--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: An artist's duty is rather to stay…" description: "\"An artist's duty is rather to stay open-minded and in a state where he can receive information and inspiration. You always have to be ready for that li..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b4/nick-cave-1153_art_an-artist-s-duty-is-rather-to-stay-open_1712487.jpg" --- # An artist's duty is rather to stay open-minded and in a… ![“An artist's duty is rather to stay open-minded and in a state where he can receive information and inspiration. You always have to be ready for that little artistic Epiphany.” quote by Nick Cave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b4/nick-cave-1153_art_an-artist-s-duty-is-rather-to-stay-open_1712487.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b4/nick-cave-1153_art_an-artist-s-duty-is-rather-to-stay-open_1712487.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b4/nick-cave-1153_art_an-artist-s-duty-is-rather-to-stay-open_1712487.jpg) > “An artist's duty is rather to stay open-minded and in a state where he can receive information and inspiration. You always have to be ready for that little artistic Epiphany.” [Nick Cave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-cave/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Artists should stay open to inspiration, ready for sudden creative insights. **In simple terms:** Stay receptive to artistic moments. Key Takeaway Cultivate openness for epiphanies. Themes creativity openness inspiration Mood reflective creative Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - writing - painting - music composition - design - teaching Key Concepts artistic process mindfulness spontaneity Questions to Reflect On - How do you capture fleeting ideas? - What practices keep you ready for inspiration? A Different Perspective Too much openness can dilute focus. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Artistic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artistic/) [Duty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/duty/) [Epiphany](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/epiphany/) [Inspiration](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspiration/) [Open minded](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/open-minded/) ## Related quotes > [“Inspiration is everywhere. If you’re ready to appreciate it, an ant can be one of the wonders of the universe.1 —Author Unknown”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-scheinfeld/inspiration-is-everywhere-if-you-re-ready-to-appreciate-it-an-ant-can/) Robert Scheinfeld > [I'm not a politician. I don't know how to solve the problems of the world. But as an artist, I have one duty: to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marjane-satrapi/i-m-not-a-politician-i-don-t-know-how-to-solve-the-problems-of-the/) [Marjane Satrapi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marjane-satrapi/) > [You can't help it. An artist's duty, as far as I'm concerned, is to reflect the times.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-simone/you-can-t-help-it-an-artist-s-duty-as-far-as-i-m-concerned-is-to/) [Nina Simone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-simone/) > [“It was the artist’s duty to find the appropriate objects, and the audience’s job to decipher meaning. If the piece failed to work, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-sedaris/it-was-the-artist-s-duty-to-find-the-appropriate-objects-and-the/) [David Sedaris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-sedaris/) > [The artist's duty to himself is a combination of immense responsibility and immense irresponsibility. I think those two interlock.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-cronenberg/the-artist-s-duty-to-himself-is-a-combination-of-immense/) [David Cronenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-cronenberg/) > [“It is an artist's duty to reflect the times.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-simone/it-is-an-artist-s-duty-to-reflect-the-times/) [Nina Simone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-simone/) > [“A writer is lost when he grows interested in such questions as 'what is art?' and 'what is an artist's duty?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/a-writer-is-lost-when-he-grows-interested-in-such-questions-as-what/) [Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/) > [The artist has a duty to be calm. He has no right to show his emotion, his involvement, to go pouring it all out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrei-tarkovsky/the-artist-has-a-duty-to-be-calm-he-has-no-right-to-show-his-emotion/) [Andrei Tarkovsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrei-tarkovsky/) > [It's an artist's duty to reflect the times in which we live.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-s-an-artist-s-duty-to-reflect-the-times-in-which-we-live/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If the function of the artist is to see, the first duty of the critic is to understand what the artist saw.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-e-h-macdonald/if-the-function-of-the-artist-is-to-see-the-first-duty-of-the-critic/) [J. E. H. MacDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-e-h-macdonald/) > [It is an artist's duty to be on the wrong end of the see-saw.