--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Creativity doesn't flourish in an…" description: "\"Creativity doesn't flourish in an atmosphere of despotism, coercion and fear.\" — P. D. James" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/488/p-d-james-2-8190_atmosphere_creativity-doesn-t-flourish-in-an-atmosp_3130910.png" --- # Creativity doesn't flourish in an atmosphere of despotism… ![“Creativity doesn't flourish in an atmosphere of despotism, coercion and fear.” quote by P. D. James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/488/p-d-james-2-8190_atmosphere_creativity-doesn-t-flourish-in-an-atmosp_3130910.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/488/p-d-james-2-8190_atmosphere_creativity-doesn-t-flourish-in-an-atmosp_3130910.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/488/p-d-james-2-8190_atmosphere_creativity-doesn-t-flourish-in-an-atmosp_3130910.png) > “Creativity doesn't flourish in an atmosphere of despotism, coercion and fear.” [P. D. James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-d-james/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Creative work thrives in freedom, not under oppression or fear. **In simple terms:** Freedom fuels creativity. Key Takeaway Cultivate open environments. Themes creativity freedom oppression Mood inspirational thoughtful Type social philosophical When to use this quote - workplace - artistic projects - education Key Concepts psychology innovation Questions to Reflect On - How does fear affect your work? - What freedoms unlock your ideas? A Different Perspective Fear can still inspire some forms of creativity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Coercion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/coercion/) [Creativity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creativity/) [Despotism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/despotism/) [Fear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fear/) ## Related quotes > [“Business doesn’t flourish on chance pleasures.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-bio-moon/business-doesn-t-flourish-on-chance-pleasures/) [Fábio Moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-bio-moon/) > [Creativity doesn’t come from glancing quickly at your Twitter feed while in line at Starbucks. It comes from deep thought. It comes from voraciously…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-rogers/creativity-doesn-t-come-from-glancing-quickly-at-your-twitter-feed/) [Joshua Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-rogers/) > [I believe people may have a predisposition for artistic creativity. It doesn't mean they're going to make it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rita-dove/i-believe-people-may-have-a-predisposition-for-artistic-creativity-it/) [Rita Dove](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rita-dove/) > [Creativity doesn't just happen - you make it happen. Changing daily routines is one way to access creativity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nita-leland/creativity-doesn-t-just-happen-you-make-it-happen-changing-daily/) [Nita Leland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nita-leland/) > [Every single thing you see on-screen came out of somebody's creativity. It doesn't exist. Nature didn't deliver it to us. Everything had to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-katzenberg/every-single-thing-you-see-on-screen-came-out-of-somebody-s/) [Jeffrey Katzenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-katzenberg/) > [I’m not very creative” doesn’t work. There’s no such thing as creative people and non-creative people. There are only people who use their creativity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bren-brown/i-m-not-very-creative-doesn-t-work-there-s-no-such-thing-as-creative/) [Brené Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bren-brown/) > [Creativity itself doesn't care at all about results - the only thing it craves is the process. Learn to love the process and let…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-gilbert/creativity-itself-doesn-t-care-at-all-about-results-the-only-thing-it/) [Elizabeth Gilbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-gilbert/) > [Creativity doesn't follow titles. It just comes from where it comes from.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-catmull/creativity-doesn-t-follow-titles-it-just-comes-from-where-it-comes/) [Edwin Catmull](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-catmull/) > [(Japanese Government believes that if you have a big laboratory with all the latest equipment and good funding it will automatically lead to creativity.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/akio-morita/japanese-government-believes-that-if-you-have-a-big-laboratory-with/) [Akio Morita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/akio-morita/) > [There’s one thing that’s been 'learned' maybe from Tunisia and Egypt that I think is a mistake. And that is that the existing ruler…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-sharp/there-s-one-thing-that-s-been-learned-maybe-from-tunisia-and-egypt/) [Gene Sharp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-sharp/) > [The First Amendment exists to protect our religious liberty--to ensure that all Americans are able to seek out worship God with all our hearts,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-cruz/the-first-amendment-exists-to-protect-our-religious-liberty-to-ensure/) [Ted Cruz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-cruz/) > [“Therapy requires a collaborative working relationship in which both partners act on the basis of their implicit confidence in the value and efficacy of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-lewis-herman/therapy-requires-a-collaborative-working-relationship-in-which-both/) [Judith Lewis Herman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-lewis-herman/) > [“Love is not coercion, and the state is only an agent of coercion. It has no other function and can work no other way.