--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Each work of art excludes the world…" description: "\"Each work of art excludes the world, concentrates attention on itself. For the time it is the only thing worth doing -to do just that; be it a sonnet, ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7c9/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_art_each-work-of-art-excludes-the-world-conc_1837429.jpg" --- # Each work of art excludes the world, concentrates… ![“Each work of art excludes the world, concentrates attention on itself. For the time it is the only thing worth doing -to do just that; be it a sonnet, a statue, a landscape, an outline head of Caesar, or an oration. Presently we return to the sight of another that globes itself into a whole as did…” quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7c9/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_art_each-work-of-art-excludes-the-world-conc_1837429.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7c9/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_art_each-work-of-art-excludes-the-world-conc_1837429.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7c9/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_art_each-work-of-art-excludes-the-world-conc_1837429.jpg) > “Each work of art excludes the world, concentrates attention on itself. For the time it is the only thing worth doing -to do just that; be it a sonnet, a statue, a landscape, an outline head of Caesar, or an oration. Presently we return to the sight of another that globes itself into a whole as did the first, for example, a beautiful garden; and nothing seems worth doing in life but laying out a garden.” [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Art isolates the creator, demanding total focus; the highest purpose is to create something beautiful like a garden, which embodies life's meaning. **In simple terms:** Art demands focus; creating beauty, like a garden, gives purpose. Key Takeaway Create and cherish beauty in life. Themes art focus beauty purpose Mood reflective inspirational Type philosophical creative When to use this quote - painting - sculpture - gardening - writing - design Key Concepts Aesthetic philosophy creative immersion Questions to Reflect On - What does “laying out a garden” symbolize for you? - How can you balance artistic focus with everyday duties? A Different Perspective May ignore practical responsibilities while pursuing art. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Art Excludes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art-excludes-2322745/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Attention](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/attention/) [Beautiful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beautiful/) [Concentrates Attention](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/concentrates-attention-2322746/) [Example](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/example/) [Firsts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/firsts/) [Garden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/garden/) [Globes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/globes/) [Landscape](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/landscape/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Outlines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/outlines/) [Return](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/return/) [Seems](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seems/) [Sight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sight/) [Sonnet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sonnet/) [Sonnet Statue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sonnet-statue-2322747/) [Statue Landscape](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/statue-landscape-2322748/) [Statues](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/statues/) [Whole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/whole/) [Work Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/work-art/) [Works of art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/works-of-art/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [Therefore we value the poet. All the argument and all the wisdom is not in the encyclopedia, or the treatise on metaphysics, or the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/therefore-we-value-the-poet-all-the-argument-and-all-the-wisdom-is/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [We are made aware that magnitude of material things is relative, and all objects shrink and expand to serve the passion of the poet.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/we-are-made-aware-that-magnitude-of-material-things-is-relative-and/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [A painter told me that nobody could draw a tree without in some sort becoming a tree; or draw a child by studying the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/a-painter-told-me-that-nobody-could-draw-a-tree-without-in-some-sort-2/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [There is a mortifying experience in particular, which does not fail to wreak itself also in the general history; I mean "the foolish face…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/there-is-a-mortifying-experience-in-particular-which-does-not-fail-to/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us, or we find it not. 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Let me stand here and shiver, I’ll be stronger…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/polly-shulman/just-let-me-wait-a-little-while-longer-under-your-window-in-the-quite/) [Polly Shulman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/polly-shulman/) > [“What shall I say, what word, what cry recall, What god invoke, what charm, what amulet, To make a sonnet pay a hopeless debt,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-b-douglas/what-shall-i-say-what-word-what-cry-recall-what-god-invoke-what-charm/) [Alfred B. Douglas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-b-douglas/) > [There is no objection to the proposal: in order to learn to be a poet, I shall try to write a sonnet. But the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-fenton/there-is-no-objection-to-the-proposal-in-order-to-learn-to-be-a-poet/) [James Fenton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-fenton/) > [Leon