--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A certain amount of contempt for the…" description: "\"A certain amount of contempt for the material employed to express an idea is indispensable to the purest realization of this idea.\" — Man Ray" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/32d/man-ray-12681_amount_a-certain-amount-of-contempt-for-the-mat_2177604.png" --- # A certain amount of contempt for the material employed to… ![“A certain amount of contempt for the material employed to express an idea is indispensable to the purest realization of this idea.” quote by Man Ray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/32d/man-ray-12681_amount_a-certain-amount-of-contempt-for-the-mat_2177604.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/32d/man-ray-12681_amount_a-certain-amount-of-contempt-for-the-mat_2177604.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/32d/man-ray-12681_amount_a-certain-amount-of-contempt-for-the-mat_2177604.png) > “A certain amount of contempt for the material employed to express an idea is indispensable to the purest realization of this idea.” [Man Ray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/man-ray/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Recognizing the limits of tools helps achieve pure ideas. **In simple terms:** Tool limits aid pure ideas. Key Takeaway Embrace material constraints. Themes art creativity philosophy Mood reflective critical Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - design work - painting - sculpture - writing Key Concepts aesthetic theory materialism Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance tool choice with vision? - When does material become a barrier? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on material can stifle innovation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Amount](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/amount/) [Certain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/certain/) [Certain Contempt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/certain-contempt-1373855/) [Contempt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/contempt/) [Contempt Material](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/contempt-material-4689879/) [Employed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/employed/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Indispensable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/indispensable/) [Indispensable Purest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/indispensable-purest-4689880/) [Materials](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/materials/) [Purest Realization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/purest-realization-4689881/) [Realization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/realization/) ## Related quotes > [“that incongruity of common and elegant in which the habitually vulgar think they see the revelation of an eccentric existence, of the perturbations of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/that-incongruity-of-common-and-elegant-in-which-the-habitually-vulgar/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [ Sometimes I ask myself whether \[Indira Gandhi\] had, even then, a certain contempt for the system she represented and, years later, would overthrow. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oriana-fallaci/sometimes-i-ask-myself-whether-indira-gandhi-had-even-then-a-certain/) [Oriana Fallaci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oriana-fallaci/) > [Pork - no animal is more used for nourishment and none more indispensable in the kitchen; employed either fresh or salt, all is useful,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-soyer/pork-no-animal-is-more-used-for-nourishment-and-none-more/) [Alexis Soyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-soyer/) > [I think we should all hope for a Russia that is successful, where its people are employed and the economy is growing and they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/i-think-we-should-all-hope-for-a-russia-that-is-successful-where-its/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [Though liberty is established by law, we must be vigilant, for liberty to enslave us is always present under that very liberty. 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Eisenhower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-d-eisenhower/) > [Virtue is as little to be acquired by learning as genius; nay, the idea is barren, and is only to be employed as an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-schopenhauer/virtue-is-as-little-to-be-acquired-by-learning-as-genius-nay-the-idea/) [Arthur Schopenhauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-schopenhauer/) > [Over the past 50 years Bob Hope employed 88 joke writers who supplied him with more than one million gags, and he still couldn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eddie-murphy/over-the-past-50-years-bob-hope-employed-88-joke-writers-who-supplied/) [Eddie Murphy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eddie-murphy/) > [ \[The Community's\] crosses and trials give me confidence. But I derive my hope above all, and most especially, from our utter incapacity, for it… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-guerin/the-community-s-crosses-and-trials-give-me-confidence-but-i-derive-my/) [Theodore Guerin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-guerin/) ## More by Man Ray > [All critics should be assassinated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/man-ray/all-critics-should-be-assassinated/) [Man Ray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/man-ray/) > [Each one of us, in his timidity, has a limit beyond which he is outraged. It is inevitable that he who by concentrated application…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/man-ray/each-one-of-us-in-his-timidity-has-a-limit-beyond-which-he-is/) [Man Ray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/man-ray/) > [A camera alone does not make a picture. To make a picture you need a camera, a photographer and above all a subject. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/man-ray/a-camera-alone-does-not-make-a-picture-to-make-a-picture-you-need-a/) [Man Ray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/man-ray/) > [Personally, I have always preferred inspiration to information.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/man-ray/personally-i-have-always-preferred-inspiration-to-information/) [Man Ray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/man-ray/) > [I believe in the relation between photography and music; And thats my inspiration.