--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When you start to think of the arts as…" description: "\"When you start to think of the arts as not this thing that is going to get you somewhere in terms of becoming an artist or becoming famous or whatever ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a4/lynda-barry-3343_art_when-you-start-to-think-of-the-arts-as-n_2604829.jpg" --- # When you start to think of the arts as not this thing that… ![“When you start to think of the arts as not this thing that is going to get you somewhere in terms of becoming an artist or becoming famous or whatever it is that people do, but rather a way of making being in the world not just bearable, but fascinating, then it starts to get interesting again.” quote by Lynda Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a4/lynda-barry-3343_art_when-you-start-to-think-of-the-arts-as-n_2604829.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a4/lynda-barry-3343_art_when-you-start-to-think-of-the-arts-as-n_2604829.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a4/lynda-barry-3343_art_when-you-start-to-think-of-the-arts-as-n_2604829.jpg) > “When you start to think of the arts as not this thing that is going to get you somewhere in terms of becoming an artist or becoming famous or whatever it is that people do, but rather a way of making being in the world not just bearable, but fascinating, then it starts to get interesting again.” [Lynda Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynda-barry/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Art can transform life from merely tolerable to fascinating. **In simple terms:** Art makes life fascinating, not just bearable. Key Takeaway Use art to enrich everyday experience. Themes creativity meaning transformation Mood inspirational reflective Type art personal When to use this quote - education - therapy - personal growth Key Concepts aesthetic philosophy psychology of art Questions to Reflect On - How does art change your view of life? - What creative practice could you start? A Different Perspective Not everyone finds art accessible or relevant. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Arts Thing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/arts-thing-1976788/) [Bearable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bearable/) [Becoming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/becoming/) [Becoming famous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/becoming-famous/) [Fascinating](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fascinating/) [Fascinating Starts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fascinating-starts-1976790/) [Interesting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/interesting/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Starts Interesting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/starts-interesting-1976789/) [Term](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/term/) [Think Arts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/think-arts-1976791/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [An idea starts to be interesting when you get scared of taking it to its logical conclusion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/an-idea-starts-to-be-interesting-when-you-get-scared-of-taking-it-to/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [The arts are the one thing that appeal right across all forms of politics, race, creed - everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lloyd-webber/the-arts-are-the-one-thing-that-appeal-right-across-all-forms-of/) [Andrew Lloyd Webber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lloyd-webber/) > [I ran to the arts, because the arts are the one thing that would never abandon me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/goldie/i-ran-to-the-arts-because-the-arts-are-the-one-thing-that-would-never/) [Goldie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/goldie/) > [Yeah, I think the arts and literature have always been irrevocably connected. Because if you think about it, every film script, every play, every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-walton-hamilton/yeah-i-think-the-arts-and-literature-have-always-been-irrevocably/) [Emma Walton Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-walton-hamilton/) > [I think the arts are very important for children growing up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-schwartz/i-think-the-arts-are-very-important-for-children-growing-up/) [Stephen Schwartz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-schwartz/) > [I think the arts should get big support, but my country has a lot of needs more important than film. Medication, education, food... The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/i-think-the-arts-should-get-big-support-but-my-country-has-a-lot-of/) [Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/) > [People think that the arts are optional and they aren't. They teach a level of emotional depth that's equally important to mathematic skill. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-sparks/people-think-that-the-arts-are-optional-and-they-aren-t-they-teach-a/) [Hal Sparks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-sparks/) > [Its one of those feelings. The ones where I get the good kind of goose bumps in 90 degree weather. I sit there thinking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/2notes/its-one-of-those-feelings-the-ones-where-i-get-the-good-kind-of-goose/) [2notes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/2notes/) > [It was great fun becoming famous, but I got tired of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-shrimpton/it-was-great-fun-becoming-famous-but-i-got-tired-of-it/) [Jean Shrimpton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-shrimpton/) > [It means a lot to me that people appreciate what I do. That's why I give a lot of importance to my fans and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shook/it-means-a-lot-to-me-that-people-appreciate-what-i-do-that-s-why-i/) [Shook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shook/) > [ It's definitely important