--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Like Michelangelo spending eight months…" description: "\"“Like Michelangelo spending eight months in the mountains of Carrara, selecting the most perfect blocks of marble for the tomb of Pope Julius II, Franç..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2b0/marcel-proust-114_the-extended-metapho_like-michelangelo-spending-eight-months_310977.jpg" --- # Like Michelangelo spending eight months in the mountains… ![“Like Michelangelo spending eight months in the mountains of Carrara, selecting the most perfect blocks of marble for the tomb of Pope Julius II, Françoise, who attached extreme importance to the inherent quality of the materials out of which her masterpieces were to be wrought, had been down to…” quote by Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2b0/marcel-proust-114_the-extended-metapho_like-michelangelo-spending-eight-months_310977.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2b0/marcel-proust-114_the-extended-metapho_like-michelangelo-spending-eight-months_310977.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2b0/marcel-proust-114_the-extended-metapho_like-michelangelo-spending-eight-months_310977.jpg) > ““Like Michelangelo spending eight months in the mountains of Carrara, selecting the most perfect blocks of marble for the tomb of Pope Julius II, Françoise, who attached extreme importance to the inherent quality of the materials out of which her masterpieces were to be wrought, had been down to Les Halles in person more than once to choose the finest slabs of rump steak, the best shin of beef and calf’s foot. She threw herself so strenuously into this pursuit that my mother, seeing our old servant turn red in the face, feared that, as the sculptor of the Medici tombs had sickened in the quarries at Pietrasanta, she might make herself ill from overwork. (p. In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower, 17)”” [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. The narrator describes a meticulous pursuit of perfect ingredients, likening it to a sculptor’s dedication to marble, highlighting obsessive craftsmanship. **In simple terms:** Obsessive search for perfect material mirrors artistic creation. Key Takeaway Embrace careful selection in your work. Themes art craftsmanship obsession Mood determined intense Type descriptive analytical When to use this quote - cooking - design - architecture - painting Key Concepts material quality creative process Questions to Reflect On - What standards do you set for your materials? - When does dedication become harmful? A Different Perspective Such intensity can lead to burnout or health issues. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Young girls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/young-girls/) ## Related quotes > [“on the front of the white marble tomb was the inscription: Here rests in honored glory, an American soldier, known but to God.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-cameron/on-the-front-of-the-white-marble-tomb-was-the-inscription-here-rests/) [Marc Cameron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-cameron/) > [When I was a kid I drew like Michelangelo. It took me years to learn to draw like a kid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/when-i-was-a-kid-i-drew-like-michelangelo-it-took-me-years-to-learn/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [“Even at this ridiculous hour, and clad in a faded blue t-shirt and ancient pyjama pants, he looked like something Michelangelo might reject for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tabitha-mcgowan/even-at-this-ridiculous-hour-and-clad-in-a-faded-blue-t-shirt-and/) [Tabitha McGowan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tabitha-mcgowan/) > [But the great artists like Michelangelo and Blake and Tolstoi--like Christ whom Blake called an artist because he had one of the most creative…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-ueland/but-the-great-artists-like-michelangelo-and-blake-and-tolstoi-like/) [Brenda Ueland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-ueland/) > [It's a stage with four lights clamped to it with walls made out of plywood. And then my name's in the center. It's the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-smith/it-s-a-stage-with-four-lights-clamped-to-it-with-walls-made-out-of/) [Josh Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-smith/) > [Tintoretto attempted to fill the line of Michelangelo with color, without tracing its principle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-fuseli/tintoretto-attempted-to-fill-the-line-of-michelangelo-with-color/) [Henry Fuseli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-fuseli/) > [Even Michelangelo got paid for doing the Sistine Chapel. To those artists who say they're doing it for the love of art, I say:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gianni-versace/even-michelangelo-got-paid-for-doing-the-sistine-chapel-to-those/) [Gianni Versace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gianni-versace/) > [“How to maintain the proper mood and not bore the congregation to sleep? Art was the answer. But not just pretty pictures that required…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-blech/how-to-maintain-the-proper-mood-and-not-bore-the-congregation-to/) [Benjamin Blech](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-blech/) > [Michelangelo indeed could have carved out your features.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/michelangelo-indeed-could-have-carved-out-your-features/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [“To Giovanni da Pistoia Michelangelo, translated from the Italian by Joel Agee \| 144 words (On painting the vault of the Sistine Chapel) 1509…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/to-giovanni-da-pistoia-michelangelo-translated-from-the-italian-by/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [When they asked Michelangelo how he made his statue of David he is reported to have said, "It is easy. You just chip away…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelangelo/when-they-asked-michelangelo-how-he-made-his-statue-of-david-he-is/) [Michelangelo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelangelo/) > [Don't listen to those who say, you taking too big a chance. Michelangelo would have painted the Sistine floor, and it would surely be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-simon/don-t-listen-to-those-who-say-you-taking-too-big-a-chance/) [Neil Simon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-simon/) > [If we now seek the spiritual significance of the technique of Michelangelo we shall find that his sculpture expressed restless energy...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/auguste-rodin/if-we-now-seek-the-spiritual-significance-of-the-technique-of/) [Auguste Rodin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/auguste-rodin/) > [“Michelangelo’s mistakes, frozen within testimony of concrete—what they suggest is that mistakes are, first and foremost, a by-product of the pursuit of excellence.