--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Art imitates nature not in its effects as…" description: "\"Art imitates nature not in its effects as such, but in its causes, in its 'manner,' in its process, which are nothing but a participation in and a deri..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/958/paul-claudel-22534_art_art-imitates-nature-not-in-its-effects-a_2809965.png" --- # Art imitates nature not in its effects as such, but in its… ![“Art imitates nature not in its effects as such, but in its causes, in its 'manner,' in its process, which are nothing but a participation in and a derivation of actual objects, of the Art of God himself.” quote by Paul Claudel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/958/paul-claudel-22534_art_art-imitates-nature-not-in-its-effects-a_2809965.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/958/paul-claudel-22534_art_art-imitates-nature-not-in-its-effects-a_2809965.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/958/paul-claudel-22534_art_art-imitates-nature-not-in-its-effects-a_2809965.png) > “Art imitates nature not in its effects as such, but in its causes, in its 'manner,' in its process, which are nothing but a participation in and a derivation of actual objects, of the Art of God himself.” [Paul Claudel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-claudel/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Art reflects nature's underlying causes and processes, participating in the divine creation. **In simple terms:** Art mirrors nature's deeper mechanisms. Key Takeaway Seek nature's process in creativity. Themes art philosophy spirituality Mood thoughtful inquisitive Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - painting - sculpture - music composition - literary criticism Key Concepts ontology participation derivation Questions to Reflect On - How does nature inspire your work? - What does 'participation' mean in art? A Different Perspective Interpretation varies across cultures and eras. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Art Imitates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art-imitates-268739/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Causes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/causes/) [Causes Manner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/causes-manner-3513711/) [Effects](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/effects/) [Imitates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imitates/) [Imitates Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imitates-nature-2703019/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Objects](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/objects/) [Objects Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/objects-art-2271073/) [Participation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/participation/) [Process](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/process/) ## Related quotes > [Art imitates Nature in this; not to dare is to dwindle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/art-imitates-nature-in-this-not-to-dare-is-to-dwindle/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [Art imitates Nature, and necessity is the mother of invention](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-franck/art-imitates-nature-and-necessity-is-the-mother-of-invention/) [Richard Franck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-franck/) > [Art not only imitates nature, but also completes its deficiencies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/art-not-only-imitates-nature-but-also-completes-its-deficiencies/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [Life imitates art far more than art imitates Life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/life-imitates-art-far-more-than-art-imitates-life/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > ["Art Imitates life," of course, is that phrase by Oscar Wilde. I called that song "Art Imitates Life" because Oh No was in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/talib-kweli/art-imitates-life-of-course-is-that-phrase-by-oscar-wilde-i-called/) [Talib Kweli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/talib-kweli/) > [Art imitates life. Life imitates high school.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-holland/art-imitates-life-life-imitates-high-school/) [Brad Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-holland/) > [Art imitates life. It's definitely helpful to feel that way. You feel that way when you're leading a show and you're on a set.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-rose/art-imitates-life-it-s-definitely-helpful-to-feel-that-way-you-feel/) [Emily Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-rose/) > [It's very interesting how life imitates art, and art imitates life; I find, whenever I read scenes of some magnitude, I'm like, 'Oh, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-moennig/it-s-very-interesting-how-life-imitates-art-and-art-imitates-life-i/) [Katherine Moennig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-moennig/) > [Sometimes art imitates life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-douglas/sometimes-art-imitates-life/) [Michael Douglas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-douglas/) > [“I am for an art that imitates the human, that is comic, if necessary, or violent, or whatever is necessary. I am for an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claes-oldenburg/i-am-for-an-art-that-imitates-the-human-that-is-comic-if-necessary-or/) [Claes Oldenburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claes-oldenburg/) > [I'm an actor, and I keep observing people and their reactions to figure out what they are thinking. There's only so much you can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/preity-zinta/i-m-an-actor-and-i-keep-observing-people-and-their-reactions-to/) [Preity Zinta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/preity-zinta/) > [To someone like Zurbaran, who paints still lifes, lemons and pears are the objects of art. But to the electronics engineer who works on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-virilio/to-someone-like-zurbaran-who-paints-still-lifes-lemons-and-pears-are/) [Paul Virilio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-virilio/) > [“For me, meaning of design is to give soul to objects by Art. Art sometimes need to be in every part of daily life,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baris-gencel/for-me-meaning-of-design-is-to-give-soul-to-objects-by-art-art/) [Baris Gencel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baris-gencel/) > [The object of science is knowledge; the objects of art are works. In art, truth is the means to an end; in science, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-whewell/the-object-of-science-is-knowledge-the-objects-of-art-are-works-in/) [William Whewell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-whewell/) > [Good painter imitates nature, bad ones spews it up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-cervantes/good-painter-imitates-nature-bad-ones-spews-it-up/) [Miguel de Cervantes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-cervantes/) ## More by Paul Claudel > [How amazing it is to be alive Anyone who lives and breathes and puts both feet on the ground, What possible reason could he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-claudel/how-amazing-it-is-to-be-alive-anyone-who-lives-and-breathes-and-puts/) [Paul Claudel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-claudel/) > [In a word, poetry can not exist without emotion, or, if you will, without a movement of the soul which regulates the words.