--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I try in my prints to testify that we…" description: "\"I try in my prints to testify that we live in a beautiful and orderly world, not in a chaos without norms, even though that is how it sometimes appears..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d9a/m-c-escher-15873_artist_i-try-in-my-prints-to-testify-that-we-li_1879745.jpg" --- # I try in my prints to testify that we live in a beautiful… ![“I try in my prints to testify that we live in a beautiful and orderly world, not in a chaos without norms, even though that is how it sometimes appears. My subjects are also often playful: I cannot refrain from demonstrating the nonsensicalness of some of what we take to be irrefutable…” quote by M. C. Escher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d9a/m-c-escher-15873_artist_i-try-in-my-prints-to-testify-that-we-li_1879745.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d9a/m-c-escher-15873_artist_i-try-in-my-prints-to-testify-that-we-li_1879745.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d9a/m-c-escher-15873_artist_i-try-in-my-prints-to-testify-that-we-li_1879745.jpg) > “I try in my prints to testify that we live in a beautiful and orderly world, not in a chaos without norms, even though that is how it sometimes appears. My subjects are also often playful: I cannot refrain from demonstrating the nonsensicalness of some of what we take to be irrefutable certainties. It is, for example, a pleasure to deliberately mix together objects of two and three dimensions, surface and spatial relationships, and to make fun of gravity.” [M. C. Escher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-c-escher/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Escher highlights hidden order within apparent chaos, using visual paradoxes to reveal underlying structure and playful critique of assumed certainties. **In simple terms:** Show hidden order in chaos through visual paradoxes. Key Takeaway Seek patterns behind apparent disorder. Themes order paradox creativity perception playfulness Mood wonderful curious playful Type artistic philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - design - education - science communication - philosophical debate Key Concepts visual illusion mathematical symmetry dimensionality Questions to Reflect On - How do you recognize order in everyday confusion? - What assumptions do visual paradoxes challenge? A Different Perspective The visual impact may be lost without contextual explanation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Beautiful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beautiful/) [Certainty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/certainty/) [Chaos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chaos/) [Demonstrating](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/demonstrating/) [Demonstrating Nonsensicalness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/demonstrating-nonsensicalness-2646954/) [Dimensions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dimensions/) [Example](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/example/) [Fun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fun/) [Gravity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gravity/) [Norm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/norm/) [Objects](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/objects/) [Orderly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/orderly/) [Orderly World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/orderly-world-2015147/) [Pleasure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pleasure/) [Print](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/print/) [Refrain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/refrain/) [Sometimes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sometimes/) [Spatial](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spatial/) [Spatial Relationships](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spatial-relationships-2646955/) [Subjects](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/subjects/) [Subjects Playful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/subjects-playful-2646953/) [Surface](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/surface/) [Three](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/three/) [Three dimensions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/three-dimensions/) [Together](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/together/) [Trying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trying/) [Two](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/two/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [Spatial art does not begin with a poetic mood or idea, but with construction of one or more figures, with the harmonizing of several…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-klee/spatial-art-does-not-begin-with-a-poetic-mood-or-idea-but-with/) [Paul Klee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-klee/) > [I try in my prints to testify that we live in a beautiful and orderly world, and not in a formless chaos, as it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-c-escher/i-try-in-my-prints-to-testify-that-we-live-in-a-beautiful-and-orderly-2/) [M. C. Escher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-c-escher/) > [The new painters do not propose, any more than did their predecessors, to be geometers. But it may be said that geometry is to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guillaume-apollinaire/the-new-painters-do-not-propose-any-more-than-did-their-predecessors/) [Guillaume Apollinaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guillaume-apollinaire/) > [“Modern Movement architects and designers reinterpreted the rooms of buildings in new ways, using the language of "spatial relationships" and "volumes" in influence display…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-hughes/modern-movement-architects-and-designers-reinterpreted-the-rooms-of/) [Philip Hughes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-hughes/) > [A child wants some kind of undisrupted routine or rhythm. He seems to want a predictable, orderly world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-maslow/a-child-wants-some-kind-of-undisrupted-routine-or-rhythm-he-seems-to-2/) [Abraham Maslow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-maslow/) > [“the dream of a more orderly world.