--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Less disappointing than life, great works…" description: "\"Less disappointing than life, great works of art do not begin by giving us all their best.\" — Marcel Proust" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/10a/marcel-proust-114_art_less-disappointing-than-life-great-works_382502.jpg" --- # Less disappointing than life, great works of art do not… ![“Less disappointing than life, great works of art do not begin by giving us all their best.” quote by Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/10a/marcel-proust-114_art_less-disappointing-than-life-great-works_382502.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/10a/marcel-proust-114_art_less-disappointing-than-life-great-works_382502.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/10a/marcel-proust-114_art_less-disappointing-than-life-great-works_382502.jpg) > “Less disappointing than life, great works of art do not begin by giving us all their best.” [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) ## 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 starts imperfectly, requiring patience before its full brilliance emerges. **In simple terms:** Great art begins imperfectly and improves over time. Key Takeaway Patience reveals true artistic value. Themes art patience growth expectation Mood thoughtful inspirational Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - learning a new skill - appreciating early drafts - long-term projects - critical review Key Concepts creative process imperfection development Questions to Reflect On - What does patience teach you about creative work? - When should you abandon a project? A Different Perspective Not all works improve; some may remain mediocre despite effort. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Disappointment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disappointment/) [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Works of art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/works-of-art/) ## Related quotes > [All works of art should begin... at the end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/all-works-of-art-should-begin-at-the-end/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [We start off with high hopes, then we bottle it. We realise that we’re all going to die, without really finding out the big…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvine-welsh/we-start-off-with-high-hopes-then-we-bottle-it-we-realise-that-we-re/) [Irvine Welsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvine-welsh/) > [Truth and reality in art begin at the point where the artist ceases to understand what he is doing and capable of doing -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-matisse/truth-and-reality-in-art-begin-at-the-point-where-the-artist-ceases/) [Henri Matisse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-matisse/) > [You desire a popular art? Begin by having a "people" whose minds are liberated, a people not crushed by misery and ceaseless toil, not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/romain-rolland/you-desire-a-popular-art-begin-by-having-a-people-whose-minds-are/) [Romain Rolland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/romain-rolland/) > [Where does contagion end and art begin?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/where-does-contagion-end-and-art-begin/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [“The pouches under his eyes were like purses that contained the smuggled memories of a disappointing life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/the-pouches-under-his-eyes-were-like-purses-that-contained-the/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“... Basically, we live a short, disappointing life; and then we die. We fill up oor lives wi shite, things like careers and relationships…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvine-welsh/basically-we-live-a-short-disappointing-life-and-then-we-die-we-fill/) [Irvine Welsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvine-welsh/) > [“It can be very hard to accept how disappointing life is, Harper, because that's what it is, and you have to accept it. With…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-kushner/it-can-be-very-hard-to-accept-how-disappointing-life-is-harper/) [tony kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-kushner/) > [“Ah don’t really know, Tam, ah jist dinnae. It kinday makes things seem mair real tae us. Life’s boring and futile. We start aof…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvine-welsh/ah-don-t-really-know-tam-ah-jist-dinnae-it-kinday-makes-things-seem/) [Irvine Welsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvine-welsh/) > [Great works - and I think Star Wars is a great work - are easily susceptible to multiple plausible interpretations. Some of them are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cass-sunstein/great-works-and-i-think-star-wars-is-a-great-work-are-easily/) [Cass Sunstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cass-sunstein/) > [Great works are performed not by strength but by perseverance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/great-works-are-performed-not-by-strength-but-by-perseverance/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Great works are done when one is not calculating and thinking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-t-suzuki/great-works-are-done-when-one-is-not-calculating-and-thinking/) [D.T. Suzuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-t-suzuki/) > [“Great men don't strive for greatness, they simply do great works.