--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: And no book, and possibly no painting…" description: "\"And no book, and possibly no painting, when it is finished, is ever exactly like the first dream of it.\" — Patricia Highsmith" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e22/patricia-highsmith-3982_art_and-no-book-and-possibly-no-painting-whe_1236783.jpg" --- # And no book, and possibly no painting, when it is… ![“And no book, and possibly no painting, when it is finished, is ever exactly like the first dream of it.” quote by Patricia Highsmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e22/patricia-highsmith-3982_art_and-no-book-and-possibly-no-painting-whe_1236783.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e22/patricia-highsmith-3982_art_and-no-book-and-possibly-no-painting-whe_1236783.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e22/patricia-highsmith-3982_art_and-no-book-and-possibly-no-painting-whe_1236783.jpg) > “And no book, and possibly no painting, when it is finished, is ever exactly like the first dream of it.” [Patricia Highsmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-highsmith/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Creative works often diverge from their original vision once completed, losing the initial spark of inspiration. **In simple terms:** Finished works differ from original ideas. Key Takeaway Accept change as part of creation. Themes creativity art expectation Mood reflective melancholic Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - writing - painting - film production - design projects Key Concepts artistic process ideal vs reality Questions to Reflect On - How do you reconcile the final product with your initial dream? - What compromises are acceptable in creative work? A Different Perspective Original vision may be impossible to recapture. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Dream](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dream/) [Dreams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dreams/) [Exactly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/exactly/) [Exactly Like](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/exactly-like/) [Finished](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/finished/) [Finished Exactly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/finished-exactly-3846383/) [Firsts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/firsts/) [Like Dream](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like-dream/) [Painting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/painting/) [Possibly Painting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/possibly-painting-3846384/) ## Related quotes > [What you have to do is disavow yourself from any sense other than ascendancy. 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One has to make Someone exactly life oneself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mr-perfect-ak/no-one-is-exactly-like-anyone-one-has-to-make-someone-exactly-life/) [Mr. Perfect Ak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mr-perfect-ak/) > [The guy who broke up with me... he was exactly like you, in the beginning. Charming, and nice. They're all like you in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-kleypas/the-guy-who-broke-up-with-me-he-was-exactly-like-you-in-the-beginning/) [Lisa Kleypas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-kleypas/) > [Paradise Is exactly like Where you are right now Only much much Better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-anderson/paradise-is-exactly-like-where-you-are-right-now-only-much-much-better/) [Laurie Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurie-anderson/) > [Nobody is exactly like you. Nobody has had your exact lived experience or has your mind or heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aimee-lou-wood/nobody-is-exactly-like-you-nobody-has-had-your-exact-lived-experience/) [Aimee Lou Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aimee-lou-wood/) > [“I want to be exactly like what I wanted to be and am not.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/i-want-to-be-exactly-like-what-i-wanted-to-be-and-am-not/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [You are exactly like Jesus when you are wearing his armor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-prince/you-are-exactly-like-jesus-when-you-are-wearing-his-armor/) [Joseph Prince](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-prince/) > [Everyone always says I'm a rapper, and that I'm exactly like Peaches and M.I.A. People just take any female artist and compare me to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/uffie/everyone-always-says-i-m-a-rapper-and-that-i-m-exactly-like-peaches/) [Uffie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/uffie/) > [I have two kids and they were by no means blank slates. One is exactly like me, one is exactly like my wife.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/curt-smith/i-have-two-kids-and-they-were-by-no-means-blank-slates-one-is-exactly/) [Curt Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/curt-smith/) > [“like to think that somewhere out there, on a planet exactly like ours, two people exactly like you and me made totally different choices…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/like-to-think-that-somewhere-out-there-on-a-planet-exactly-like-ours/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [What's great about 'Skins' is that the characters are exactly like people around you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-kaluuya/what-s-great-about-skins-is-that-the-characters-are-exactly-like/) [Daniel Kaluuya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-kaluuya/) > [I always tell people that I'll sound exactly like Alanis Morissette after I've had more boyfriends. I'll be just as anguished-sounding.