to stay true to yourself and stay close to those people who you were close to before \[becoming famous\]. Family, your… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taylor-lautner/it-s-definitely-important-to-stay-true-to-yourself-and-stay-close-to/) [Taylor Lautner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taylor-lautner/) > [That the work involved, the willingness to take chances, the commitment, the opportunity to get on stage and make people happy, was more important…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-farrell/that-the-work-involved-the-willingness-to-take-chances-the-commitment/) [Suzanne Farrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-farrell/) > [If a poet has a dream, it is not of becoming famous, but of being believed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/if-a-poet-has-a-dream-it-is-not-of-becoming-famous-but-of-being/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [If you become a chef because you're obsessed by becoming a celebrity, getting my ass kicked and working my nuts off the way I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-ramsay/if-you-become-a-chef-because-you-re-obsessed-by-becoming-a-celebrity/) [Gordon Ramsay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-ramsay/) > [Becoming famous is a really shocking thing, especially when you don't have aspirations to it. It got to the point where I would try…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-moyet/becoming-famous-is-a-really-shocking-thing-especially-when-you-don-t/) [Alison Moyet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-moyet/) ## More by Lynda Barry > [ “i believe \[images\] are the soul's immune system and transit system.” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynda-barry/i-believe-images-are-the-soul-s-immune-system-and-transit-system/) [Lynda Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynda-barry/) > [The happy ending is hardly important, though we may be glad its there. The real joy is knowing that if you felt the trouble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynda-barry/the-happy-ending-is-hardly-important-though-we-may-be-glad-its-there/) [Lynda Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynda-barry/) > [I found myself compelled - like this weird, shameful compulsion - to draw cute animals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynda-barry/i-found-myself-compelled-like-this-weird-shameful-compulsion-to-draw/) [Lynda Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynda-barry/) > [“As I enter the small intestine I get squeezed by muscles. Its dark and the walls look like slimey crushed velvet theres pancreas juice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynda-barry/as-i-enter-the-small-intestine-i-get-squeezed-by-muscles-its-dark-and/) [Lynda Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynda-barry/) > [I look crazy. I know I do. Been true since I was a kid!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynda-barry/i-look-crazy-i-know-i-do-been-true-since-i-was-a-kid/) [Lynda Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynda-barry/) > [In life there are always these things happening if you can just get the joke.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynda-barry/in-life-there-are-always-these-things-happening-if-you-can-just-get/) [Lynda Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynda-barry/) > [You may be a lady but you are still the man!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynda-barry/you-may-be-a-lady-but-you-are-still-the-man/) [Lynda Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynda-barry/) > [The minute you understand racism, you're responsible for being racist. It's like eating from the tree of knowledge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynda-barry/the-minute-you-understand-racism-you-re-responsible-for-being-racist/) [Lynda Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynda-barry/) > [“Same circus, different clowns, and without a doubt I'm one of them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynda-barry/same-circus-different-clowns-and-without-a-doubt-i-m-one-of-them/) [Lynda Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynda-barry/) > [“Above me soft footsteps, the sound through the ceiling of a teenager haunted by a door to the night. My cousin Maybonne lights up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynda-barry/above-me-soft-footsteps-the-sound-through-the-ceiling-of-a-teenager/) [Lynda Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynda-barry/) > [Dear Anyone Who Finds This, Do not blame the drugs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynda-barry/dear-anyone-who-finds-this-do-not-blame-the-drugs/) [Lynda Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynda-barry/) > [There was a beautiful time in the beginning when I just did it and didn't analyze the consequences, but I think that time ends…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynda-barry/there-was-a-beautiful-time-in-the-beginning-when-i-just-did-it-and/) [Lynda Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynda-barry/) > [The library was open for one hour after school let out. I hid there, looking at art books and reading poetry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynda-barry/the-library-was-open-for-one-hour-after-school-let-out-i-hid-there/) [Lynda Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynda-barry/) > [“Mr. Harmong is the cheapest chinztiest most pig-lipped tightwad skanked-out lardo king landlord of all time.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynda-barry/mr-harmong-is-the-cheapest-chinztiest-most-pig-lipped-tightwad/) [Lynda Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynda-barry/) > [Love will make a way out of no way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynda-barry/love-will-make-a-way-out-of-no-way/) [Lynda Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynda-barry/) [Explore all 133 Lynda Barry quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynda-barry/) ## 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. 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