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-l-harmon/michelangelo-s-mistakes-frozen-within-testimony-of-concrete-what-they/) James L. Harmon > [“In the case of Michel Angelo we have an artist who with brush and chisel portrayed literally thousands of human forms; but with this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-carpenter/in-the-case-of-michel-angelo-we-have-an-artist-who-with-brush-and/) [Edward Carpenter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-carpenter/) ## 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 Michelangelo quotes > [“In the case of Michel Angelo we have an artist who with brush and chisel portrayed literally thousands of human forms; but with this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-carpenter/in-the-case-of-michel-angelo-we-have-an-artist-who-with-brush-and/) [Edward Carpenter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-carpenter/) > [“Michelangelo’s mistakes, frozen within testimony of concrete—what they suggest is that mistakes are, first and foremost, a by-product of the pursuit of excellence.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-l-harmon/michelangelo-s-mistakes-frozen-within-testimony-of-concrete-what-they/) James L. Harmon > [If we now seek the spiritual significance of the technique of Michelangelo we shall find that his sculpture expressed restless energy...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/auguste-rodin/if-we-now-seek-the-spiritual-significance-of-the-technique-of/) [Auguste Rodin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/auguste-rodin/) > [Don't listen to those who say, you taking too big a chance. Michelangelo would have painted the Sistine floor, and it would surely be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-simon/don-t-listen-to-those-who-say-you-taking-too-big-a-chance/) [Neil Simon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-simon/) > [When they asked Michelangelo how he made his statue of David he is reported to have said, "It is easy. You just chip away…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelangelo/when-they-asked-michelangelo-how-he-made-his-statue-of-david-he-is/) [Michelangelo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelangelo/) > [“To Giovanni da Pistoia Michelangelo, translated from the Italian by Joel Agee \| 144 words (On painting the vault of the Sistine Chapel) 1509…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/to-giovanni-da-pistoia-michelangelo-translated-from-the-italian-by/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Michelangelo indeed could have carved out your features.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/michelangelo-indeed-could-have-carved-out-your-features/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [“How to maintain the proper mood and not bore the congregation to sleep? Art was the answer. But not just pretty pictures that required…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-blech/how-to-maintain-the-proper-mood-and-not-bore-the-congregation-to/) [Benjamin Blech](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-blech/) > [Even Michelangelo got paid for doing the Sistine Chapel. To those artists who say they're doing it for the love of art, I say:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gianni-versace/even-michelangelo-got-paid-for-doing-the-sistine-chapel-to-those/) [Gianni Versace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gianni-versace/) > [Tintoretto attempted to fill the line of Michelangelo with color, without tracing its principle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-fuseli/tintoretto-attempted-to-fill-the-line-of-michelangelo-with-color/) [Henry Fuseli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-fuseli/) > [We are the clay, and you are Michelangelo. And we will be your masterpiece.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-yancey/we-are-the-clay-and-you-are-michelangelo-and-we-will-be-your/) [Rick Yancey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-yancey/) > [“Thus, Michelangelo filled the chapel with hidden messages of his passionate loves and his righteous rages, along with mystic symbols of divine justice and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-blech/thus-michelangelo-filled-the-chapel-with-hidden-messages-of-his/) [Benjamin Blech](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-blech/) > [Michelangelo's contemporaries thought him the greatest artist who ever lived and called him 'divine.' His reputation as sculptor, architect, painter and draughtsman has not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ayrton/michelangelo-s-contemporaries-thought-him-the-greatest-artist-who/) [Michael Ayrton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ayrton/) > [“In 1510 the pope ordered the scaffolding dismantled and the first part of the fresco displayed to an eager public. The ecstatic reactions from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-blech/in-1510-the-pope-ordered-the-scaffolding-dismantled-and-the-first/) [Benjamin Blech](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-blech/) > [Just because we are not Italian, does not mean we cannot appreciate Michelangelo, it is the same with cuisine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-bourdain/just-because-we-are-not-italian-does-not-mean-we-cannot-appreciate/) [Anthony Bourdain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-bourdain/) Browse all 105 Michelangelo quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Like Michelangelo spending eight months in the mountains of Carrara, selecting the most perfect blocks of marble for the tomb of Pope Julius II, Françoise, who attached extreme importance to the inherent quality of the materials out of which her masterpieces were to be wrought, had been down to Les Halles in person more than once to choose the finest slabs of rump steak, the best shin of beef and calf’s foot. She threw herself so strenuously into this pursuit that my mother, seeing our old servant turn red in the face, feared that, as the sculptor of the Medici tombs had sickened in the quarries at Pietrasanta, she might make herself ill from overwork. (p. In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower, 17)”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Marcel Proust" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/like-michelangelo-spending-eight-months-in-the-mountains-of-carrara/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Michelangelo" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/like-michelangelo-spending-eight-months-in-the-mountains-of-carrara/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2b0/marcel-proust-114_the-extended-metapho_like-michelangelo-spending-eight-months_310977.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2b0/marcel-proust-114_the-extended-metapho_like-michelangelo-spending-eight-months_310977.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2b0/marcel-proust-114_the-extended-metapho_like-michelangelo-spending-eight-months_310977.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Like Michelangelo spending eight months in the mountains of Carrara, selecting the most perfect blocks of…” — 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": "“Like Michelangelo spending eight months in...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/like-michelangelo-spending-eight-months-in-the-mountains-of-carrara/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/like-michelangelo-spending-eight-months-in-the-mountains-of-carrara/#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 } } ] } ```