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/man-ray/i-believe-in-the-relation-between-photography-and-music-and-thats-my/) [Man Ray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/man-ray/) > [Just as I work with paints, brushes, and canvas, I work with the light, pieces of glass and chemistry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/man-ray/just-as-i-work-with-paints-brushes-and-canvas-i-work-with-the-light/) [Man Ray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/man-ray/) > [Lipstick is the red badge of courage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/man-ray/lipstick-is-the-red-badge-of-courage/) [Man Ray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/man-ray/) > [Speaking of nudes, I have always had a great fondness for this subject, both in my paintings and in my photos, and I must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/man-ray/speaking-of-nudes-i-have-always-had-a-great-fondness-for-this-subject/) [Man Ray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/man-ray/) > [All my life I have painted pictures so that certain people would drop dead when they looked at them, but I have not succeeded…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/man-ray/all-my-life-i-have-painted-pictures-so-that-certain-people-would-drop/) [Man Ray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/man-ray/) > [You don’t ask a writer what typewriter he uses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/man-ray/you-don-t-ask-a-writer-what-typewriter-he-uses/) [Man Ray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/man-ray/) > [I am not going to be dictated to by the size of the camera. I use everything from an 8 x 10 to a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/man-ray/i-am-not-going-to-be-dictated-to-by-the-size-of-the-camera-i-use/) [Man Ray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/man-ray/) > [An original is a creation motivated by desire.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/man-ray/an-original-is-a-creation-motivated-by-desire/) [Man Ray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/man-ray/) > [Dada cannot live in New York. All New York is dada, and will not tolerate a rival.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/man-ray/dada-cannot-live-in-new-york-all-new-york-is-dada-and-will-not/) [Man Ray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/man-ray/) > [Quote me as much as you like; as a matter of fact I don’t even mind if you misquote me !](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/man-ray/quote-me-as-much-as-you-like-as-a-matter-of-fact-i-don-t-even-mind-if/) [Man Ray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/man-ray/) > [If I'd had the nerve, I'd have become a thief or a gangster, but since I didn't, I became a photographer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/man-ray/if-i-d-had-the-nerve-i-d-have-become-a-thief-or-a-gangster-but-since/) [Man Ray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/man-ray/) [Explore all 53 Man Ray quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/man-ray/) ## More Amount quotes > [Dating someone on the opposite end of the happy spectrum teaches you an incredible amount of patience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-pine/dating-someone-on-the-opposite-end-of-the-happy-spectrum-teaches-you/) [Chris Pine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-pine/) > [When the amount of change externally exceeds the amount of change internally, the end is in sight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-welch/when-the-amount-of-change-externally-exceeds-the-amount-of-change/) [Jack Welch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-welch/) > [A human being can only absorb a small amount of the mystical kundalini, you can be exposed again and again to it, but it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/a-human-being-can-only-absorb-a-small-amount-of-the-mystical/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [It's a great story for us whenever an entrepreneur makes a crazy amount of money and we get to tell the world about it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-lacy/it-s-a-great-story-for-us-whenever-an-entrepreneur-makes-a-crazy/) [Sarah Lacy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-lacy/) > [It's a challenge to work a character's arc into a format in which you only have a very limited amount of time to grow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ginnifer-goodwin/it-s-a-challenge-to-work-a-character-s-arc-into-a-format-in-which-you/) [Ginnifer Goodwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ginnifer-goodwin/) > [The amount of things you can do with a kettlebell is unsurpassed by any other training equipment - dumbbells, resistance machines, free weights.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laird-hamilton/the-amount-of-things-you-can-do-with-a-kettlebell-is-unsurpassed-by/) [Laird Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laird-hamilton/) > [The amount you give isn't important. What matters is what that amount represents in terms of your life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-rohn/the-amount-you-give-isn-t-important-what-matters-is-what-that-amount/) [Jim Rohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-rohn/) > [There's a place in Botswana where there are 100,000 elephants living in a single population. Think of the amount of space they need. Remember,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-bergin/there-s-a-place-in-botswana-where-there-are-100-000-elephants-living/) [Patrick Bergin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-bergin/) > [How could you justify giving Holland twice the amount of money that you gave Belgium? Well, finally, I put it up to them. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-averell-harriman/how-could-you-justify-giving-holland-twice-the-amount-of-money-that/) [W. Averell Harriman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-averell-harriman/) > [I am not a great believer in dialectical struggle. I am much more of a fusion person. I see it as a dialogue, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marina-warner/i-am-not-a-great-believer-in-dialectical-struggle-i-am-much-more-of-a/) [Marina Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marina-warner/) > [The risk of developing carcinoma of the lung increases steadily as the amount smoked increases. If the risk among non-smokers is taken as unity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-doll/the-risk-of-developing-carcinoma-of-the-lung-increases-steadily-as/) [Richard Doll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-doll/) > [Both fact and logic seem to me to support the view that savings invested in privately owned economic tools of production amount to an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-a-harper/both-fact-and-logic-seem-to-me-to-support-the-view-that-savings/) [F. A. 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