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ifeanyi-enoch-onuoha/great-men-don-t-strive-for-greatness-they-simply-do-great-works/) [Ifeanyi Enoch Onuoha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ifeanyi-enoch-onuoha/) > [Genius begins great works; labor alone finishes them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/genius-begins-great-works-labor-alone-finishes-them/) [Joseph Joubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joubert/) > [Great works done not by strength by by perseverance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeric-padsing/great-works-done-not-by-strength-by-by-perseverance/) Jeric Padsing ## More by Marcel Proust > [“machinery' of life at Versailles; and was able, too, to persuade herself that her silence, a shade of good humour or of arrogance on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/machinery-of-life-at-versailles-and-was-able-too-to-persuade-herself/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [ “For her \[Françoise\], wealth was like a necessary condition without which virtue would lack both merit and charm. She made so little distinction between… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/for-her-fran-oise-wealth-was-like-a-necessary-condition-without-which/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [Knowing does not always allow us to prevent, but at least the things that we know, we hold them, if not in our hands,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/knowing-does-not-always-allow-us-to-prevent-but-at-least-the-things/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [Death is in truth an illness from which we recover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/death-is-in-truth-an-illness-from-which-we-recover/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [The bonds that unite another person to our self exist only in our mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/the-bonds-that-unite-another-person-to-our-self-exist-only-in-our-mind/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [...a writer's works, like the water in an artesian well, mount to a height which is in proportion to the depth to which suffering…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/a-writer-s-works-like-the-water-in-an-artesian-well-mount-to-a-height/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“Then from those profound slumbers we awake in a dawn, not knowing who we are, being nobody, newly born, ready for anything, the brain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/then-from-those-profound-slumbers-we-awake-in-a-dawn-not-knowing-who/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“Art extracted from the most familiar reality does indeed exist and its domain is perhaps the largest of any.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/art-extracted-from-the-most-familiar-reality-does-indeed-exist-and/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [I find very reasonable the Celtic belief that the souls of our dearly departed are trapped in some inferior being, in an animal, aplant,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/i-find-very-reasonable-the-celtic-belief-that-the-souls-of-our-dearly/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“When you heard anyone in the middle of a talk which was being deliberately kept off the Affair announce furtively some piece of political…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/when-you-heard-anyone-in-the-middle-of-a-talk-which-was-being/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“We betroth ourselves by proxy, and then feel obliged to marry the intermediary.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/we-betroth-ourselves-by-proxy-and-then-feel-obliged-to-marry-the/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“But the old lady on the contrary, far from justifying her daughter’s fears, felt every time someone of her own age “disappeared” that she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/but-the-old-lady-on-the-contrary-far-from-justifying-her-daughter-s/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [Often it is just lack of imagination that keeps a man from suffering very much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/often-it-is-just-lack-of-imagination-that-keeps-a-man-from-suffering/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“When we are nice to others, we generally lose all claim to their respect.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/when-we-are-nice-to-others-we-generally-lose-all-claim-to-their/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“Nobility is often no more than the inner aspect which our egotistical feelings assume when we have not yet named and classified them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/nobility-is-often-no-more-than-the-inner-aspect-which-our-egotistical/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) [Explore all 1,113 Marcel Proust quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) ## 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": "Less disappointing than life, great works of art do not begin by giving us all their best.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Marcel Proust" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/less-disappointing-than-life-great-works-of-art-do-not-begin-by/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/less-disappointing-than-life-great-works-of-art-do-not-begin-by/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/10a/marcel-proust-114_art_less-disappointing-than-life-great-works_382502.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/10a/marcel-proust-114_art_less-disappointing-than-life-great-works_382502.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/10a/marcel-proust-114_art_less-disappointing-than-life-great-works_382502.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Less disappointing than life, great works of art do not begin by giving us all their best.” — Marcel Proust", "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 Proust", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Less disappointing than life, great works...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/less-disappointing-than-life-great-works-of-art-do-not-begin-by/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/less-disappointing-than-life-great-works-of-art-do-not-begin-by/#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 } } ] } ```