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-traister/the-dream-of-a-more-orderly-world/) [Rebecca Traister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-traister/) > [I can't keep from fooling around with our irrefutable certainties. It is, for example, a pleasure knowingly to mix up two and three dimensionalities,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-c-escher/i-can-t-keep-from-fooling-around-with-our-irrefutable-certainties-it/) [M. C. Escher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-c-escher/) > [Music, as long as it exists, will always take its departure from the major triad and return to it. The musician cannot escape it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-hindemith/music-as-long-as-it-exists-will-always-take-its-departure-from-the/) [Paul Hindemith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-hindemith/) > [I'm interested in color belonging to something, where it takes on a completely new kind of vibrancy, rather than being what you would call…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/euan-uglow/i-m-interested-in-color-belonging-to-something-where-it-takes-on-a/) [Euan Uglow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/euan-uglow/) > [Since I found that one could make a case shadow from a three-dimensional thing, any object whatsoever - just as the projecting of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/since-i-found-that-one-could-make-a-case-shadow-from-a-three/) [Marcel Duchamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-duchamp/) > [Beauty comes from the balance between two and three dimensions, between abstraction and representation - I seek the equilibrium behind changing appearances.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-matisse/beauty-comes-from-the-balance-between-two-and-three-dimensions/) [Henri Matisse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-matisse/) > [Choosing a director is like choosing a therapist - you want somebody who is going to be a step or two ahead of you,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-margulies/choosing-a-director-is-like-choosing-a-therapist-you-want-somebody/) [Donald Margulies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-margulies/) > [The level of acting that I bring to films in three dimensions. I hope they make people sign some kind of waiver because if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-lennon/the-level-of-acting-that-i-bring-to-films-in-three-dimensions-i-hope/) [Thomas Lennon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-lennon/) > [Descriptive geometry has two objects: the first is to establish methods to represent on drawing paper which has only two dimensions,-namely, length and width,-all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaspard-monge/descriptive-geometry-has-two-objects-the-first-is-to-establish/) [Gaspard Monge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaspard-monge/) > [Time has three dimensions and one positive pitch or direction. It is therefore not so much like any river or any sea as like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerard-manley-hopkins/time-has-three-dimensions-and-one-positive-pitch-or-direction-it-is/) [Gerard Manley Hopkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerard-manley-hopkins/) ## More by M. C. Escher > [I could fill an entire second life with working on my prints.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-c-escher/i-could-fill-an-entire-second-life-with-working-on-my-prints/) [M. C. Escher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-c-escher/) > [The regular division of the plane into congruent figures evoking an association in the observer with a familiar natural object is one of these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-c-escher/the-regular-division-of-the-plane-into-congruent-figures-evoking-an/) [M. C. Escher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-c-escher/) > [I might be in the basement. I'll go upstairs and check.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-c-escher/i-might-be-in-the-basement-i-ll-go-upstairs-and-check/) [M. C. Escher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-c-escher/) > [ For me it remains an open question whether \[this work\] pertains to the realm of mathematics or to that of art. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-c-escher/for-me-it-remains-an-open-question-whether-this-work-pertains-to-the/) [M. C. Escher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-c-escher/) > [I never got a pass mark in math... Just imagine - mathematicians now use my prints to illustrate their books. Funny me consorting with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-c-escher/i-never-got-a-pass-mark-in-math-just-imagine-mathematicians-now-use/) [M. C. Escher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-c-escher/) > [As far as I know, there is no proof whatever of the existence of an objective reality apart from our senses, and I do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-c-escher/as-far-as-i-know-there-is-no-proof-whatever-of-the-existence-of-an/) [M. C. Escher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-c-escher/) > [Science and art sometimes can touch one another, like two pieces of the jigsaw puzzle which is our human life, and that contact may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-c-escher/science-and-art-sometimes-can-touch-one-another-like-two-pieces-of/) [M. C. Escher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-c-escher/) > [ In mathematical quarters, the regular division