defines boundaries that other arts do not, offering distinct perspectives.

**In simple terms:** Literature creates unique limits.

Key Takeaway

Explore its distinct narrative power.

Themes

art literature boundaries

Mood

analytical curious

Type

literary philosophical

When to use this quote

- writing workshops
- literary analysis
- cross‑media projects

Key Concepts

narrative theory creative limits cultural critique

Questions to Reflect On

- What makes literature’s perimeter “funny”?
- How can other arts learn from it?

A Different Perspective

Other media can also push boundaries.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Art form](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art-form/) [Art forms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art-forms/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Funny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/funny/) [Literature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literature/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/)

## Related quotes

> [I'm drawn to the funny brand of comedy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kaitlin-olson/i-m-drawn-to-the-funny-brand-of-comedy/)

[Kaitlin Olson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kaitlin-olson/)

> ['Buncha Losers' comedy is one of those homegrown American art forms, up there with infomercials and Elvis-shaped soap carvings. No other civilization could have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-sheffield/buncha-losers-comedy-is-one-of-those-homegrown-american-art-forms-up/)

[Rob Sheffield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-sheffield/)

> [Dance is one of the most revealing art forms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikhail-baryshnikov/dance-is-one-of-the-most-revealing-art-forms/)

[Mikhail Baryshnikov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-baryshnikov/)

> [Dance is the most fundamental of all art forms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/twyla-tharp/dance-is-the-most-fundamental-of-all-art-forms/)

[Twyla Tharp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/twyla-tharp/)

> [I'm a big illustration and comic book fan. In my eyes, comic books and illustration are the same kind of art forms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mika/i-m-a-big-illustration-and-comic-book-fan-in-my-eyes-comic-books-and/)

[Mika](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mika/)

> [In some ways, jazz is the most precise of art forms and the loosest in the sense that it's all about improvisation, but the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/damien-chazelle/in-some-ways-jazz-is-the-most-precise-of-art-forms-and-the-loosest-in/)

[Damien Chazelle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/damien-chazelle/)

> [Melodrama is one of the most stunning art forms. These are stories where the emotions are big, and the situations are big, and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-gray/melodrama-is-one-of-the-most-stunning-art-forms-these-are-stories/)

[James Gray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-gray/)

> [I began to see cinema as the perfect combination of so many wonderful art forms - painting, photography, music, dance, theater.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-gray/i-began-to-see-cinema-as-the-perfect-combination-of-so-many-wonderful/)

[James Gray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-gray/)

> [Ragtime has about the same amount of respect as comics. And in a way they're similar art forms. Ragtime is highly compositional, and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-ware/ragtime-has-about-the-same-amount-of-respect-as-comics-and-in-a-way/)

[Chris Ware](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-ware/)

> [I find comedy to be one of the highest of the art forms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taylor-momsen/i-find-comedy-to-be-one-of-the-highest-of-the-art-forms/)

[Taylor Momsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taylor-momsen/)

> [You perhaps know me as a novelist. Literature is one of the arts - in fact, the noblest of the arts. That is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-sionil-jos/you-perhaps-know-me-as-a-novelist-literature-is-one-of-the-arts-in/)

[F. Sionil Jose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-sionil-jos/)

> [What is needed in the theater, in fact for all our art forms, is a vibrant critical tradition.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-sionil-jos/what-is-needed-in-the-theater-in-fact-for-all-our-art-forms-is-a/)

[F. Sionil Jose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-sionil-jos/)

> [I was attracted to a lot of different art forms - dancing, painting. But there's something about music that people hold so close. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ani-difranco/i-was-attracted-to-a-lot-of-different-art-forms-dancing-painting-but/)

[Ani DiFranco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ani-difranco/)

> [We haven't lost romance in the digital age, but we may be neglecting it. In doing so, antiquated art forms are taking on new…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashton-kutcher/we-haven-t-lost-romance-in-the-digital-age-but-we-may-be-neglecting/)

[Ashton Kutcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashton-kutcher/)

> [When movies first came out, maybe they were in black and white and there wasn't any sound and people were saying the theater is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-zimmer/when-movies-first-came-out-maybe-they-were-in-black-and-white-and/)

