--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Play is the exultation of the possible." description: "\"Play is the exultation of the possible.\" — Martin Buber" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eae/martin-buber-2381_exultation_play-is-the-exultation-of-the-possible-2_2269459.jpg" --- # Play is the exultation of the possible. ![“Play is the exultation of the possible.” quote by Martin Buber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eae/martin-buber-2381_exultation_play-is-the-exultation-of-the-possible-2_2269459.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eae/martin-buber-2381_exultation_play-is-the-exultation-of-the-possible-2_2269459.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eae/martin-buber-2381_exultation_play-is-the-exultation-of-the-possible-2_2269459.jpg) > “Play is the exultation of the possible.” [Martin Buber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-buber/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Play reveals the boundless possibilities of human experience and imagination. **In simple terms:** Play shows what could be. Key Takeaway Embrace play to explore potential. Themes creativity possibility freedom Mood optimistic reflective Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - education - team building - therapy - innovation workshops Key Concepts existential philosophy psychology Questions to Reflect On - What risks does play entail? - How can play be structured for productivity? A Different Perspective Play can be dismissed as frivolous. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Play](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/play/) [Playful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/playful/) ## Related quotes > [“He felt that,’ Dani said, trembling with joy. ‘He really felt that,’ Sunny squealed. ‘That,’ Leo declared, ‘was artistry.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/belinda-kelderhouse/he-felt-that-dani-said-trembling-with-joy-he-really-felt-that-sunny/) [Belinda Kelderhouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/belinda-kelderhouse/) > [Exultation that does not flow from education, affections that do not flow from knowing, savoring that does not flow from seeing, feeling that does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-piper/exultation-that-does-not-flow-from-education-affections-that-do-not/) [John Piper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-piper/) > [“...the wind hums low with sweet exultation, sings its lullaby, while you sleep ...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-geddes/the-wind-hums-low-with-sweet-exultation-sings-its-lullaby-while-you/) [John Geddes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-geddes/) > [Exultation is the going Of an inland soul to sea Past the houses, past the headlands Into deep eternity! Bred as we, among the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/exultation-is-the-going-of-an-inland-soul-to-sea-past-the-houses-past/) [Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/) > [Play enables us to rearrange our capacities and our very identity so that they can be used in unforeseen ways](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-nachmanovitch/play-enables-us-to-rearrange-our-capacities-and-our-very-identity-so/) [Stephen Nachmanovitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-nachmanovitch/) > [Play in curiosity is where everything happens.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-zuckerman/play-in-curiosity-is-where-everything-happens/) [Andrew Zuckerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-zuckerman/) > [I remember from my school days Archimedes jumping into his bath and displacing water and coming up with his famous principle, and of course…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-marsh/i-remember-from-my-school-days-archimedes-jumping-into-his-bath-and/) [James Marsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-marsh/) > [Play cannot be defined, because in play all definitions slither, dance, combine, break apart, and recombine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-nachmanovitch/play-cannot-be-defined-because-in-play-all-definitions-slither-dance/) [Stephen Nachmanovitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-nachmanovitch/) > [The playfulness that I talk about comes very slowly. You cannot just jump out of your seriousness which you have accumulated for lives. Now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/the-playfulness-that-i-talk-about-comes-very-slowly-you-cannot-just/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [The playful search for beauty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eva-zeisel/the-playful-search-for-beauty/) [Eva Zeisel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eva-zeisel/) > [The opposite of play is not work—the opposite of play is depression.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-opposite-of-play-is-not-work-the-opposite-of-play-is-depression/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I think Deborah Harry has a really sexy, cool and quite playful sex-kitten kind of style I really like.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bat-for-lashes/i-think-deborah-harry-has-a-really-sexy-cool-and-quite-playful-sex/) [Bat for Lashes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bat-for-lashes/) > [I'm always trying to have a good time on set because that's when things happen. That's when you're playful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sarandon/i-m-always-trying-to-have-a-good-time-on-set-because-that-s-when/) [Susan Sarandon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sarandon/) > [The American people are incredibly generous and even playful when you open yourself up and feed the media beast until it goes away satisfied.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/krystal-ball/the-american-people-are-incredibly-generous-and-even-playful-when-you/) [Krystal Ball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/krystal-ball/) > [My preference is for people who come to rehearsal and get into the ring. I like a muscular actor who's playful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-mantello/my-preference-is-for-people-who-come-to-rehearsal-and-get-into-the/) [Joe Mantello](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-mantello/) ## More by Martin Buber > [This is the sacrifice: the endless possibility that is offered up on the altar of the form...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-buber/this-is-the-sacrifice-the-endless-possibility-that-is-offered-up-on/) [Martin Buber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-buber/) > [Mundus vult decipi: the world wants to be deceived.