Theremin's original designs are elegant, ingenious and effective. As electronics goes, the theremin is very simple. But there are so many subtleties hidden…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-moog/leon-theremin-s-original-designs-are-elegant-ingenious-and-effective/) [Robert Moog](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-moog/) > [I intended an Ode, And it turned to a Sonnet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-intended-an-ode-and-it-turned-to-a-sonnet/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [ My colleagues in elementary particle theory in many lands \[and I\] are driven by the usual insatiable curiosity of the scientist, and our work… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-gell-mann/my-colleagues-in-elementary-particle-theory-in-many-lands-and-i-are/) [Murray Gell-Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-gell-mann/) > [“I have three phobias which, could I mute them,would make my life as slick as a sonnet,but dull as ditch water:I hate to go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tallulah-bankhead/i-have-three-phobias-which-could-i-mute-them-would-make-my-life-as/) [Tallulah Bankhead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tallulah-bankhead/) > [How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.I love thee to the depth and breadth and height My soul can reach, when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-barrett-browning/how-do-i-love-thee-let-me-count-the-ways-i-love-thee-to-the-depth-and/) [Elizabeth Barrett Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-barrett-browning/) > [“I will not make a sonnet from Each little private martyrdom; Nor out of love left dead with time Construe a stanza or a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-auslander/i-will-not-make-a-sonnet-from-each-little-private-martyrdom-nor-out/) [Joseph Auslander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-auslander/) ## More by Ralph Waldo Emerson > [The history of mankind interests us only as it exhibits a steady gain of truth and right, in the incessant conflict which it records…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-history-of-mankind-interests-us-only-as-it-exhibits-a-steady-gain/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [If we will not interfere with our thought, but will act entirely, or see how the thing stands in God, we know the particular…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-we-will-not-interfere-with-our-thought-but-will-act-entirely-or/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [If there is any period one would desire to be born in, is it not the age of Revolution; when the old and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-there-is-any-period-one-would-desire-to-be-born-in-is-it-not-the/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [A man cannot speak but he judges himself. With his will or against his will he draws his portrait to the eye of his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/a-man-cannot-speak-but-he-judges-himself-with-his-will-or-against-his/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Consideration is the soil in which wisdom may be expected to grow, and strength be given to every up-springing plant of duty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/consideration-is-the-soil-in-which-wisdom-may-be-expected-to-grow-and/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“There is then creative reading as well as creative writing. When the mind is braced by labor and invention, the page of whatever book…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/there-is-then-creative-reading-as-well-as-creative-writing-when-the/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [The order of things consents to virtue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-order-of-things-consents-to-virtue/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Life only avails, not the having lived.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/life-only-avails-not-the-having-lived/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Another success is the post-office, with its educating energy augmented by cheapness and guarded by a certain religious sentimentin mankind; so that the power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/another-success-is-the-post-office-with-its-educating-energy/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [A child reminds us that playtime is an essential part of our daily routine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/a-child-reminds-us-that-playtime-is-an-essential-part-of-our-daily/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [No man can be criticised but by a greater than he. Do not, then, read the reviews.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/no-man-can-be-criticised-but-by-a-greater-than-he-do-not-then-read/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Coal lay in ledges under the ground since the Flood, until a laborer with pick and windlass brings it to the surface. We may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/coal-lay-in-ledges-under-the-ground-since-the-flood-until-a-laborer/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [I am; therefore, I had nothing better to do than to think.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/i-am-therefore-i-had-nothing-better-to-do-than-to-think/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [In a library we are surrounded by many hundreds of dear friends, but they are imprisoned by an enchanter in these paper and leathern…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/in-a-library-we-are-surrounded-by-many-hundreds-of-dear-friends-but/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [The compensations of calamity are made apparent to the understanding also, after long intervals of time. A fever, a mutilation, a cruel disappointment, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-compensations-of-calamity-are-made-apparent-to-the-understanding/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) [Explore all 4,802 Ralph Waldo Emerson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) ## 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": "Each work of art excludes the world, concentrates attention on itself. 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