of the plane has been considered theoretically. ... \[Mathematicians\] have opened the gate leading to an extensive domain,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-c-escher/in-mathematical-quarters-the-regular-division-of-the-plane-has-been/) [M. C. Escher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-c-escher/) > [I might be in the basement. I'll go upstairs and check. We adore chaos because we love to produce order. I don't use drugs;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-c-escher/i-might-be-in-the-basement-i-ll-go-upstairs-and-check-we-adore-chaos/) [M. C. Escher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-c-escher/) > [The things I want to express are so beautiful and pure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-c-escher/the-things-i-want-to-express-are-so-beautiful-and-pure/) [M. C. Escher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-c-escher/) > [To tell you the truth, I am rather perplexed by the concept of 'art'. What one person considers to be 'art' is often not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-c-escher/to-tell-you-the-truth-i-am-rather-perplexed-by-the-concept-of-art/) [M. C. Escher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-c-escher/) > [To have peace with this peculiar life; to accept what we do not understand; to wait calmly for what awaits us, you have to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-c-escher/to-have-peace-with-this-peculiar-life-to-accept-what-we-do-not/) [M. C. Escher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-c-escher/) > [Although I am even now still a layman in the area of mathematics, and although I lack theoretical knowledge, the mathematicians, and in particular…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-c-escher/although-i-am-even-now-still-a-layman-in-the-area-of-mathematics-and/) [M. C. Escher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-c-escher/) > [It is human nature to want to exchange ideas, and I believe that, at bottom, every artist wants no more than to tell the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-c-escher/it-is-human-nature-to-want-to-exchange-ideas-and-i-believe-that-at/) [M. C. Escher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-c-escher/) > [All my works are games, serious game.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-c-escher/all-my-works-are-games-serious-game/) [M. C. Escher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-c-escher/) [Explore all 41 M. C. Escher quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-c-escher/) ## More Artist quotes > [One is a painter because one wants so-called freedom; one doesn't want to go to the office every morning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/one-is-a-painter-because-one-wants-so-called-freedom-one-doesn-t-want/) [Marcel Duchamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-duchamp/) > [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/) > [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/) > [“People in coats and ties were milling around the Talley gallery, and on the wall were the minimally rendered still lifes by Giorgio Morandi,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-martin/people-in-coats-and-ties-were-milling-around-the-talley-gallery-and/) [Steve Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-martin/) > [The prophet who fails to present a bearable alternative and yet preaches doom is part of the trap that he postulates. Not only does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mead/the-prophet-who-fails-to-present-a-bearable-alternative-and-yet/) [Margaret Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mead/) > [“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/) > [From as long as I can remember, I was always fond of drawing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/st-lucia/from-as-long-as-i-can-remember-i-was-always-fond-of-drawing/) [St. Lucia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/st-lucia/) > [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 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/) > [Designers shouldn’t design for museums any more than mummies should die for them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-caplan/designers-shouldn-t-design-for-museums-any-more-than-mummies-should/) [Ralph Caplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-caplan/) > [I don't believe in competitions between artists. This is insane. Who has the authority to say someone is better?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-arkin/i-don-t-believe-in-competitions-between-artists-this-is-insane-who/) [Alan Arkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-arkin/) > [I am not the avant-garde. I am the artist who comes after the advancing guard. I am more concerned with continuity of ideas and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-oliveira/i-am-not-the-avant-garde-i-am-the-artist-who-comes-after-the/) [Nathan Oliveira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-oliveira/) > [I am a horrible visual artist. I can't fix a car, sew, knit, cook, etc. Statistically, there is more I don't do than do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-brownstein/i-am-a-horrible-visual-artist-i-can-t-fix-a-car-sew-knit-cook-etc/) [Carrie Brownstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-brownstein/) [Browse all 32,600 Artist quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I try in my prints to testify that we live in a beautiful and orderly world, not in a chaos without norms, even though that is how it sometimes appears. My subjects are also often playful: I cannot refrain from demonstrating the nonsensicalness of some of what we take to be irrefutable certainties. It is, for example, a pleasure to deliberately mix together objects of two and three dimensions, surface and spatial relationships, and to make fun of gravity.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "M. C. 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