--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: My art would be that of living: each…" description: "\"My art would be that of living: each moment, each breath is a work inscribed nowhere.\" — Marcel Duchamp" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c60/marcel-duchamp-2390_art_my-art-would-be-that-of-living-each-mome_1765408.jpg" --- # My art would be that of living: each moment, each breath… ![“My art would be that of living: each moment, each breath is a work inscribed nowhere.” quote by Marcel Duchamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c60/marcel-duchamp-2390_art_my-art-would-be-that-of-living-each-mome_1765408.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c60/marcel-duchamp-2390_art_my-art-would-be-that-of-living-each-mome_1765408.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c60/marcel-duchamp-2390_art_my-art-would-be-that-of-living-each-mome_1765408.jpg) > “My art would be that of living: each moment, each breath is a work inscribed nowhere.” [Marcel Duchamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-duchamp/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Art is living, each breath a fleeting creation, emphasizing presence over permanence. **In simple terms:** Life itself is art, each moment a unique work. Key Takeaway Live fully in each breath. Themes art presence impermanence Mood contemplative creative Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - mindfulness meditation - performance art - daily journaling - creative rituals Key Concepts existentialism process art Questions to Reflect On - What daily act can you treat as art? - How does this view change your routine? A Different Perspective May be too abstract for practical application. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Breath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/breath/) [Breaths](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/breaths/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Moments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moments/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [Your work is a very sacred matter. God delights in it, and through it, He wants to best His blessings on you. This praise…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther/your-work-is-a-very-sacred-matter-god-delights-in-it-and-through-it/) [Martin Luther](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther/) > [I like living, breathing better than working...my art is that of living. Each second, each breath is a work which is inscribed nowhere, which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/i-like-living-breathing-better-than-working-my-art-is-that-of-living/) [Marcel Duchamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-duchamp/) > [The trifle now inscribed with your name. was occasioned by a particular fact; but to the disgrace of human nature, the subject is sufficiently…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-day/the-trifle-now-inscribed-with-your-name-was-occasioned-by-a/) [Thomas Day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-day/) > [Destruction scripts already inscribed on each creation by the God](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suma/destruction-scripts-already-inscribed-on-each-creation-by-the-god/) [Suma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suma/) > [“Love could be immortalized. It could be remembered and written forever into the world, inscribed on some inanimate object. It could be wonderful words…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lindsay-chamberlin/love-could-be-immortalized-it-could-be-remembered-and-written-forever/) [Lindsay Chamberlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lindsay-chamberlin/) > [Wir mussen wissen. Wir werden wissen. We must know. We will know. Inscribed on his tomb in Gilttingen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hilbert/wir-mussen-wissen-wir-werden-wissen-we-must-know-we-will-know-2/) [David Hilbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hilbert/) > [Wherever anything lives, there is, open somewhere, a register in which time is being inscribed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-bergson/wherever-anything-lives-there-is-open-somewhere-a-register-in-which/) [Henri Bergson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-bergson/) > [“Esme slowly turned the picture over, her hands beginning to tremble again. Inscribed across the back of the photograph, in a woman’s elegant script,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teresa-medeiros/esme-slowly-turned-the-picture-over-her-hands-beginning-to-tremble/) [Teresa Medeiros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teresa-medeiros/) > [Sometimes everything has to be inscribed across the heavens so you can find the one line already written inside you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-whyte/sometimes-everything-has-to-be-inscribed-across-the-heavens-so-you/) [David Whyte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-whyte/) > [ “Wir mussen wissen. Wir werden wissen. ( We must know. We will know .) \[ Inscribed on his tomb in Gottingen .\]” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hilbert/wir-mussen-wissen-wir-werden-wissen-we-must-know-we-will-know/) [David Hilbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hilbert/) > [Love is not written on paper, paper can be erased, Not etched on stone, stone can be broken. But it is inscribed on a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/love-is-not-written-on-paper-paper-can-be-erased-not-etched-on-stone/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If you look closely you'll find all my lovers inscribed on my skin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-ciment/if-you-look-closely-you-ll-find-all-my-lovers-inscribed-on-my-skin/) Jill Ciment > [Inscribed on the temple of Apollo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/inscribed-on-the-temple-of-apollo/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [But thou, O King, I bid remember me, unwept, unburied, Heap up mine arms, be tombby sea-bord, and inscribed: A man of no fortune,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-pound/but-thou-o-king-i-bid-remember-me-unwept-unburied-heap-up-mine-arms/) [Ezra Pound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-pound/) > [“Inscribed on the fingerboard of a viola da gamba by Kaspar Tieffenbrucker: "Viva fui in silvis sum dura occisa securi dum vixi tacui mortua…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/inscribed-on-the-fingerboard-of-a-viola-da-gamba-by-kaspar/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Marcel Duchamp > [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/) > [Humor is the only reason to live.