--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The goal of all my work is essentially…" description: "\"The goal of all my work is essentially the same: demonstrating that magic is real or that reality is magic, by paying attention, and finding compensati..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/36e/peter-blegvad-38080_attention_the-goal-of-all-my-work-is-essentially-t_3185054.jpg" --- # The goal of all my work is essentially the same… ![“The goal of all my work is essentially the same: demonstrating that magic is real or that reality is magic, by paying attention, and finding compensation or consolation for what is essentially a tragic existence.” quote by Peter Blegvad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/36e/peter-blegvad-38080_attention_the-goal-of-all-my-work-is-essentially-t_3185054.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/36e/peter-blegvad-38080_attention_the-goal-of-all-my-work-is-essentially-t_3185054.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/36e/peter-blegvad-38080_attention_the-goal-of-all-my-work-is-essentially-t_3185054.jpg) > “The goal of all my work is essentially the same: demonstrating that magic is real or that reality is magic, by paying attention, and finding compensation or consolation for what is essentially a tragic existence.” [Peter Blegvad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-blegvad/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The author seeks to prove that magic and reality are interchangeable by focusing attention and finding solace in life's tragedy. **In simple terms:** Magic and reality are two sides of the same coin, found through mindful attention. Key Takeaway Seek meaning through attentive awareness. Themes philosophy existentialism art magic reality Mood contemplative poetic Type reflective inspirational When to use this quote - creative writing - personal reflection - spiritual practice Key Concepts subjectivity meaning-making consolation Questions to Reflect On - How does attentive focus change your perception of tragedy? - Can magic be defined objectively? A Different Perspective The claim may be overly abstract for pragmatic problem‑solving. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Attention](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/attention/) [Compensation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/compensation/) [Consolation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consolation/) [Existence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existence/) [Goal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/goal/) [Goals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/goals/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Magic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/magic/) [Paying Attention](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/paying-attention/) [Reality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reality/) [Tragic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tragic/) ## Related quotes > [“Sometimes things happen in life that at the time seem one way, but in reality it’s the magic recharging so you can find it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/k-bromberg/sometimes-things-happen-in-life-that-at-the-time-seem-one-way-but-in/) [K. Bromberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/k-bromberg/) > [A dream doesn't become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-dream-doesn-t-become-reality-through-magic-it-takes-sweat/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Reality is a magic lady, sometimes very mysterious. To me she is very passionate. She is real not only when she is awake, walking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eduardo-galeano/reality-is-a-magic-lady-sometimes-very-mysterious-to-me-she-is-very/) [Eduardo Galeano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eduardo-galeano/) > [Look, I'm a coach, I'm not Harry Potter. He is magical, but in reality there is no magic. Magic is fiction and football is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-mourinho/look-i-m-a-coach-i-m-not-harry-potter-he-is-magical-but-in-reality/) [Jose Mourinho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-mourinho/) > [For the wise men of old the cardinal problem had been how to conform the soul to reality. For magic and applied science alike…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/for-the-wise-men-of-old-the-cardinal-problem-had-been-how-to-conform/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [“I knew what she was asking, of course. I'd been asking it myself a moment before. But I wasn't sure how you went from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-westerfeld/i-knew-what-she-was-asking-of-course-i-d-been-asking-it-myself-a/) [Scott Westerfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-westerfeld/) > [Dreams don't become reality through magic or by only dreaming. It takes courage, sweat, determination and hard work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anurag-prakash-ray/dreams-don-t-become-reality-through-magic-or-by-only-dreaming-it/) [Anurag Prakash Ray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anurag-prakash-ray/) > [The realists do not take the photograph for a 'copy' of reality, but for an emanation of past reality, a magic, not an art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/the-realists-do-not-take-the-photograph-for-a-copy-of-reality-but-for/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [A dream doesn't become reality through magic; it takes a lot of hard work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ozwald-boateng/a-dream-doesn-t-become-reality-through-magic-it-takes-a-lot-of-hard/) [Ozwald Boateng](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ozwald-boateng/) > [Science is a way of talking about the universe in words that bind it to a common reality. Magic is a method of talking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/science-is-a-way-of-talking-about-the-universe-in-words-that-bind-it/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [“A dream doesn't become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work.