--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Every human being is an artist, a freedom…" description: "\"Every human being is an artist, a freedom being, called to participate in transforming and reshaping the conditions, thinking and structures that shape..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e89/joseph-beuys-19939_art_every-human-being-is-an-artist-a-freedom_1537463.jpg" --- # Every human being is an artist, a freedom being, called to… ![“Every human being is an artist, a freedom being, called to participate in transforming and reshaping the conditions, thinking and structures that shape and inform our lives” quote by Joseph Beuys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e89/joseph-beuys-19939_art_every-human-being-is-an-artist-a-freedom_1537463.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e89/joseph-beuys-19939_art_every-human-being-is-an-artist-a-freedom_1537463.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e89/joseph-beuys-19939_art_every-human-being-is-an-artist-a-freedom_1537463.jpg) > “Every human being is an artist, a freedom being, called to participate in transforming and reshaping the conditions, thinking and structures that shape and inform our lives” [Joseph Beuys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-beuys/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Asserts that every person is an artist capable of reshaping societal structures through creative freedom. **In simple terms:** Everyone can creatively transform society. Key Takeaway Engage creatively in social change. Themes creativity freedom social change Mood thought‑provoking empowering Type philosophical artistic When to use this quote - urban planning - education reform - community art projects - policy design Key Concepts artistic agency transformative practice Questions to Reflect On - How can you foster artistic agency? - What barriers exist to creative participation? A Different Perspective Not all individuals feel empowered to act artistically. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Shapes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shapes/) [Structure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/structure/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Transforming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/transforming/) ## Related quotes > [Every human being is an artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-beuys/every-human-being-is-an-artist/) [Joseph Beuys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-beuys/) > [In raising a people from slavery to freedom, you have called them to act on a new theatre; and it is a necessary part…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-barlow/in-raising-a-people-from-slavery-to-freedom-you-have-called-them-to/) [Joel Barlow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-barlow/) > [“The Law of Motivation says this: Freedom first, service second. If you serve to get free of your fear, you are doomed to failure.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-cloud/the-law-of-motivation-says-this-freedom-first-service-second-if-you/) [Henry Cloud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-cloud/) > [I went from living with my parents, to being signed out of high school. I have never, not had a boss, or someone else…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tyler-hilton/i-went-from-living-with-my-parents-to-being-signed-out-of-high-school/) [Tyler Hilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tyler-hilton/) > [“The worst thing an artist can have is too much freedom.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/magdalena-mcguire/the-worst-thing-an-artist-can-have-is-too-much-freedom/) Magdalena McGuire > [One thing I don't understand is how people want you to replicate your past successes. Being an artist should be about freedom and not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charli-xcx/one-thing-i-don-t-understand-is-how-people-want-you-to-replicate-your/) [Charli XCX](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charli-xcx/) > [The lifestyle that an artist can have, the freedom to wander in the landscape with no real pressure or deadlines, was a very attractive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dyer/the-lifestyle-that-an-artist-can-have-the-freedom-to-wander-in-the/) [John Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dyer/) > [I think being an artist is freedom, and that's the most important thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bugzy-malone/i-think-being-an-artist-is-freedom-and-that-s-the-most-important-thing/) [Bugzy Malone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bugzy-malone/) > [I'm an artist because that's what I was best at as a kid. It was fun... I continue to be an artist... for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-kostabi/i-m-an-artist-because-that-s-what-i-was-best-at-as-a-kid-it-was-fun-i/) [Mark Kostabi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-kostabi/) > [I am a human being and an artist: I really, simply, surely am.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-maisel/i-am-a-human-being-and-an-artist-i-really-simply-surely-am/) [Eric Maisel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-maisel/) > [I am of the opinion that there are artists and non-artists. I think that this is the way it always was and always will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anselm-kiefer/i-am-of-the-opinion-that-there-are-artists-and-non-artists-i-think/) [Anselm Kiefer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anselm-kiefer/) > [Every human is an artist. The dream of your life is to make beautiful art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-angel-ruiz/every-human-is-an-artist-the-dream-of-your-life-is-to-make-beautiful/) [Miguel Angel Ruiz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-angel-ruiz/) > [I don't think any human being/artist is 100% emotionally stable, based on the human condition and our emotions that relate to it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sasha-grey/i-don-t-think-any-human-being-artist-is-100-emotionally-stable-based/) [Sasha Grey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sasha-grey/) > [Every human is an artist. And this is the main art that we have: the creation of our story.