--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I wish to approach truth as closely as is…" description: "\"I wish to approach truth as closely as is possible, and therefore I abstract everything until I arrive at the fundamental quality of objects.\" — Piet M..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/508/piet-mondrian-14779_abstract_i-wish-to-approach-truth-as-closely-as-i_3035296.jpg" --- # I wish to approach truth as closely as is possible, and… ![“I wish to approach truth as closely as is possible, and therefore I abstract everything until I arrive at the fundamental quality of objects.” quote by Piet Mondrian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/508/piet-mondrian-14779_abstract_i-wish-to-approach-truth-as-closely-as-i_3035296.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/508/piet-mondrian-14779_abstract_i-wish-to-approach-truth-as-closely-as-i_3035296.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/508/piet-mondrian-14779_abstract_i-wish-to-approach-truth-as-closely-as-i_3035296.jpg) > “I wish to approach truth as closely as is possible, and therefore I abstract everything until I arrive at the fundamental quality of objects.” [Piet Mondrian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/piet-mondrian/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He seeks to strip away details to grasp the essential nature of things. **In simple terms:** He reduces everything to its core. Key Takeaway Focus on fundamentals. Themes philosophy art abstraction Mood thoughtful analytical Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - art criticism - philosophical inquiry - design - scientific modeling Key Concepts essentialism reductionism Questions to Reflect On - What core qualities define an object? - How far should abstraction go? A Different Perspective Abstraction can overlook important context. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Abstract](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstract/) [Approach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/approach/) [Approach Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/approach-truth-1511192/) [Arrive Fundamental](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/arrive-fundamental-4977166/) [Curious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/curious/) [Fundamental](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fundamental/) [Fundamental Quality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fundamental-quality-1065404/) [Fundamentals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fundamentals/) [Objects](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/objects/) [Quality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quality/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) [Truth Closely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth-closely-4977165/) [Wish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wish/) ## Related quotes > [Taste is the fundamental quality which sums up all other qualities. It is the ne plus ultra of the intelligence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isidore-ducasse-lautreamont/taste-is-the-fundamental-quality-which-sums-up-all-other-qualities-it/) [Isidore Ducasse Lautreamont](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isidore-ducasse-lautreamont/) > [Taste is the fundamental quality which sums up all the other qualities. It is the nec plus ultra of the intelligence. Through this alone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/taste-is-the-fundamental-quality-which-sums-up-all-the-other/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Science does not aim at establishing immutable truths and eternal dogmas; its aim is to approach the truth by successive approximations, without claiming that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/science-does-not-aim-at-establishing-immutable-truths-and-eternal/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [“The truth is always the best approach when saying no. Keep it simple. People don't need to hear your sob story. A five-minute exposition…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glynnis-whitwer/the-truth-is-always-the-best-approach-when-saying-no-keep-it-simple/) [Glynnis Whitwer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glynnis-whitwer/) > [My approach is the truth and aiming for the truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/letitia-wright/my-approach-is-the-truth-and-aiming-for-the-truth/) [Letitia Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/letitia-wright/) > [Poetry is, above all, an approach to the truth of feeling.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muriel-rukeyser/poetry-is-above-all-an-approach-to-the-truth-of-feeling/) [Muriel Rukeyser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muriel-rukeyser/) > [“We approach truth only inasmuch as we depart from life. For what do we, who love truth, strive after in life? To free ourselves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/socrates/we-approach-truth-only-inasmuch-as-we-depart-from-life-for-what-do-we/) [Socrates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/socrates/) > [The slow, the never ending approach to truth consists in perpetually forming and testing hypotheses, accepting those at which at the time seem to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-g-frazer/the-slow-the-never-ending-approach-to-truth-consists-in-perpetually/) [James G. Frazer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-g-frazer/) > [Nature or, that which I see, inspires me, puts me, as with any painter, in an emotional state so that an urge comes about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/piet-mondrian/nature-or-that-which-i-see-inspires-me-puts-me-as-with-any-painter-in/) [Piet Mondrian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/piet-mondrian/) > [The fact that it wasn't tells me that we've got a much more fundamental problem of understanding what went wrong, and we've got to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-kay/the-fact-that-it-wasn-t-tells-me-that-we-ve-got-a-much-more/) [David Kay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-kay/) > [In some way, my fundamental feeling about music is that it's impossible to put a price tag on it. Human beings made music before…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-palmer/in-some-way-my-fundamental-feeling-about-music-is-that-it-s/) [Amanda Palmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-palmer/) > [“Principles are guidelines for human conduct that are proven to have enduring, permanent value. They’re fundamental.