-Colin Powell”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-powell/a-dream-doesn-t-become-reality-through-magic-it-takes-sweat-2/) [Colin Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-powell/) > [Once we meet our children, even for moments, in a place of "I don't know," of relinquished authority, we return to the realms of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arjuna-ardagh/once-we-meet-our-children-even-for-moments-in-a-place-of-i-don-t-know/) [Arjuna Ardagh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arjuna-ardagh/) > [Your touch is like a magic ~ for real](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miss-leto/your-touch-is-like-a-magic-for-real/) [Miss Leto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miss-leto/) > [Photographs trade simultaneously on the prestige of art and the magic of the real.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/photographs-trade-simultaneously-on-the-prestige-of-art-and-the-magic/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [You build up a world of magic, because your real life is tragic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-build-up-a-world-of-magic-because-your-real-life-is-tragic/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Peter Blegvad > [I'm not a visionary, but I've spent half my life drawing things Imagined, Remembered, and Observed, comparing the differences between them, and my study…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-blegvad/i-m-not-a-visionary-but-i-ve-spent-half-my-life-drawing-things/) [Peter Blegvad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-blegvad/) > [My ignorance would require a volume to itself. Between its covers would be preserved a record of the spurious model of all creation I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-blegvad/my-ignorance-would-require-a-volume-to-itself-between-its-covers/) [Peter Blegvad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-blegvad/) > [Anyone who grew up in the psychedelic '60s probably experienced their share of hypnagogic fireworks. Just as sex got me hooked on anatomy, so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-blegvad/anyone-who-grew-up-in-the-psychedelic-60s-probably-experienced-their/) [Peter Blegvad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-blegvad/) > [One of the beauties of working in radio is the way a whole setting can be richly evoked simply by the addition to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-blegvad/one-of-the-beauties-of-working-in-radio-is-the-way-a-whole-setting/) [Peter Blegvad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-blegvad/) > [For decades I'd flit from drawing table to typewriter to guitar with no sense of strain or contradiction. They all exercised the same psychic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-blegvad/for-decades-i-d-flit-from-drawing-table-to-typewriter-to-guitar-with/) [Peter Blegvad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-blegvad/) > [I've written a lot of wordy, erudite, pretentious songs, but believe it or not, I'm usually doing my damnedest to resist the temptation to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-blegvad/i-ve-written-a-lot-of-wordy-erudite-pretentious-songs-but-believe-it/) [Peter Blegvad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-blegvad/) > [I remember Bob Dylan saying in an interview that at a certain point he'd had to learn to do consciously what he'd previously done…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-blegvad/i-remember-bob-dylan-saying-in-an-interview-that-at-a-certain-point/) [Peter Blegvad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-blegvad/) > [I'd done a drawing of the model using only peripheral vision, looking at a spot on the wall to the right of where she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-blegvad/i-d-done-a-drawing-of-the-model-using-only-peripheral-vision-looking/) [Peter Blegvad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-blegvad/) > [I wanted to be a poet and/or an artist, but I was very lazy (frightened of failure, I guess) and drank too much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-blegvad/i-wanted-to-be-a-poet-and-or-an-artist-but-i-was-very-lazy-frightened/) [Peter Blegvad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-blegvad/) > [Some songs seem to achieve the quality of a geometric object - a ball, box, or cone - and I don't mess with 'em.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-blegvad/some-songs-seem-to-achieve-the-quality-of-a-geometric-object-a-ball/) [Peter Blegvad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-blegvad/) > [Songs came first. I started out in 1965 trying to copy the Beatles, Bob Dylan, and the Stones, like most kids I knew. I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-blegvad/songs-came-first-i-started-out-in-1965-trying-to-copy-the-beatles-bob/) [Peter Blegvad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-blegvad/) [Explore all 12 Peter Blegvad quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-blegvad/) ## More Attention quotes > [It appears to me that one great cause of our difference in opinion on subjects which we often discuss is that you have always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-ricardo/it-appears-to-me-that-one-great-cause-of-our-difference-in-opinion-on/) [David Ricardo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-ricardo/) > [People pay far too much attention to the television and they're quite literal in some ways. At the beginning, when I was playing very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ardal-o-hanlon/people-pay-far-too-much-attention-to-the-television-and-they-re-quite/) [Ardal O'Hanlon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ardal-o-hanlon/) > [Television, radio, social media. The 24/7 news cycle plows forward mercilessly on our desks, in our cars and in our