--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Every artist is linked to a mistake with…" description: "\"Every artist is linked to a mistake with which he has a particular intimate relation. There is the mistake of Homer, of Shakespeare — which is perhaps,..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/40b/maurice-blanchot-12571_art_every-artist-is-linked-to-a-mistake-with_1741411.png" --- # Every artist is linked to a mistake with which he has a… ![“Every artist is linked to a mistake with which he has a particular intimate relation. There is the mistake of Homer, of Shakespeare — which is perhaps, for both, the fact of not existing. Every art draws its origin from an exceptional fault, every work is the implementation of this original fault…” quote by Maurice Blanchot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/40b/maurice-blanchot-12571_art_every-artist-is-linked-to-a-mistake-with_1741411.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/40b/maurice-blanchot-12571_art_every-artist-is-linked-to-a-mistake-with_1741411.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/40b/maurice-blanchot-12571_art_every-artist-is-linked-to-a-mistake-with_1741411.png) > “Every artist is linked to a mistake with which he has a particular intimate relation. There is the mistake of Homer, of Shakespeare — which is perhaps, for both, the fact of not existing. Every art draws its origin from an exceptional fault, every work is the implementation of this original fault, from which come to us a new light and a risky conception of plenitude.” [Maurice Blanchot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-blanchot/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Art originates from a fundamental flaw that fuels creativity and new insight. **In simple terms:** Art springs from a deep flaw. Key Takeaway Embrace imperfections to create. Themes creativity imperfection artistic process philosophy Mood reflective inspirational Type philosophical artistic When to use this quote - writing - painting - music composition - innovation Key Concepts existentialism aesthetic theory Questions to Reflect On - What flaw fuels your creativity? - Can imperfection be celebrated? A Different Perspective Focusing on flaws can lead to self‑criticism. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) [Intimacy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intimacy/) [Light](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/light/) [Mistake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mistake/) [Plenitude](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/plenitude/) ## Related quotes > [Every artist is linked to a mistake with which he has a particular intimacy. 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Their strong passions must either bruise or bend. They either slay the man, or themselves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/with-subtle-and-finely-wrought-temperaments-it-is-always-so-their/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Ours is a culture based on excess, on overproduction; the result is a steady loss of sharpness in our sensory experience. All the conditions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/ours-is-a-culture-based-on-excess-on-overproduction-the-result-is-a/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [I was born poor and without religion, under a happy sky, feeling harmony, not hostility, in nature. I began not by feeling torn, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/i-was-born-poor-and-without-religion-under-a-happy-sky-feeling/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [There exists an infinite, eternal Being, subsisting of himself, who is one without being alone; for he finds in his own essence relations whence,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baptiste-henri-lacordaire/there-exists-an-infinite-eternal-being-subsisting-of-himself-who-is/) [Jean-Baptiste Henri Lacordaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baptiste-henri-lacordaire/) > [Life has to have the plenitude of art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/life-has-to-have-the-plenitude-of-art/) [Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/) > [The secret to living in the rush of the world with a minimum of pain is to get as many people as possible to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-roth/the-secret-to-living-in-the-rush-of-the-world-with-a-minimum-of-pain/) [Philip Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-roth/) > [In truth, I was so good at being a man, with such plenitude and simplicity, that I thought I was something of a superman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/in-truth-i-was-so-good-at-being-a-man-with-such-plenitude-and/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [To this military attitude of the soul we give the name of Heroism... It is a self-trust which slights the restraints of prudence, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/to-this-military-attitude-of-the-soul-we-give-the-name-of-heroism-it/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [I cannot write if there is a sense of plenitude. I have to hypothesize that there is a loss.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/i-cannot-write-if-there-is-a-sense-of-plenitude-i-have-to-hypothesize/) [Andre Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) ## More by Maurice Blanchot > [“How not to search that space where, for a time span lasting from dusk to dawn, two beings have no other reason to exist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-blanchot/how-not-to-search-that-space-where-for-a-time-span-lasting-from-dusk/) [Maurice Blanchot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-blanchot/) > [But my silence is real. If I hid it from you, you would find it again a little farther on.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-blanchot/but-my-silence-is-real-if-i-hid-it-from-you-you-would-find-it-again-a/) [Maurice Blanchot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-blanchot/) > [“As the German expression has it, the last judgement is the youngest day, and it is a day surpassing all days. Not that judgement…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-blanchot/as-the-german-expression-has-it-the-last-judgement-is-the-youngest/) [Maurice Blanchot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-blanchot/) > [“Writing is not destined to leave traces, but to erase, by traces, all traces, to disappear in the fragmentary space of writing more definitely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-blanchot/writing-is-not-destined-to-leave-traces-but-to-erase-by-traces-all/) [Maurice Blanchot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-blanchot/) > [“If the sculptor uses stone and if the road builder also uses stone, the first uses it in a way that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-blanchot/if-the-sculptor-uses-stone-and-if-the-road-builder-also-uses-stone/) [Maurice Blanchot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-blanchot/) > [A writer who writes, ''I am alone''... can be considered rather comical. It is comical for a man to recognize his solitude by addressing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-blanchot/a-writer-who-writes-i-am-alone-can-be-considered-rather-comical-it-is/) [Maurice Blanchot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-blanchot/) > [“I went in; I closed the door. I sat down on the bed. Blackest space extended before me. I was not in this blackness,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-blanchot/i-went-in-i-closed-the-door-i-sat-down-on-the-bed-blackest-space/) [Maurice Blanchot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-blanchot/) > [“But this is the rule, and there is no way to free oneself of it: as soon as the thought has arisen, it must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-blanchot/but-this-is-the-rule-and-there-is-no-way-to-free-oneself-of-it-as/) [Maurice Blanchot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-blanchot/) > [The Journal is not essentially a confession, a story about oneself. It is a Memorial. What does the writer have to remember? Himself, who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-blanchot/the-journal-is-not-essentially-a-confession-a-story-about-oneself-it/) [Maurice Blanchot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-blanchot/) > [We can never put enough distance between ourselves and what we love. To think that God is, is still to think of him as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-blanchot/we-can-never-put-enough-distance-between-ourselves-and-what-we-love/) [Maurice Blanchot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-blanchot/) > [A writer never reads his work. For him, it is the unreadable, a secret, and he cannot remain face to face with it. A…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-blanchot/a-writer-never-reads-his-work-for-him-it-is-the-unreadable-a-secret/) [Maurice Blanchot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-blanchot/) > [Lovers of painting and lovers of music are people who openly display their preference like a delectable ailment that isolates them and makes them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-blanchot/lovers-of-painting-and-lovers-of-music-are-people-who-openly-display/) [Maurice Blanchot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-blanchot/) > [“When Kafka allows a friend to understand that he writes because otherwise he would go mad, he knows that writing is madness already, his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-blanchot/when-kafka-allows-a-friend-to-understand-that-he-writes-because/) [Maurice Blanchot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-blanchot/) > [“The anonymous puts the name in place, leaves it empty, as if the name were there only to let itself be passed through because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-blanchot/the-anonymous-puts-the-name-in-place-leaves-it-empty-as-if-the-name/) [Maurice Blanchot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-blanchot/) > [If nothing were substituted for everything, it would still be too much and too little.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-blanchot/if-nothing-were-substituted-for-everything-it-would-still-be-too-much/) [Maurice Blanchot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-blanchot/) [Explore all 42 Maurice Blanchot quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-blanchot/) ## 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": "Every artist is linked to a mistake with which he has a particular intimate relation. 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