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-angel-ruiz/every-human-is-an-artist-and-this-is-the-main-art-that-we-have-the/) [Miguel Angel Ruiz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-angel-ruiz/) > [In every human being there is the artist, and whatever his activity, he has an equal chance with any to express the result of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-henri/in-every-human-being-there-is-the-artist-and-whatever-his-activity-he/) [Robert Henri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-henri/) ## More by Joseph Beuys > [Only art is capable of dismantling the repressive effects of a senile social system that continues to totter along the deathline: to dismantle in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-beuys/only-art-is-capable-of-dismantling-the-repressive-effects-of-a-senile/) [Joseph Beuys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-beuys/) > [The only hope I had was when (in his youth)I saw one day a photograph of a sculpture by Wilhelm Lehmbruck, a German sculptor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-beuys/the-only-hope-i-had-was-when-in-his-youth-i-saw-one-day-a-photograph/) [Joseph Beuys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-beuys/) > [In places like universities, where everyone talks too rationally, it is necessary for a kind of enchanter to appear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-beuys/in-places-like-universities-where-everyone-talks-too-rationally-it-is/) [Joseph Beuys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-beuys/) > [I wished to go completely outside and to make a symbolic start for my enterprise of regenerating the life of humankind within the body…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-beuys/i-wished-to-go-completely-outside-and-to-make-a-symbolic-start-for-my/) [Joseph Beuys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-beuys/) > [A total work of art is only possible in the context of the whole of society. Everyone will be a necessary co-creator of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-beuys/a-total-work-of-art-is-only-possible-in-the-context-of-the-whole-of/) [Joseph Beuys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-beuys/) > [Every man is a plastic artist who must determine things for himself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-beuys/every-man-is-a-plastic-artist-who-must-determine-things-for-himself/) [Joseph Beuys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-beuys/) > [Truth must be found in reality, not systems.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-beuys/truth-must-be-found-in-reality-not-systems/) [Joseph Beuys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-beuys/) > [After I am dead I would like people to say: 'Beuys understood the historical situation. He altered the course of events'. I hope in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-beuys/after-i-am-dead-i-would-like-people-to-say-beuys-understood-the/) [Joseph Beuys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-beuys/) > [Where would I have ended up if I had been intelligent?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-beuys/where-would-i-have-ended-up-if-i-had-been-intelligent/) [Joseph Beuys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-beuys/) > [Let's talk of a system that transforms all the social organisms into a work of art, in which the entire process of work is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-beuys/let-s-talk-of-a-system-that-transforms-all-the-social-organisms-into/) [Joseph Beuys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-beuys/) > [Art for me is the science of freedom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-beuys/art-for-me-is-the-science-of-freedom/) [Joseph Beuys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-beuys/) > [I am interested in the creativity of the criminal attitude because I recognize in it the existence of a special condition of crazy creativity.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-beuys/i-am-interested-in-the-creativity-of-the-criminal-attitude-because-i/) [Joseph Beuys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-beuys/) > [I think the tree is an element of regeneration which in itself is a concept of time. The oak is especially so because it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-beuys/i-think-the-tree-is-an-element-of-regeneration-which-in-itself-is-a/) [Joseph Beuys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-beuys/) > [Everyone is an artist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-beuys/everyone-is-an-artist/) [Joseph Beuys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-beuys/) > [Art is not there simply to be understood. ... It is more the sense of an indication or suggestion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-beuys/art-is-not-there-simply-to-be-understood-it-is-more-the-sense-of-an/) [Joseph Beuys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-beuys/) [Explore all 31 Joseph Beuys quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-beuys/) ## 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": "Every human being is an artist, a freedom being, called to participate in transforming and reshaping the conditions, thinking and structures that shape and inform our lives", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Joseph Beuys" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-beuys/every-human-being-is-an-artist-a-freedom-being-called-to-participate/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-beuys/every-human-being-is-an-artist-a-freedom-being-called-to-participate/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e89/joseph-beuys-19939_art_every-human-being-is-an-artist-a-freedom_1537463.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e89/joseph-beuys-19939_art_every-human-being-is-an-artist-a-freedom_1537463.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e89/joseph-beuys-19939_art_every-human-being-is-an-artist-a-freedom_1537463.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Every human being is an artist, a freedom being, called to participate in transforming and reshaping the…” — Joseph Beuys", "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": "Joseph Beuys", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-beuys/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Every human being is an artist,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-beuys/every-human-being-is-an-artist-a-freedom-being-called-to-participate/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-beuys/every-human-being-is-an-artist-a-freedom-being-called-to-participate/#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 } } ] } ```