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-buber/mundus-vult-decipi-the-world-wants-to-be-deceived/) [Martin Buber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-buber/) > [Greatness by nature includes a power, but not a will to power. ... The great man, whether we comprehend him in the most intense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-buber/greatness-by-nature-includes-a-power-but-not-a-will-to-power-the/) [Martin Buber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-buber/) > [You can rake the muck this way, rake the muck that way-- it will always be muck. Have I sinned or have I not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-buber/you-can-rake-the-muck-this-way-rake-the-muck-that-way-it-will-always/) [Martin Buber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-buber/) > [All actual life is encounter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-buber/all-actual-life-is-encounter/) [Martin Buber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-buber/) > [God cannot be seen, but He can listened to and spoken to!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-buber/god-cannot-be-seen-but-he-can-listened-to-and-spoken-to/) [Martin Buber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-buber/) > [What has to be given up is not the I, as most mystics suppose: this I is indispensable for any relationship, including the highest,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-buber/what-has-to-be-given-up-is-not-the-i-as-most-mystics-suppose-this-i/) [Martin Buber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-buber/) > [In the beginning was the relationship.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-buber/in-the-beginning-was-the-relationship/) [Martin Buber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-buber/) > [To begin with oneself but not to end with onself. To start from oneself but not to aim at oneself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-buber/to-begin-with-oneself-but-not-to-end-with-onself-to-start-from/) [Martin Buber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-buber/) > [All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveller is unaware.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-buber/all-journeys-have-secret-destinations-of-which-the-traveller-is/) [Martin Buber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-buber/) > [The concept of guilt is found most powerfully developed even in the most primitive communal forms which we know... the man is guilty who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-buber/the-concept-of-guilt-is-found-most-powerfully-developed-even-in-the/) [Martin Buber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-buber/) > [This is the eternal origin of art that a human being confronts a form that wants to become a work through him. Not a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-buber/this-is-the-eternal-origin-of-art-that-a-human-being-confronts-a-form/) [Martin Buber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-buber/) > [God is the "mysterium tremendum," that appears and overthrows, but he is also the mystery of the self-evident, nearer to me than my I.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-buber/god-is-the-mysterium-tremendum-that-appears-and-overthrows-but-he-is/) [Martin Buber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-buber/) > [No limits are set to the ascent of man, and to each and everyone the highest stands open. Here it is only your personal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-buber/no-limits-are-set-to-the-ascent-of-man-and-to-each-and-everyone-the/) [Martin Buber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-buber/) > [But when a man draws a lifeless thing into his passionate longing for dialogue, lending it independence and as it were a soul, then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-buber/but-when-a-man-draws-a-lifeless-thing-into-his-passionate-longing-for/) [Martin Buber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-buber/) [Explore all 169 Martin Buber quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-buber/) ## More Exultation quotes > [Exultation is the going Of an inland soul to sea Past the houses, past the headlands Into deep eternity! Bred as we, among the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/exultation-is-the-going-of-an-inland-soul-to-sea-past-the-houses-past/) [Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/) > [“...the wind hums low with sweet exultation, sings its lullaby, while you sleep ...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-geddes/the-wind-hums-low-with-sweet-exultation-sings-its-lullaby-while-you/) [John Geddes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-geddes/) > [Exultation that does not flow from education, affections that do not flow from knowing, savoring that does not flow from seeing, feeling that does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-piper/exultation-that-does-not-flow-from-education-affections-that-do-not/) [John Piper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-piper/) > [“He felt that,’ Dani said, trembling with joy. ‘He really felt that,’ Sunny squealed. ‘That,’ Leo declared, ‘was artistry.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/belinda-kelderhouse/he-felt-that-dani-said-trembling-with-joy-he-really-felt-that-sunny/) [Belinda Kelderhouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/belinda-kelderhouse/) Browse all 5 Exultation quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Play is the exultation of the possible.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Martin Buber" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-buber/play-is-the-exultation-of-the-possible/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Exultation" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-buber/play-is-the-exultation-of-the-possible/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eae/martin-buber-2381_exultation_play-is-the-exultation-of-the-possible-2_2269459.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eae/martin-buber-2381_exultation_play-is-the-exultation-of-the-possible-2_2269459.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eae/martin-buber-2381_exultation_play-is-the-exultation-of-the-possible-2_2269459.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Play is the exultation of the possible.” — Martin Buber", "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": "Martin Buber", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-buber/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Play is the exultation of the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-buber/play-is-the-exultation-of-the-possible/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-buber/play-is-the-exultation-of-the-possible/#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 } } ] } ```