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-r-covey/principles-are-guidelines-for-human-conduct-that-are-proven-to-have/) [Stephen R. Covey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-r-covey/) > [“As muito feias que me perdoem Mas beleza é fundamental.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vin-cius-de-moraes/as-muito-feias-que-me-perdoem-mas-beleza-fundamental/) [Vinícius de Moraes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vin-cius-de-moraes/) > [This idea that once you get into politics... you are now signed up for lifelong duty being in elective office, makes a fundamental error…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-gonzalez/this-idea-that-once-you-get-into-politics-you-are-now-signed-up-for/) [Matt Gonzalez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-gonzalez/) > [It's important for American soldiers to be culturally sensitive when deployed in foreign countries. But it's just as important for the U.S. never to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-bauer/it-s-important-for-american-soldiers-to-be-culturally-sensitive-when/) [Gary Bauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-bauer/) ## More by Piet Mondrian > [To approach the spiritual in art, one will make as little use as possible of reality, because reality is opposed to the spiritual.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/piet-mondrian/to-approach-the-spiritual-in-art-one-will-make-as-little-use-as/) [Piet Mondrian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/piet-mondrian/) > [The more basic the color, the more inward, the more pure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/piet-mondrian/the-more-basic-the-color-the-more-inward-the-more-pure/) [Piet Mondrian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/piet-mondrian/) > [Nature or, that which I see, inspires me, puts me, as with any painter, in an emotional state so that an urge comes about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/piet-mondrian/nature-or-that-which-i-see-inspires-me-puts-me-as-with-any-painter-in/) [Piet Mondrian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/piet-mondrian/) > [The only problem in art is to achieve a balance between the subjective and the objective.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/piet-mondrian/the-only-problem-in-art-is-to-achieve-a-balance-between-the/) [Piet Mondrian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/piet-mondrian/) > [Evolution is always the work of pioneers, and their followers are always small in number. This following is not a clique; it is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/piet-mondrian/evolution-is-always-the-work-of-pioneers-and-their-followers-are/) [Piet Mondrian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/piet-mondrian/) > [ The essence of painting has actually always been to make it \[the universal\] plastically perceptible through colour and line. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/piet-mondrian/the-essence-of-painting-has-actually-always-been-to-make-it-the/) [Piet Mondrian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/piet-mondrian/) > [I think you too recognize the important relationship between philosophy and art, and it is just this relationship that most painters deny. The great…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/piet-mondrian/i-think-you-too-recognize-the-important-relationship-between/) [Piet Mondrian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/piet-mondrian/) > [The truly modern artist is aware of abstraction in an emotion of beauty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/piet-mondrian/the-truly-modern-artist-is-aware-of-abstraction-in-an-emotion-of/) [Piet Mondrian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/piet-mondrian/) > [If you follow nature you will not be able to vanquish the tragic in any real degree in your art... We must free ourselves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/piet-mondrian/if-you-follow-nature-you-will-not-be-able-to-vanquish-the-tragic-in/) [Piet Mondrian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/piet-mondrian/) > [I don't want pictures, I want to find things out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/piet-mondrian/i-don-t-want-pictures-i-want-to-find-things-out/) [Piet Mondrian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/piet-mondrian/) > [All painting - the painting of the past as well as of the present - shows us that its essential plastic means were only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/piet-mondrian/all-painting-the-painting-of-the-past-as-well-as-of-the-present-shows/) [Piet Mondrian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/piet-mondrian/) > [Why should art continue to follow nature when every other field has left nature behind?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/piet-mondrian/why-should-art-continue-to-follow-nature-when-every-other-field-has/) [Piet Mondrian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/piet-mondrian/) > [The only problem in art is to achieve a balance between subjective and objective.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/piet-mondrian/the-only-problem-in-art-is-to-achieve-a-balance-between-subjective/) [Piet Mondrian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/piet-mondrian/) > [Observing sea, sky and stars, I sought to indicate their plastic function through a multiplicity of crossing verticals and horizontals. Impressed by the vastness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/piet-mondrian/observing-sea-sky-and-stars-i-sought-to-indicate-their-plastic/) [Piet Mondrian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/piet-mondrian/) > [It is a task of art to express clear vision of reality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/piet-mondrian/it-is-a-task-of-art-to-express-clear-vision-of-reality/) [Piet Mondrian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/piet-mondrian/) [Explore all 45 Piet Mondrian quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/piet-mondrian/) ## More Abstract quotes > [Love is like that, fragile and light. No wonder it rests upon our hearts in intangible moments, bids us follow fleeting