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-mcdurmon/love-is-not-coercion-and-the-state-is-only-an-agent-of-coercion-it/) Joel McDurmon > [Coercion is the basis of every law in the universe,--human or divine. A law is not law without coercion behind it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-garfield/coercion-is-the-basis-of-every-law-in-the-universe-human-or-divine-a/) [James A. Garfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-garfield/) > [People forget that there is a big difference between coercion and persuasion. The idea that evangelism is coercive is nonsense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-dever/people-forget-that-there-is-a-big-difference-between-coercion-and/) [Mark Dever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-dever/) ## More by P. D. James > [What was so terrible about grief was not grief itself, but that one got over it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-d-james/what-was-so-terrible-about-grief-was-not-grief-itself-but-that-one/) [P. D. James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-d-james/) > [Work did bestow dignity, status, meaning. Wasn't that why people dreaded unemployment, why some men found retirement so traumatic?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-d-james/work-did-bestow-dignity-status-meaning-wasn-t-that-why-people-dreaded/) [P. D. James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-d-james/) > [If you are proposing to commit a sin it is as well to commit it with intelligence. Otherwise you are insulting God as well…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-d-james/if-you-are-proposing-to-commit-a-sin-it-is-as-well-to-commit-it-with/) [P. D. James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-d-james/) > [What the detective story is about is not murder but the restoration of order.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-d-james/what-the-detective-story-is-about-is-not-murder-but-the-restoration/) [P. D. James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-d-james/) > [It's possible to fight intolerance, stupidity and fanaticism when they come separately. When you get all three together it's probably wiser to get out,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-d-james/it-s-possible-to-fight-intolerance-stupidity-and-fanaticism-when-they/) [P. D. James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-d-james/) > [Death ... obliterates family resemblance as it does personality: there is no affinity between the living and the dead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-d-james/death-obliterates-family-resemblance-as-it-does-personality-there-is/) [P. D. James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-d-james/) > [Publishers don't nurse you; they buy and sell you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-d-james/publishers-don-t-nurse-you-they-buy-and-sell-you/) [P. D. James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-d-james/) > [No government can act in advance of the moral will of the people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-d-james/no-government-can-act-in-advance-of-the-moral-will-of-the-people/) [P. D. James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-d-james/) > [If all power corrupts, then a doctor, who literally holds life and death in his hands, must be at particular risk.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-d-james/if-all-power-corrupts-then-a-doctor-who-literally-holds-life-and/) [P. D. James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-d-james/) > [read widely, not in order to copy someone else's style, but to learn to appreciate and recognize good writing and to see how the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-d-james/read-widely-not-in-order-to-copy-someone-else-s-style-but-to-learn-to/) [P. D. James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-d-james/) > [In youth we take egregious risks because death has no reality for us. Youth goes caparisoned in immortality. It is only in middle age…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-d-james/in-youth-we-take-egregious-risks-because-death-has-no-reality-for-us/) [P. D. James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-d-james/) > [It is always easy to question the judgement of others in matters of which we may be imperfectly informed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-d-james/it-is-always-easy-to-question-the-judgement-of-others-in-matters-of/) [P. D. James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-d-james/) > [First-class travel, provided one hasn't to pay for it oneself, is the most insidiously addictive of life's luxuries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-d-james/first-class-travel-provided-one-hasn-t-to-pay-for-it-oneself-is-the/) [P. D. James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-d-james/) > [Can we ever break free of the devices and desires of our own hearts? Might not our conscience be telling us what we most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-d-james/can-we-ever-break-free-of-the-devices-and-desires-of-our-own-hearts/) [P. D. James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-d-james/) > [Metaphysical speculation is about as pointless as a discussion on the meaning of one's lungs. They're for breathing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-d-james/metaphysical-speculation-is-about-as-pointless-as-a-discussion-on-the/) [P. D. James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-d-james/) [Explore all 83 P. D. James quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-d-james/) ## More Atmosphere quotes > [“The global population of Earth are involved in the following corporate government experiments: The long term effects of - 1. Nuclear bomb fallout radiation.