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-branch/i-always-tell-people-that-i-ll-sound-exactly-like-alanis-morissette/) [Michelle Branch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-branch/) ## More by Patricia Highsmith > [“Thinking no more about it, he stepped off into that cool space, that fast descent to her, with nothing in his mind but a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-highsmith/thinking-no-more-about-it-he-stepped-off-into-that-cool-space-that/) [Patricia Highsmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-highsmith/) > [I didn't hang around films. I don't know if I'd ever seen Hitchcock's The Lady Vanishes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-highsmith/i-didn-t-hang-around-films-i-don-t-know-if-i-d-ever-seen-hitchcock-s/) [Patricia Highsmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-highsmith/) > [“I feel I stand in a desert with my hands outstretched, and you are raining down upon me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-highsmith/i-feel-i-stand-in-a-desert-with-my-hands-outstretched-and-you-are/) [Patricia Highsmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-highsmith/) > [One situation – maybe one alone – could drive me to murder: family life, togetherness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-highsmith/one-situation-maybe-one-alone-could-drive-me-to-murder-family-life/) [Patricia Highsmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-highsmith/) > [“He felt he was about to experience again some ancient, delicious childhood moment that the steam calliope's sour hollowness, the stitching hurdy-gurdy accompaniment, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-highsmith/he-felt-he-was-about-to-experience-again-some-ancient-delicious/) [Patricia Highsmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-highsmith/) > [“It was a kind of arrogance, perhaps, to believe so in one's destiny. But, on the other hand, who could be more genuinely humble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-highsmith/it-was-a-kind-of-arrogance-perhaps-to-believe-so-in-one-s-destiny-but/) [Patricia Highsmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-highsmith/) > [I should love to do a novel, about one abnormal character seeing present-day life, very ordinary life, yet arresting through it, abnormality, until at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-highsmith/i-should-love-to-do-a-novel-about-one-abnormal-character-seeing/) [Patricia Highsmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-highsmith/) > [I don't set the alarm to get up. I get up when I feel like it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-highsmith/i-don-t-set-the-alarm-to-get-up-i-get-up-when-i-feel-like-it/) [Patricia Highsmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-highsmith/) > [“Dusk was falling quickly. It was just after 7 P.M., and the month was October.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-highsmith/dusk-was-falling-quickly-it-was-just-after-7-p-m-and-the-month-was/) [Patricia Highsmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-highsmith/) > [“What chance combination of shadow and sound and his own thoughts had created it?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-highsmith/what-chance-combination-of-shadow-and-sound-and-his-own-thoughts-had/) [Patricia Highsmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-highsmith/) > [“Happiness was like a green vine spreading through her, stretching fine tendrils, bearing flowers through her flesh. She had a vision of a pale-white…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-highsmith/happiness-was-like-a-green-vine-spreading-through-her-stretching-fine/) [Patricia Highsmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-highsmith/) > [“That's exactly where you're wrong! Any kind of person can murder. Purely circumstances and not a thing to do with temperament! People get so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-highsmith/that-s-exactly-where-you-re-wrong-any-kind-of-person-can-murder/) [Patricia Highsmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-highsmith/) > [What was it to love someone, what was love exactly, and why did it end or not end? Those were the real questions, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-highsmith/what-was-it-to-love-someone-what-was-love-exactly-and-why-did-it-end/) [Patricia Highsmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-highsmith/) > [It always gets late with you. - Is that a compliment?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-highsmith/it-always-gets-late-with-you-is-that-a-compliment/) [Patricia Highsmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-highsmith/) > [“Writing is a craft and needs constant practice.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-highsmith/writing-is-a-craft-and-needs-constant-practice/) [Patricia Highsmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-highsmith/) [Explore all 115 Patricia Highsmith quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-highsmith/) ## 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. 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": "And no book, and possibly no painting, when it is finished, is ever exactly like the first dream of it.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Patricia Highsmith" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-highsmith/and-no-book-and-possibly-no-painting-when-it-is-finished-is-ever/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-highsmith/and-no-book-and-possibly-no-painting-when-it-is-finished-is-ever/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e22/patricia-highsmith-3982_art_and-no-book-and-possibly-no-painting-whe_1236783.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e22/patricia-highsmith-3982_art_and-no-book-and-possibly-no-painting-whe_1236783.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e22/patricia-highsmith-3982_art_and-no-book-and-possibly-no-painting-whe_1236783.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“And no book, and possibly no painting, when it is finished, is ever exactly like the first dream of it.” — Patricia Highsmith", "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": "Patricia Highsmith", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-highsmith/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "And no book, and possibly no...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-highsmith/and-no-book-and-possibly-no-painting-when-it-is-finished-is-ever/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-highsmith/and-no-book-and-possibly-no-painting-when-it-is-finished-is-ever/#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 } } ] } ```