--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: An artist doesn't really create anything…" description: "\"An artist doesn't really create anything - he just rearranges what is already there.\" — Paramahansa Yogananda" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fbf/paramahansa-yogananda-556_art_an-artist-doesn-t-really-create-anything_2929427.jpg" --- # An artist doesn't really create anything - he just… ![“An artist doesn't really create anything - he just rearranges what is already there.” quote by Paramahansa Yogananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fbf/paramahansa-yogananda-556_art_an-artist-doesn-t-really-create-anything_2929427.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fbf/paramahansa-yogananda-556_art_an-artist-doesn-t-really-create-anything_2929427.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fbf/paramahansa-yogananda-556_art_an-artist-doesn-t-really-create-anything_2929427.jpg) > “An artist doesn't really create anything - he just rearranges what is already there.” [Paramahansa Yogananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paramahansa-yogananda/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Creation is seen as reorganization of existing elements rather than invention. **In simple terms:** Art is rearranging existing things. Key Takeaway Focus on reimagining what exists. Themes creativity art perception Mood inquisitive analytical Type artistic philosophical When to use this quote - design - writing - music composition - visual arts Key Concepts recontextualization innovation Questions to Reflect On - How can you transform the familiar? - What limits does this view place on originality? A Different Perspective Originality may still be valued by some. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Creativity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creativity/) [Funny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/funny/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) ## Related quotes > [Most modern fantasy just rearranges the furniture in Tolkien's attic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/most-modern-fantasy-just-rearranges-the-furniture-in-tolkien-s-attic/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [You see it's my fault, angels stabbing me inside. Nothing changes, just rearranges, for me this time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/korn/you-see-it-s-my-fault-angels-stabbing-me-inside-nothing-changes-just/) Korn > [Time heals nothing, it merely rearranges our memory.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-numan/time-heals-nothing-it-merely-rearranges-our-memory/) [Gary Numan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-numan/) > [I suppose an artist takes the elements of his life and rearranges them and then has them perceived by others as though they were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-simon/i-suppose-an-artist-takes-the-elements-of-his-life-and-rearranges/) [Paul Simon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-simon/) > [“Death almost always rearranges life, sometimes for the worse, many times for the better,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tiffany-baker/death-almost-always-rearranges-life-sometimes-for-the-worse-many/) [Tiffany Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tiffany-baker/) > [“I want to take my time, want to go slow and soft and look into his fucking eyes, all of it, because the universe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-green/i-want-to-take-my-time-want-to-go-slow-and-soft-and-look-into-his/) Anna Green > [It is only God who creates. 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If material poverty is to be avoided,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paramahansa-yogananda/possession-of-material-riches-without-inner-peace-is-like-dying-of/) [Paramahansa Yogananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paramahansa-yogananda/) > [“Physicians must carry on their work of healing through God’s laws as applied to matter.” But he extolled the superiority of mental therapy, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paramahansa-yogananda/physicians-must-carry-on-their-work-of-healing-through-god-s-laws-as/) [Paramahansa Yogananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paramahansa-yogananda/) > [If you have a strong mind and plant in it a firm resolve, you can change your destiny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paramahansa-yogananda/if-you-have-a-strong-mind-and-plant-in-it-a-firm-resolve-you-can/) [Paramahansa Yogananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paramahansa-yogananda/) [Explore all 466 Paramahansa Yogananda quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paramahansa-yogananda/) ## 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. 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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 doesn't really create anything - he just rearranges what is already there.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Paramahansa Yogananda" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paramahansa-yogananda/an-artist-doesn-t-really-create-anything-he-just-rearranges-what-is/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paramahansa-yogananda/an-artist-doesn-t-really-create-anything-he-just-rearranges-what-is/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fbf/paramahansa-yogananda-556_art_an-artist-doesn-t-really-create-anything_2929427.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fbf/paramahansa-yogananda-556_art_an-artist-doesn-t-really-create-anything_2929427.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fbf/paramahansa-yogananda-556_art_an-artist-doesn-t-really-create-anything_2929427.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“An artist doesn't really create anything - he just rearranges what is already there.” — Paramahansa Yogananda", "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": "Paramahansa Yogananda", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paramahansa-yogananda/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "An artist doesn't really create anything...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paramahansa-yogananda/an-artist-doesn-t-really-create-anything-he-just-rearranges-what-is/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paramahansa-yogananda/an-artist-doesn-t-really-create-anything-he-just-rearranges-what-is/#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 } } ] } ```