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-magee/the-global-population-of-earth-are-involved-in-the-following/) [Steven Magee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-magee/) > [If I had my brothers I think with just a little bit of the correct marketing, I'd like to be almost exclusively in small…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-bozzio/if-i-had-my-brothers-i-think-with-just-a-little-bit-of-the-correct/) [Terry Bozzio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-bozzio/) > [My mind rebels at stagnation. Give me problems, give me work, give me the most abstruse cryptogram, or the most intricate analysis, and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/my-mind-rebels-at-stagnation-give-me-problems-give-me-work-give-me/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [Man will not always stay on Earth; the pursuit of light and space will lead him to penetrate the bounds of the atmosphere, timidly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/konstantin-tsiolkovsky/man-will-not-always-stay-on-earth-the-pursuit-of-light-and-space-will/) [Konstantin Tsiolkovsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/konstantin-tsiolkovsky/) > [Pause before you get home and prepare your heart. A peaceful heart leads to a peaceful atmosphere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-burns/pause-before-you-get-home-and-prepare-your-heart-a-peaceful-heart/) [Jim Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-burns/) > [Sometimes a minute is really the difference between success and failure. There are times when you finish with ten seconds left, and one extra…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-symon/sometimes-a-minute-is-really-the-difference-between-success-and/) [Michael Symon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-symon/) > [Christianity does not oppose debauchery and uncontrollable passions and the like as much as it opposes... flat mediocrity, this nauseating atmosphere, this homey, civil…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/christianity-does-not-oppose-debauchery-and-uncontrollable-passions/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [Washington bureaucrats have classified the very air we exhale as a pollutant and have gone unchallenged in this incredible assertion. The logical consequence is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-paul/washington-bureaucrats-have-classified-the-very-air-we-exhale-as-a/) [Ron Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-paul/) > [“Atmosphere" is a massive song. A lot of people say it's their favorite Joy Division song, but it's not mine; it reminds me too…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-hook/atmosphere-is-a-massive-song-a-lot-of-people-say-it-s-their-favorite/) [Peter Hook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-hook/) > [Establish an atmosphere that energizes you. Some creative people flourish in confusion; others need to be free from interruption. Many prepare themselves for work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nita-leland/establish-an-atmosphere-that-energizes-you-some-creative-people/) [Nita Leland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nita-leland/) > [Each year we pump at least six billion tons of heat-trapping carbon into the innermost layer of our atmosphere, whose outer extent is only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-gelbspan/each-year-we-pump-at-least-six-billion-tons-of-heat-trapping-carbon/) [Ross Gelbspan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-gelbspan/) > [It was clear to me that the White House's solemn atmosphere would not civilize Trump. But the merciless nepotism with which he conducts politics,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-schulz/it-was-clear-to-me-that-the-white-house-s-solemn-atmosphere-would-not/) [Martin Schulz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-schulz/) > [“Bjerknes had come up with equations capable of describing the behavior of the atmosphere. The state of the atmosphere at any point could be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heidi-cullen/bjerknes-had-come-up-with-equations-capable-of-describing-the/) [Heidi Cullen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heidi-cullen/) > [What one thing does the world need most today-apart, that is, from the all-inclusive thing we call righteousness? Aren't you inclined to agree that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-c-forbes/what-one-thing-does-the-world-need-most-today-apart-that-is-from-the/) [B. C. Forbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-c-forbes/) > [ Jowett, in his day, did probably more than any other single man to let some fresh air into the exhausted atmosphere of the \[Oxford\]… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-jowett/jowett-in-his-day-did-probably-more-than-any-other-single-man-to-let/) [Benjamin Jowett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-jowett/) Browse all 1,572 Atmosphere quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Creativity doesn't flourish in an atmosphere of despotism, coercion and fear.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "P. D. 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