thoughts and ideas…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/love-is-like-that-fragile-and-light-no-wonder-it-rests-upon-our/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Wisdom is the abstract of the past, but beauty is the promise of the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/wisdom-is-the-abstract-of-the-past-but-beauty-is-the-promise-of-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Where human eyes have never seen, where human beings have never been, I build a world of abstract dreams, and I wait for you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-ra/where-human-eyes-have-never-seen-where-human-beings-have-never-been-i/) [Sun Ra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-ra/) > [A little too abstract, a little too wise, It is time for us to kiss the earth again, It is time to let the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robinson-jeffers/a-little-too-abstract-a-little-too-wise-it-is-time-for-us-to-kiss-the/) [Robinson Jeffers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robinson-jeffers/) > [“Happy is very abstract, you can't touch it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julius-veal/happy-is-very-abstract-you-can-t-touch-it/) [Julius Veal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julius-veal/) > [Abstract Expressionism was invented by New York drunks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joni-mitchell/abstract-expressionism-was-invented-by-new-york-drunks/) [Joni Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joni-mitchell/) > [The more horrible this world (as today, for instance), the more abstract our art, whereas a happy world brings forth an art of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-klee/the-more-horrible-this-world-as-today-for-instance-the-more-abstract/) [Paul Klee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-klee/) > [Describing comic sensibility is near impossible. It's sort of an abstract silliness, that sometimes the joke isn't the star.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dana-carvey/describing-comic-sensibility-is-near-impossible-it-s-sort-of-an/) [Dana Carvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dana-carvey/) > [For people of color - especially African Americans - the idea that racist cops might frame members of their community is no abstract notion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-wise/for-people-of-color-especially-african-americans-the-idea-that-racist/) [Tim Wise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-wise/) > [The word of the Lord never comes to us as an opinion, no attempt is made to support it by argument, it comes as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-w-ivins/the-word-of-the-lord-never-comes-to-us-as-an-opinion-no-attempt-is/) [Anthony W. Ivins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-w-ivins/) > [A mobile is an abstract sculpture made chiefly out of sheet metal, steel rods, wire and wood. Some or all of these elements move,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-calder/a-mobile-is-an-abstract-sculpture-made-chiefly-out-of-sheet-metal/) [Alexander Calder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-calder/) > [I'm this superphilosophical kind of person. Stuck in a prison of abstract ideas and overpowering emotions, I have this personality that makes it really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natsuo-kirino/i-m-this-superphilosophical-kind-of-person-stuck-in-a-prison-of/) [Natsuo Kirino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natsuo-kirino/) > [Future lawyers should be more aware that law is not a system of abstract logic, but the web of arrangements, rooted in history but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-frankfurter/future-lawyers-should-be-more-aware-that-law-is-not-a-system-of/) [Felix Frankfurter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-frankfurter/) > [The trouble is that when you read criticisms about the other films that I've made you get the impression that they're all about themes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-haneke/the-trouble-is-that-when-you-read-criticisms-about-the-other-films/) [Michael Haneke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-haneke/) > [Painting is... a richer language than words... Painting operates through signs which are not abstract and incorporeal like words. The signs of painting are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-dubuffet/painting-is-a-richer-language-than-words-painting-operates-through/) [Jean Dubuffet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-dubuffet/) [Browse all 1,403 Abstract quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstract/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I wish to approach truth as closely as is possible, and therefore I abstract everything until I arrive at the fundamental quality of objects.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Piet Mondrian" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/piet-mondrian/i-wish-to-approach-truth-as-closely-as-is-possible-and-therefore-i/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Abstract" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/piet-mondrian/i-wish-to-approach-truth-as-closely-as-is-possible-and-therefore-i/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/508/piet-mondrian-14779_abstract_i-wish-to-approach-truth-as-closely-as-i_3035296.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/508/piet-mondrian-14779_abstract_i-wish-to-approach-truth-as-closely-as-i_3035296.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/508/piet-mondrian-14779_abstract_i-wish-to-approach-truth-as-closely-as-i_3035296.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I wish to approach truth as closely as is possible, and therefore I abstract everything until I arrive at…” — Piet Mondrian", "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": "Piet Mondrian", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/piet-mondrian/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I wish to approach truth as...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/piet-mondrian/i-wish-to-approach-truth-as-closely-as-is-possible-and-therefore-i/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/piet-mondrian/i-wish-to-approach-truth-as-closely-as-is-possible-and-therefore-i/#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 } } ] } ```