--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Artists with serious aspirations need to…" description: "\"Artists with serious aspirations need to be left alone to follow the course of their own imagination.\" — Robert Genn" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de4/robert-genn-2179_art_artists-with-serious-aspirations-need-to_434860.png" --- # Artists with serious aspirations need to be left alone to… ![“Artists with serious aspirations need to be left alone to follow the course of their own imagination.” quote by Robert Genn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de4/robert-genn-2179_art_artists-with-serious-aspirations-need-to_434860.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de4/robert-genn-2179_art_artists-with-serious-aspirations-need-to_434860.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de4/robert-genn-2179_art_artists-with-serious-aspirations-need-to_434860.png) > “Artists with serious aspirations need to be left alone to follow the course of their own imagination.” [Robert Genn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-genn/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Creative work thrives when artists have space to pursue their own vision without interference. **In simple terms:** Give artists freedom. Key Takeaway Protect creative autonomy. Themes creativity autonomy artistic integrity focus Mood reflective supportive inspirational Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - studio time - personal projects - creative retreats - design brainstorming Key Concepts Flow state self‑direction originality Questions to Reflect On - When should you intervene in an artist's process? - How do you know they need guidance? A Different Perspective Too much isolation may limit useful feedback. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Artists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artists/) [Aspiration](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aspiration/) [Aspirations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aspirations/) [Being alone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/being-alone/) [Creativity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creativity/) [Dreams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dreams/) [Imagination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagination/) ## Related quotes > [“Chase your aspirations; there's no need to follow the crowd”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/enamul-haque/chase-your-aspirations-there-s-no-need-to-follow-the-crowd/) Enamul Haque > [Kindness and a good heart are the foundation for success in this life, progress on the spiritual path, and the fulfillment of our aspirations.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama/kindness-and-a-good-heart-are-the-foundation-for-success-in-this-life/) [Dalai Lama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama/) > [I have high aspirations. I want to be an architect.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-franco/i-have-high-aspirations-i-want-to-be-an-architect/) [James Franco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-franco/) > [I look upon myself as a musical bricklayer with architectural aspirations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-mayer/i-look-upon-myself-as-a-musical-bricklayer-with-architectural/) [Robert Mayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-mayer/) > [Authenticity is an alignment between your beliefs, your desires and your choices in the world. Desires change throughout the course of a life, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-simon/authenticity-is-an-alignment-between-your-beliefs-your-desires-and/) [David Simon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-simon/) > [Whoever is related to me in the height of his aspirations will experience veritable ecstasies of learning; for I come from heights that no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/whoever-is-related-to-me-in-the-height-of-his-aspirations-will/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [A good man, through obscurest aspirations Has still an instinct of the one true way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/a-good-man-through-obscurest-aspirations-has-still-an-instinct-of-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [How very sad it is to have a confiding nature, one's hopes and feelings are quite at the mercy of all who come along;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/how-very-sad-it-is-to-have-a-confiding-nature-one-s-hopes-and/) [Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/) > [When I'm on the operating table, I'm happy for the surgeon to treat me as a machine, but the moment I return to consciousness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-pattison/when-i-m-on-the-operating-table-i-m-happy-for-the-surgeon-to-treat-me/) [George Pattison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-pattison/) > [The measure of a society is not only what it does but the quality of its aspirations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wade-davis/the-measure-of-a-society-is-not-only-what-it-does-but-the-quality-of/) [Wade Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wade-davis/) > [My designs and labors and aspirations are my only friends.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/my-designs-and-labors-and-aspirations-are-my-only-friends/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [People would do well to ask themselves how many of their ambitions and aspirations derive from the type of economic system they inhabit and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-benn/people-would-do-well-to-ask-themselves-how-many-of-their-ambitions/) [Tony Benn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-benn/) > [The most absurd and reckless aspirations have sometimes led to extraordinary success.