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-claudel/in-a-word-poetry-can-not-exist-without-emotion-or-if-you-will-without/) [Paul Claudel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-claudel/) > [We must not seek happiness in peace, but in conflict.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-claudel/we-must-not-seek-happiness-in-peace-but-in-conflict/) [Paul Claudel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-claudel/) > [The priest has just baptized you a Christian with water; and I baptize you a Frenchman, daring child, with a dewdrop of champagne on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-claudel/the-priest-has-just-baptized-you-a-christian-with-water-and-i-baptize/) [Paul Claudel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-claudel/) > [You explain nothing, O poet, but thanks to you all things become explicable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-claudel/you-explain-nothing-o-poet-but-thanks-to-you-all-things-become/) [Paul Claudel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-claudel/) > [It is fortunate that diplomats have long noses since they usually cannot see beyond them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-claudel/it-is-fortunate-that-diplomats-have-long-noses-since-they-usually/) [Paul Claudel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-claudel/) > [Jesus did not come to explain away suffering or remove it. He came to fill it with His Presence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-claudel/jesus-did-not-come-to-explain-away-suffering-or-remove-it-he-came-to/) [Paul Claudel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-claudel/) > [Doctor, do you think it could have been the sausage?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-claudel/doctor-do-you-think-it-could-have-been-the-sausage/) [Paul Claudel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-claudel/) > [Eighty years old! No eyes left, no ears, no teeth, no legs, no wind! And when all is said and done, how astonishingly well…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-claudel/eighty-years-old-no-eyes-left-no-ears-no-teeth-no-legs-no-wind-and/) [Paul Claudel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-claudel/) > [While she was working on Maturity, ... M. Rodin is well aware that people have imagined that he did my sculpture why then do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-claudel/while-she-was-working-on-maturity-m-rodin-is-well-aware-that-people/) [Paul Claudel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-claudel/) > [Every birth is a getting to know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-claudel/every-birth-is-a-getting-to-know/) [Paul Claudel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-claudel/) > [Truth has nothing to do with the number of people it convinces.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-claudel/truth-has-nothing-to-do-with-the-number-of-people-it-convinces/) [Paul Claudel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-claudel/) > [Open your eyes! The world is still intact; it is as pristine as it was on the first day, as fresh as milk!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-claudel/open-your-eyes-the-world-is-still-intact-it-is-as-pristine-as-it-was/) [Paul Claudel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-claudel/) > [The words I use Are everyday words and yet are not the same! You will find no rhymes in my verse, no magic. There…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-claudel/the-words-i-use-are-everyday-words-and-yet-are-not-the-same-you-will/) [Paul Claudel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-claudel/) > [Now I know that at the heart of the universe is joy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-claudel/now-i-know-that-at-the-heart-of-the-universe-is-joy/) [Paul Claudel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-claudel/) [Explore all 23 Paul Claudel quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-claudel/) ## 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": "Art imitates nature not in its effects as such, but in its causes, in its 'manner,' in its process, which are nothing but a participation in and a derivation of actual objects, of the Art of God himself.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Paul Claudel" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-claudel/art-imitates-nature-not-in-its-effects-as-such-but-in-its-causes-in/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-claudel/art-imitates-nature-not-in-its-effects-as-such-but-in-its-causes-in/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/958/paul-claudel-22534_art_art-imitates-nature-not-in-its-effects-a_2809965.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/958/paul-claudel-22534_art_art-imitates-nature-not-in-its-effects-a_2809965.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/958/paul-claudel-22534_art_art-imitates-nature-not-in-its-effects-a_2809965.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Art imitates nature not in its effects as such, but in its causes, in its 'manner,' in its process, which…” — Paul Claudel", "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": "Paul Claudel", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-claudel/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Art imitates nature not in its...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-claudel/art-imitates-nature-not-in-its-effects-as-such-but-in-its-causes-in/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-claudel/art-imitates-nature-not-in-its-effects-as-such-but-in-its-causes-in/#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 } } ] } ```