--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Any art worth its name requires you to be…" description: "\"Any art worth its name requires you to be fundamentally lost for a very long time.\" — Junot Diaz" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f02/junot-diaz-531_art_any-art-worth-its-name-requires-you-to-b_1898857.jpg" --- # Any art worth its name requires you to be fundamentally… ![“Any art worth its name requires you to be fundamentally lost for a very long time.” quote by Junot Diaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f02/junot-diaz-531_art_any-art-worth-its-name-requires-you-to-b_1898857.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f02/junot-diaz-531_art_any-art-worth-its-name-requires-you-to-b_1898857.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f02/junot-diaz-531_art_any-art-worth-its-name-requires-you-to-b_1898857.jpg) > “Any art worth its name requires you to be fundamentally lost for a very long time.” [Junot Diaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junot-diaz/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Great art often emerges from prolonged periods of feeling lost and searching. **In simple terms:** Art thrives on deep, sustained confusion. Key Takeaway Embrace uncertainty in creation. Themes creativity search artistic struggle Mood melancholic inspirational Type artistic philosophical When to use this quote - writing - painting - music composition Key Concepts existential angst identity exploration Questions to Reflect On - How does confusion fuel creativity? - When does it become paralysis? A Different Perspective Prolonged loss can stall progress. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Fundamentally Lost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fundamentally-lost-2789657/) [Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long/) [Long time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long-time/) [Lost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lost/) [Lost Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lost-long-1287927/) [Names](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/names/) [Requires Fundamentally](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/requires-fundamentally-2789659/) ## Related quotes > [Nothing is ever really lost to us as long as we remember it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/nothing-is-ever-really-lost-to-us-as-long-as-we-remember-it/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Sure, it sucked to be lost, but I'd long ago realized I preferred it to depending on anyone else to get me where I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-dessen/sure-it-sucked-to-be-lost-but-i-d-long-ago-realized-i-preferred-it-to/) [Sarah Dessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-dessen/) > [“It's never really lost to you as long as you remember it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ally-condie/it-s-never-really-lost-to-you-as-long-as-you-remember-it/) [Ally Condie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ally-condie/) > [“Nothing is really lost as long as you remember it”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ally-condie/nothing-is-really-lost-as-long-as-you-remember-it/) [Ally Condie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ally-condie/) > [“So all I could do was just sit there and look at that old car and wonder how something that had been lost for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kami-garcia/so-all-i-could-do-was-just-sit-there-and-look-at-that-old-car-and/) [Kami Garcia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kami-garcia/) > [Nothing is lost as long as courage remains](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-bonaparte/nothing-is-lost-as-long-as-courage-remains/) [Napoleon Bonaparte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-bonaparte/) > [I had a daughter and lost her a long while ago. That's too sad a story to go into.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wilder/i-had-a-daughter-and-lost-her-a-long-while-ago-that-s-too-sad-a-story/) [Gene Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wilder/) > [Some things we have only as long as they remain lost, some things are not lost only so long as they are distant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-solnit/some-things-we-have-only-as-long-as-they-remain-lost-some-things-are/) [Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/) > [Move on and fell the tranquility you lost long time ago because of your ego](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shekew/move-on-and-fell-the-tranquility-you-lost-long-time-ago-because-of/) [Shekew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shekew/) > [“No one is ever really lost as long as their story still exists.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-m-romero/no-one-is-ever-really-lost-as-long-as-their-story-still-exists/) [R. M. Romero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-m-romero/) > [We've lost something that's been with us for so long, and something that drew a lot of us into mathematics. But perhaps that's always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-wiles/we-ve-lost-something-that-s-been-with-us-for-so-long-and-something/) [Andrew Wiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-wiles/) > [The thing with 'Lost Without You' is that for a long time I didn't feel like I could share it with people. When it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freya-ridings/the-thing-with-lost-without-you-is-that-for-a-long-time-i-didn-t-feel/) [Freya Ridings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freya-ridings/) > [“It would be good to give much thought, before you try to find words for something so lost, for those long childhood afternoons you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/it-would-be-good-to-give-much-thought-before-you-try-to-find-words/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [My favourite thing to do in any city is just to get lost and go for long walks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-bareilles/my-favourite-thing-to-do-in-any-city-is-just-to-get-lost-and-go-for/) [Sara Bareilles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-bareilles/) > [I haven't had an alcoholic drink in 22 years, but when I did drink I'd go for either Canadian whisky or Budweiser. Sometimes both.