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/humor-is-the-only-reason-to-live/) [Marcel Duchamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-duchamp/) > [Society takes what it wants. The artist himself does not count, because there is no actual existence for the work of art. The work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/society-takes-what-it-wants-the-artist-himself-does-not-count-because/) [Marcel Duchamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-duchamp/) > [The creative act is not performed by the artist alone; the spectator brings the work in contact with the external world by deciphering and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/the-creative-act-is-not-performed-by-the-artist-alone-the-spectator/) [Marcel Duchamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-duchamp/) > [I believe that the artist doesn't know what he does. I attach even more importance to the spectator than to the artist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/i-believe-that-the-artist-doesn-t-know-what-he-does-i-attach-even/) [Marcel Duchamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-duchamp/) > [Living is more a question of what one spends than what one makes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/living-is-more-a-question-of-what-one-spends-than-what-one-makes/) [Marcel Duchamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-duchamp/) > [Rational intelligence is dangerous and leads to ratiocination. The painter is a medium who doesn't realize what he is doing. No translation can express…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/rational-intelligence-is-dangerous-and-leads-to-ratiocination-the/) [Marcel Duchamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-duchamp/) > [Everything important that I have done can be put into a little suitcase.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/everything-important-that-i-have-done-can-be-put-into-a-little/) [Marcel Duchamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-duchamp/) > [As soon as we start putting our thoughts into words and sentences everything gets distorted, language is just no damn good—I use it because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/as-soon-as-we-start-putting-our-thoughts-into-words-and-sentences/) [Marcel Duchamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-duchamp/) > [The basis for my own work during the years just before coming to America in 1915 was a desire to break up forms -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/the-basis-for-my-own-work-during-the-years-just-before-coming-to/) [Marcel Duchamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-duchamp/) > [The curious thing about that moustache and goatee is that when you look at the Mona Lisa it becomes a man. It is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/the-curious-thing-about-that-moustache-and-goatee-is-that-when-you/) [Marcel Duchamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-duchamp/) > [I am afraid to end up being in need to sell canvases - in other words, to be a society painter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/i-am-afraid-to-end-up-being-in-need-to-sell-canvases-in-other-words/) [Marcel Duchamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-duchamp/) > [In the midst of each epoch, I fully realize that a new epoch will dawn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/in-the-midst-of-each-epoch-i-fully-realize-that-a-new-epoch-will-dawn/) [Marcel Duchamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-duchamp/) > [To all appearances the artist acts like a mediumistic being who, from the labyrinth beyond time and space, seeks his way out to a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/to-all-appearances-the-artist-acts-like-a-mediumistic-being-who-from/) [Marcel Duchamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-duchamp/) > [Words such as truth, art, veracity, or anything are stupid in themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/words-such-as-truth-art-veracity-or-anything-are-stupid-in-themselves/) [Marcel Duchamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-duchamp/) [Explore all 169 Marcel Duchamp quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-duchamp/) ## 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": "My art would be that of living: each moment, each breath is a work inscribed nowhere.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Marcel Duchamp" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/my-art-would-be-that-of-living-each-moment-each-breath-is-a-work/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/my-art-would-be-that-of-living-each-moment-each-breath-is-a-work/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c60/marcel-duchamp-2390_art_my-art-would-be-that-of-living-each-mome_1765408.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c60/marcel-duchamp-2390_art_my-art-would-be-that-of-living-each-mome_1765408.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c60/marcel-duchamp-2390_art_my-art-would-be-that-of-living-each-mome_1765408.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“My art would be that of living: each moment, each breath is a work inscribed nowhere.” — Marcel Duchamp", "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": "Marcel Duchamp", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-duchamp/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "My art would be that of...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/my-art-would-be-that-of-living-each-moment-each-breath-is-a-work/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/my-art-would-be-that-of-living-each-moment-each-breath-is-a-work/#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 } } ] } ```