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luc-de-clapiers/the-most-absurd-and-reckless-aspirations-have-sometimes-led-to/) [Luc de Clapiers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luc-de-clapiers/) > [Every little kid that steps on the court or the field has aspirations to go pro. I think being a pro basketball player is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-mcknight/every-little-kid-that-steps-on-the-court-or-the-field-has-aspirations/) [Brian McKnight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-mcknight/) > [The powers, aspirations, and mission of man are such as to raise the study of his origin and nature, inevitably and by the very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-owen/the-powers-aspirations-and-mission-of-man-are-such-as-to-raise-the/) [Richard Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-owen/) ## More by Robert Genn > [We artists give daily thanks for the miracle of our planet and for the inclination and the capability to honour it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-genn/we-artists-give-daily-thanks-for-the-miracle-of-our-planet-and-for/) [Robert Genn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-genn/) > [Most of my contemporary grant-getters are now doing something other than painting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-genn/most-of-my-contemporary-grant-getters-are-now-doing-something-other/) [Robert Genn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-genn/) > [Pushing yourself to extremes blows out the cobwebs of trusted habit. It shakes up what you know to be reliably safe and substitutes the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-genn/pushing-yourself-to-extremes-blows-out-the-cobwebs-of-trusted-habit/) [Robert Genn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-genn/) > [Keep busy while you are waiting for something to happen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-genn/keep-busy-while-you-are-waiting-for-something-to-happen/) [Robert Genn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-genn/) > [Art is a course in personal development that has no reliable diploma and no known end. The pursuit of art instructs in beauty as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-genn/art-is-a-course-in-personal-development-that-has-no-reliable-diploma/) [Robert Genn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-genn/) > [Great paintings have gradations, large and small... They serve to lift the subject off the two-dimensionality of the canvas. Gradations are an essential abstract…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-genn/great-paintings-have-gradations-large-and-small-they-serve-to-lift/) [Robert Genn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-genn/) > [Take your brush here and there like a bee in an alpine meadow. In other words, don't laboriously work on or try to finish…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-genn/take-your-brush-here-and-there-like-a-bee-in-an-alpine-meadow-in/) [Robert Genn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-genn/) > [Evolved creators are just as curious about their failures as they are of their successes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-genn/evolved-creators-are-just-as-curious-about-their-failures-as-they-are/) [Robert Genn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-genn/) > [Art is a path on which we honour our world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-genn/art-is-a-path-on-which-we-honour-our-world/) [Robert Genn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-genn/) > [With repetition, the alternate approaches become clear, options open.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-genn/with-repetition-the-alternate-approaches-become-clear-options-open/) [Robert Genn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-genn/) > [When shucked and released from its edges, the windowless subject stands alone as its own thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-genn/when-shucked-and-released-from-its-edges-the-windowless-subject/) [Robert Genn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-genn/) > [Mountains in all their moods are symbols of something greater, something worth aspiring to. Mountains are powerful, dangerous, beautiful, noble and mysterious. Mountains get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-genn/mountains-in-all-their-moods-are-symbols-of-something-greater/) [Robert Genn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-genn/) > [Our bodies, apart from their brilliant role as drawing exercises, are the temples of our being. Like the bodies of all fauna, they deserve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-genn/our-bodies-apart-from-their-brilliant-role-as-drawing-exercises-are/) [Robert Genn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-genn/) > [When I'm in the studio I often hunger for the road. And when away I long for the efficiency of the studio.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-genn/when-i-m-in-the-studio-i-often-hunger-for-the-road-and-when-away-i/) [Robert Genn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-genn/) > [In life and art it's better to be an enthusiastic amateur than a jaded professional.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-genn/in-life-and-art-it-s-better-to-be-an-enthusiastic-amateur-than-a/) [Robert Genn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-genn/) [Explore all 181 Robert Genn quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-genn/) ## 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 > [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": "Artists with serious aspirations need to be left alone to follow the course of their own imagination.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robert Genn" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-genn/artists-with-serious-aspirations-need-to-be-left-alone-to-follow-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-genn/artists-with-serious-aspirations-need-to-be-left-alone-to-follow-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de4/robert-genn-2179_art_artists-with-serious-aspirations-need-to_434860.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de4/robert-genn-2179_art_artists-with-serious-aspirations-need-to_434860.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de4/robert-genn-2179_art_artists-with-serious-aspirations-need-to_434860.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Artists with serious aspirations need to be left alone to follow the course of their own imagination.” — Robert Genn", "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": "Robert Genn", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-genn/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Artists with serious aspirations need to...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-genn/artists-with-serious-aspirations-need-to-be-left-alone-to-follow-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-genn/artists-with-serious-aspirations-need-to-be-left-alone-to-follow-the/#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 } } ] } ```