--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: An artist needs to become familiar with…" description: "\"An artist needs to become familiar with that which is most hidden from the self by the self. For this one thing which one fears to know is often the dr..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/89a/pat-steir-31386_art_an-artist-needs-to-become-familiar-with_3010439.jpg" --- # An artist needs to become familiar with that which is most… ![“An artist needs to become familiar with that which is most hidden from the self by the self. For this one thing which one fears to know is often the driving force in one's life. These recognitions seen in art are the difference between decent, extraordinary and great.” quote by Pat Steir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/89a/pat-steir-31386_art_an-artist-needs-to-become-familiar-with_3010439.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/89a/pat-steir-31386_art_an-artist-needs-to-become-familiar-with_3010439.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/89a/pat-steir-31386_art_an-artist-needs-to-become-familiar-with_3010439.jpg) > “An artist needs to become familiar with that which is most hidden from the self by the self. For this one thing which one fears to know is often the driving force in one's life. These recognitions seen in art are the difference between decent, extraordinary and great.” [Pat Steir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-steir/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Artists must confront hidden aspects of themselves; fear often fuels creative drive, distinguishing ordinary from great art. **In simple terms:** Facing inner hidden drives artistic excellence. Key Takeaway Explore hidden fears for art. Themes self‑discovery creativity fear Mood introspective creative Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - painting - writing - music - design Key Concepts psychology artistic growth Questions to Reflect On - What hidden fear fuels your work? - How to balance fear with confidence? A Different Perspective Focusing on hidden self can cause paralysis. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Art Difference](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art-difference-355009/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Artist Needs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist-needs-878458/) [Decent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decent/) [Differences](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/differences/) [Driving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/driving/) [Driving force](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/driving-force/) [Extraordinary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/extraordinary/) [Familiar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/familiar/) [Force](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/force/) [Hidden Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hidden-self-1128532/) [Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows/) [Needs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/needs/) [One thing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/one-thing/) [Recognition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/recognition/) [Recognitions Seen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/recognitions-seen-4824329/) [Seen Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seen-art-974999/) [Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self/) ## Related quotes > [I see things like they've never been seen before. 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Hidden…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-mamerto/we-do-not-know-who-we-are-until-we-take-time-to-discover-who-we-can/) [Edwin Mamerto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-mamerto/) > [“The distinction between acquisition and discovery may seem like hairsplitting, but it is important to see that . . . the contemplative discipline of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-laird/the-distinction-between-acquisition-and-discovery-may-seem-like/) [Martin Laird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-laird/) > [“There is no realization of ‘who am I?’ ‘One’ is trying to remain hidden from his ‘own Self’. He knows all that is of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dada-bhagwan/there-is-no-realization-of-who-am-i-one-is-trying-to-remain-hidden/) [Dada Bhagwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dada-bhagwan/) > [“Under this swarm of waspish self-inquiries he began to feel sorry for himself - a brilliant man trapped, a Byron tamed; and his mind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/under-this-swarm-of-waspish-self-inquiries-he-began-to-feel-sorry-for/) [John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/) > [“Each one, in my impassioned interior conversations, granted me some aspect of my most dearly held, most fiercely hidden heart’s desires. Life, art, motherhood.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claire-messud/each-one-in-my-impassioned-interior-conversations-granted-me-some/) [Claire Messud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claire-messud/) > [Science and psychology have isolated the one prime cause for success or failure in life. It is the hidden self-image you have of yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-proctor/science-and-psychology-have-isolated-the-one-prime-cause-for-success/) [Bob Proctor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-proctor/) > [The artist needs no religion beyond his work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elbert-hubbard/the-artist-needs-no-religion-beyond-his-work/) [Elbert Hubbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elbert-hubbard/) ## More by Pat Steir > [Art as a political gesture is committed to making something beautiful, and then understanding what beauty is in your own time, because what we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-steir/art-as-a-political-gesture-is-committed-to-making-something-beautiful/) [Pat Steir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-steir/) > [Art is the most important way of recording history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-steir/art-is-the-most-important-way-of-recording-history/) [Pat Steir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-steir/) > [Every piece of art will be if it's lucky enough to be dug up, if there's anything to dig up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-steir/every-piece-of-art-will-be-if-it-s-lucky-enough-to-be-dug-up-if-there/) [Pat Steir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-steir/) > [Art is a way you discover the past, and so it brings the past into the present and the future. That's why we have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-steir/art-is-a-way-you-discover-the-past-and-so-it-brings-the-past-into-the/) [Pat Steir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-steir/) > [I have my moods, but I can always see something beautiful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-steir/i-have-my-moods-but-i-can-always-see-something-beautiful/) [Pat Steir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-steir/) > [The spiritual in my art is giving up control. My paintings are based on what I can do, and what I can do is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-steir/the-spiritual-in-my-art-is-giving-up-control-my-paintings-are-based/) [Pat Steir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-steir/) > [I consider my work non-objective and I think abstract is an abstraction of something, like a landscape. Abstraction means something is abstracted. It relates…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-steir/i-consider-my-work-non-objective-and-i-think-abstract-is-an/) [Pat Steir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-steir/) > [To handle paint the way Pollock did, you need the muscularity of a ballet dancer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-steir/to-handle-paint-the-way-pollock-did-you-need-the-muscularity-of-a/) [Pat Steir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-steir/) > [Everything you do on Earth is political.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-steir/everything-you-do-on-earth-is-political/) [Pat Steir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-steir/) > [Painting is an object, but it's also a voice. I don't see them as objects; I see them as voices.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-steir/painting-is-an-object-but-it-s-also-a-voice-i-don-t-see-them-as/) [Pat Steir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-steir/) > [When you see the holy halo around the holy heads on holy paintings - the halo is a bright light so you can't see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-steir/when-you-see-the-holy-halo-around-the-holy-heads-on-holy-paintings/) [Pat Steir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-steir/) > [We live in a time when people are afraid of beauty, because beauty passes; you can't hang on to it. And even if you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-steir/we-live-in-a-time-when-people-are-afraid-of-beauty-because-beauty/) [Pat Steir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-steir/) > [I want art to affect the viewer and for the viewer to take it away to enhance, embrace, and elevate life. That's the spiritual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-steir/i-want-art-to-affect-the-viewer-and-for-the-viewer-to-take-it-away-to/) [Pat Steir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-steir/) > [I have a friend who says a beautiful painting can cure headaches, but I want it to cure a little bit more! I want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-steir/i-have-a-friend-who-says-a-beautiful-painting-can-cure-headaches-but/) [Pat Steir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-steir/) > [I'm purposeless. I'm making art because I want you to look at that painting and I want it to affect you in some way,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-steir/i-m-purposeless-i-m-making-art-because-i-want-you-to-look-at-that/) [Pat Steir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-steir/) [Explore all 16 Pat Steir quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-steir/) ## 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](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taf-teh/) > [The house has to serve comfort. 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