pockets. Thousands and thousands…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-prince/television-radio-social-media-the-24-7-news-cycle-plows-forward/) [Joseph Prince](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-prince/) > [By making conscious choices in our behavior and where we focus our attention, we can transform our experience of our body, decrease our biological…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/by-making-conscious-choices-in-our-behavior-and-where-we-focus-our/) [Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/) > [Our inventions are wont to be pretty toys, which distract our attention from serious things. They are but improved means to an unimproved end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/our-inventions-are-wont-to-be-pretty-toys-which-distract-our/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [What people don't normally know about us is the hustle is very real, and it's sorely driven a lot by how we consider ourselves.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lzzy-hale/what-people-don-t-normally-know-about-us-is-the-hustle-is-very-real/) [Lzzy Hale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lzzy-hale/) > [For me, the term "psychotherapy" is limiting. It implies that we work with mind and emotions, but excludes the body and pays scant attention…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jed-diamond/for-me-the-term-psychotherapy-is-limiting-it-implies-that-we-work/) [Jed Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jed-diamond/) > [When you approach something to photograph it, first be still with yourself until the object of your attention affirms your presence. Then don't leave…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/minor-white/when-you-approach-something-to-photograph-it-first-be-still-with/) [Minor White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/minor-white/) > [I'm writing about real things. Real people. Real characters. You have to believe what I write about is true or you wouldn't pay any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lou-reed/i-m-writing-about-real-things-real-people-real-characters-you-have-to/) [Lou Reed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lou-reed/) > [ I went to a mosque in Philadelphia with \[my wife\] in December 24, 1999. And we we went to this mosque in Philly, and… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahershala-ali/i-went-to-a-mosque-in-philadelphia-with-my-wife-in-december-24-1999/) [Mahershala Ali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahershala-ali/) > [The Harvard Business Review recently had an article called 'The Human Moment,' about how to make real contact with a person at work: ...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-goleman/the-harvard-business-review-recently-had-an-article-called-the-human/) [Daniel Goleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-goleman/) > [Let us thank God heartily as often as we pray that we have His Spirit in us to teach us to pray. Thanksgiving will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-murray/let-us-thank-god-heartily-as-often-as-we-pray-that-we-have-his-spirit/) [Andy Murray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-murray/) > [Enlightened people live in very charged states of attention, with a tremendous power circuiting through them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/enlightened-people-live-in-very-charged-states-of-attention-with-a/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [We must have a welfare system that we can afford, which will mean giving greater attention to directing the welfare program toward its primary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-portillo/we-must-have-a-welfare-system-that-we-can-afford-which-will-mean/) [Michael Portillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-portillo/) > [The director's job should give you a sense of music without drawing attention to itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taylor-hackford/the-director-s-job-should-give-you-a-sense-of-music-without-drawing/) [Taylor Hackford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taylor-hackford/) [Browse all 10,153 Attention quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/attention/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The goal of all my work is essentially the same: demonstrating that magic is real or that reality is magic, by paying attention, and finding compensation or consolation for what is essentially a tragic existence.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Peter Blegvad" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-blegvad/the-goal-of-all-my-work-is-essentially-the-same-demonstrating-that/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Attention" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-blegvad/the-goal-of-all-my-work-is-essentially-the-same-demonstrating-that/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/36e/peter-blegvad-38080_attention_the-goal-of-all-my-work-is-essentially-t_3185054.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/36e/peter-blegvad-38080_attention_the-goal-of-all-my-work-is-essentially-t_3185054.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/36e/peter-blegvad-38080_attention_the-goal-of-all-my-work-is-essentially-t_3185054.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The goal of all my work is essentially the same: demonstrating that magic is real or that reality is magic…” — Peter Blegvad", "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": "Peter Blegvad", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-blegvad/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The goal of all my work...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-blegvad/the-goal-of-all-my-work-is-essentially-the-same-demonstrating-that/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-blegvad/the-goal-of-all-my-work-is-essentially-the-same-demonstrating-that/#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 } } ] } ```