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-childish/it-is-an-artist-s-duty-to-be-on-the-wrong-end-of-the-see-saw/) [Billy Childish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-childish/) > [I think carrying moral baggage is very dangerous for an artist. If you have a duty, it's to be true and not cover up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bono/i-think-carrying-moral-baggage-is-very-dangerous-for-an-artist-if-you/) [Bono](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bono/) > [There is a Nina Simone quote, 'It is an artist's duty to reflect the times.' This quote is everything to me and I believe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raye/there-is-a-nina-simone-quote-it-is-an-artist-s-duty-to-reflect-the/) [Raye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raye/) > [It's the artist's duty to have an artist's life, somehow to obtain time and freedom and then to muster the desire and discipline to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephanie-mills/it-s-the-artist-s-duty-to-have-an-artist-s-life-somehow-to-obtain/) [Stephanie Mills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephanie-mills/) > [You know, an idea is just an idea. There seems to... the kind of epiphanies that you have, like the little sudden bursts of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-cave/you-know-an-idea-is-just-an-idea-there-seems-to-the-kind-of/) [Nick Cave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-cave/) ## More by Nick Cave > [Texting is apocalyptic on some level. It's a reduction of things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-cave/texting-is-apocalyptic-on-some-level-it-s-a-reduction-of-things/) [Nick Cave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-cave/) > [“And I know why our friendship must be kept a secret. Or they will kill You like they killed You in the Bible. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-cave/and-i-know-why-our-friendship-must-be-kept-a-secret-or-they-will-kill/) [Nick Cave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-cave/) > [I want to write songs that are so sad, the kind of sad where you take someone's little finger and break it in three…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-cave/i-want-to-write-songs-that-are-so-sad-the-kind-of-sad-where-you-take/) [Nick Cave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-cave/) > [“Through these days Bunny made increasingly frequent and protracted visits to the bathroom, beating off with a single-minded savagery intense even by Bunny's standards.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-cave/through-these-days-bunny-made-increasingly-frequent-and-protracted/) [Nick Cave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-cave/) > [Personally I find the story of Christ incredibly moving.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-cave/personally-i-find-the-story-of-christ-incredibly-moving/) [Nick Cave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-cave/) > [ That's what we \[outsiders\] feel America is really about - the kind of crazed ravings of the Christian right - when it's probably something… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-cave/that-s-what-we-outsiders-feel-america-is-really-about-the-kind-of/) [Nick Cave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-cave/) > [“My relationship with my muse is a delicate one at the best of times and I feel that it is my duty to protect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-cave/my-relationship-with-my-muse-is-a-delicate-one-at-the-best-of-times/) [Nick Cave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-cave/) > [I'm kind of old-school and love nothing more than sitting, opening a book, and reading it. But I also love listening to audio books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-cave/i-m-kind-of-old-school-and-love-nothing-more-than-sitting-opening-a/) [Nick Cave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-cave/) > [Early on I realized when you write a song about someone, it flatters them on some level, and gives you a lot of room…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-cave/early-on-i-realized-when-you-write-a-song-about-someone-it-flatters/) [Nick Cave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-cave/) > [My father was a teacher and my mother also worked in the school, so the family has a background in education.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-cave/my-father-was-a-teacher-and-my-mother-also-worked-in-the-school-so/) [Nick Cave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-cave/) > [I think it's an essential fact for any performer or artist to fail as poignantly as they can succeed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-cave/i-think-it-s-an-essential-fact-for-any-performer-or-artist-to-fail-as/) [Nick Cave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-cave/) > [To my undying shame, I do read reviews. I don't read them all, but I like to get some kind of idea how things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-cave/to-my-undying-shame-i-do-read-reviews-i-don-t-read-them-all-but-i/) [Nick Cave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-cave/) > [Brother, be a brother, fill this tiny cup of mine. And please, sir, make it whiskey: I have no head for wine!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-cave/brother-be-a-brother-fill-this-tiny-cup-of-mine-and-please-sir-make/) [Nick Cave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-cave/) > [When you've been initiated, you can stand in the world differently. And I think it is up to all of us, we can have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-cave/when-you-ve-been-initiated-you-can-stand-in-the-world-differently-and/) [Nick Cave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-cave/) > [Polly Jean, I love you. I love the texture of your skin, the taste of your saliva, the softness of your ears. I love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-cave/polly-jean-i-love-you-i-love-the-texture-of-your-skin-the-taste-of/) [Nick Cave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-cave/) [Explore all 280 Nick Cave quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-cave/) ## 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": "An artist's duty is rather to stay open-minded and in a state where he can receive information and inspiration. 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