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-cooper/i-haven-t-had-an-alcoholic-drink-in-22-years-but-when-i-did-drink-i-d/) [Alice Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-cooper/) ## More by Junot Diaz > [It might interest you that just as the U.S. was ramping up its involvement in Vietnam, LBJ launched an illegal invasion of the Dominican…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/it-might-interest-you-that-just-as-the-u-s-was-ramping-up-its/) [Junot Diaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junot-diaz/) > [Tell her that you love her hair, that you love her skin, her lips, because, in truth, you love them more than you love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/tell-her-that-you-love-her-hair-that-you-love-her-skin-her-lips/) [Junot Diaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junot-diaz/) > [It took me sixteen years to write.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/it-took-me-sixteen-years-to-write/) [Junot Diaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junot-diaz/) > [You ask everybody you know: How long does it usually take to get over it? There are many formulas. One year for every year…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/you-ask-everybody-you-know-how-long-does-it-usually-take-to-get-over/) [Junot Diaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junot-diaz/) > [Instead of finding himself in nerd heaven—where every nerd gets fifty-eight virgins to role-play with—he woke up in Robert Wood Johnson with two broken…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/instead-of-finding-himself-in-nerd-heaven-where-every-nerd-gets-fifty/) [Junot Diaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junot-diaz/) > [The one thing about being a dude and writing from a female perspective is that the baseline is, you suck. The baseline is it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/the-one-thing-about-being-a-dude-and-writing-from-a-female/) [Junot Diaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junot-diaz/) > [“I used to think those were the barrio rules, Latinos and blacks in, whites out —a place we down cats weren’t supposed to go.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/i-used-to-think-those-were-the-barrio-rules-latinos-and-blacks-in/) [Junot Díaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junot-diaz/) > [“I put my hand on her knee. I just wish you'd say you love me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/i-put-my-hand-on-her-knee-i-just-wish-you-d-say-you-love-me/) [Junot Díaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junot-diaz/) > [I've always thought that you don't love a country by turning a blind eye to its crimes and to a problem. The way that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/i-ve-always-thought-that-you-don-t-love-a-country-by-turning-a-blind/) [Junot Diaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junot-diaz/) > [“Called her a whore and attacked her walls, tearing down her posters and throwing her books everywhere. I found out because some whitegirl ran…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/called-her-a-whore-and-attacked-her-walls-tearing-down-her-posters/) [Junot Díaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junot-diaz/) > [You're Dominican only if you do this, this, and that. And if you do this and that, you'll be accepted to a certain degree…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/you-re-dominican-only-if-you-do-this-this-and-that-and-if-you-do-this/) [Junot Diaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junot-diaz/) > [“Ramfis fled the country after Trujillo's death, lived dissolutely off his father's swag, and ended up dying in a car crash of his own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/ramfis-fled-the-country-after-trujillo-s-death-lived-dissolutely-off/) [Junot Díaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junot-diaz/) > [If you didn't grow up like I did then you don't know, and if you don't know it's probably better you don't judge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/if-you-didn-t-grow-up-like-i-did-then-you-don-t-know-and-if-you-don-t/) [Junot Diaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junot-diaz/) > [“If you ask me I don't think there are any such things as curses. I think there is only life. That's enough.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/if-you-ask-me-i-don-t-think-there-are-any-such-things-as-curses-i/) [Junot Díaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junot-diaz/) > [The only difference between a published and unpublished writer is a tolerance for imperfection.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/the-only-difference-between-a-published-and-unpublished-writer-is-a/) [Junot Diaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junot-diaz/) [Explore all 486 Junot Diaz quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junot-diaz/) ## 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](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/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": "Any art worth its name requires you to be fundamentally lost for a very long time.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Junot Diaz" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/any-art-worth-its-name-requires-you-to-be-fundamentally-lost-for-a/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/any-art-worth-its-name-requires-you-to-be-fundamentally-lost-for-a/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f02/junot-diaz-531_art_any-art-worth-its-name-requires-you-to-b_1898857.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f02/junot-diaz-531_art_any-art-worth-its-name-requires-you-to-b_1898857.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f02/junot-diaz-531_art_any-art-worth-its-name-requires-you-to-b_1898857.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Any art worth its name requires you to be fundamentally lost for a very long time.” — Junot Diaz", "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": "Junot Diaz", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junot-diaz/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Any art worth its name requires...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/any-art-worth-its-name-requires-you-to-be-fundamentally-lost-for-a/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/any-art-worth-its-name-requires-you-to-be-fundamentally-lost-for-a/#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 } } ] } ```