[Hans Zimmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-zimmer/)

## More by Jonathan Safran Foer

> [This brings me back to the image of Kafka standing before a fish in the Berlin aquarium, a fish on which his gaze fell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/this-brings-me-back-to-the-image-of-kafka-standing-before-a-fish-in/)

[Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/)

> [I try not to remember the life that I didn’t want to lose but lost and have to remember](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/i-try-not-to-remember-the-life-that-i-didn-t-want-to-lose-but-lost/)

[Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/)

> [“I have an aristocratic smile and like to punch people.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/i-have-an-aristocratic-smile-and-like-to-punch-people/)

[Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/)

> [He removed several pages of death certificates, which were picked up by another breeze and sent into the trees. Some would fall with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/he-removed-several-pages-of-death-certificates-which-were-picked-up/)

[Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/)

> [I would have done anything for him. Maybe that was my sickness. We made love in nothing places and turned the lights off. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/i-would-have-done-anything-for-him-maybe-that-was-my-sickness-we-made/)

[Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/)

> [“One day I wandered away from her and hid. I liked the way it felt to have someone look for me, to hear my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/one-day-i-wandered-away-from-her-and-hid-i-liked-the-way-it-felt-to/)

[Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/)

> [If nothing matters, there's nothing to save.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/if-nothing-matters-there-s-nothing-to-save/)

[Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/)

> [“It was one of the best days of my life, a day during which I lived my life and didn't think about it at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/it-was-one-of-the-best-days-of-my-life-a-day-during-which-i-lived-my/)

[Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/)

> [“The appearance was misleading- human dreams; rubbish heaps abundant yet ephemeral sudden and splendid, only to wilt and perish”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/the-appearance-was-misleading-human-dreams-rubbish-heaps-abundant-yet/)

[Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/)

> [“the entirety of human society and moral progress represents an explicit transcendence of what’s “natural.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/the-entirety-of-human-society-and-moral-progress-represents-an/)

[Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/)

> [“Food is not so much a symbol of freedom as the first requirement of freedom. We eat foods that are native to America on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/food-is-not-so-much-a-symbol-of-freedom-as-the-first-requirement-of/)

[Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/)

> [“Rationally, factory farming is so obviously wrong, in so many ways. In all of my reading and conversations, I’ve yet to find a credible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/rationally-factory-farming-is-so-obviously-wrong-in-so-many-ways-in/)

[Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/)

> [Just because you're an atheist, that doesn't mean you wouldn't love for things to have reasons for why they are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/just-because-you-re-an-atheist-that-doesn-t-mean-you-wouldn-t-love/)

[Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/)

> [Do you think I'm wonderful? she asked him one day as they leaned against the trunk of a petrified maple. No, he said. Why?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/do-you-think-i-m-wonderful-she-asked-him-one-day-as-they-leaned/)

[Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/)

> [My insides don't match up with my outsides. -Do anyone's inside and outsides match up? -I don't know. I'm only me. -Maybe that's what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/my-insides-don-t-match-up-with-my-outsides-do-anyone-s-inside-and/)

[Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/)

[Explore all 1,117 Jonathan Safran Foer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/)

## 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": "Literature has drawn a funny perimeter that other art forms haven't.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Jonathan Safran Foer"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/literature-has-drawn-a-funny-perimeter-that-other-art-forms-haven-t/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Art"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/literature-has-drawn-a-funny-perimeter-that-other-art-forms-haven-t/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f5/jonathan-safran-foer-136_art_literature-has-drawn-a-funny-perimeter-t_3020378.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f5/jonathan-safran-foer-136_art_literature-has-drawn-a-funny-perimeter-t_3020378.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f5/jonathan-safran-foer-136_art_literature-has-drawn-a-funny-perimeter-t_3020378.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Literature has drawn a funny perimeter that other art forms haven't.” — Jonathan Safran Foer",
                "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": "Jonathan Safran Foer",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Literature has drawn a funny perimeter...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/literature-has-drawn-a-funny-perimeter-that-other-art-forms-haven-t/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/literature-has-drawn-a-funny-perimeter-that-other-art-forms-haven-t/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
