--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Each man must take the material that he…" description: "\"Each man must take the material that he finds at hand, see that in it there are the big truths of life, the fundamentally big forces, and then express ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/972/robert-henri-1803_art_each-man-must-take-the-material-that-he_1435504.png" --- # Each man must take the material that he finds at hand, see… ![“Each man must take the material that he finds at hand, see that in it there are the big truths of life, the fundamentally big forces, and then express in his art whatever is the cause of his pleasure.” quote by Robert Henri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/972/robert-henri-1803_art_each-man-must-take-the-material-that-he_1435504.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/972/robert-henri-1803_art_each-man-must-take-the-material-that-he_1435504.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/972/robert-henri-1803_art_each-man-must-take-the-material-that-he_1435504.png) > “Each man must take the material that he finds at hand, see that in it there are the big truths of life, the fundamentally big forces, and then express in his art whatever is the cause of his pleasure.” [Robert Henri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-henri/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Artists should draw inspiration from everyday material, uncovering universal truths and personal joy. **In simple terms:** Find deep truths in ordinary things for art. Key Takeaway Seek meaning and pleasure in creative work. Themes art truth joy Mood reflective inspirational Type philosophical creative When to use this quote - painting - sculpture - creative writing - teaching Key Concepts aesthetic philosophy personal expression universality Questions to Reflect On - What everyday objects inspire your creativity? - How do you balance personal joy with broader impact? A Different Perspective Focusing only on personal pleasure may ignore social responsibility. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Expression](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/expression/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Pleasure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pleasure/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) [Truth of life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth-of-life/) [Truths](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truths/) ## Related quotes > [“Give your children big truths they will grow into rather than light explanations they will grow out of.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tedd-tripp/give-your-children-big-truths-they-will-grow-into-rather-than-light/) [Tedd Tripp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tedd-tripp/) > [What impressed me about Plato and Sartre was their conviction that we should live our lives in the light of big truths about reality…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-e-cooper/what-impressed-me-about-plato-and-sartre-was-their-conviction-that-we/) [David E. Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-e-cooper/) > [ Wonder \[admiratio astonishment, marvel\] is a kind of desire for knowledge. The situation arises when one sees an effect and does not know its… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-aquinas/wonder-admiratio-astonishment-marvel-is-a-kind-of-desire-for/) [Thomas Aquinas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-aquinas/) > [When we view elevated ideas of Nature, the result of that view is admiration, which is always the cause of pleasure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/when-we-view-elevated-ideas-of-nature-the-result-of-that-view-is/) [John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/) > [“It is living in sensation that makes man material, and after some time he becomes ignorant of the spirit.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hazrat-inayat-khan/it-is-living-in-sensation-that-makes-man-material-and-after-some-time/) [Hazrat Inayat Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hazrat-inayat-khan/) > [Man never made any material as resilient as the human spirit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/man-never-made-any-material-as-resilient-as-the-human-spirit/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [But those dealing in the actual manufacture of mind are dealing in a very explosive material. The material is not merely the clay of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/but-those-dealing-in-the-actual-manufacture-of-mind-are-dealing-in-a/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Man's material discoveries have outpaced his moral progress.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clement-attlee/man-s-material-discoveries-have-outpaced-his-moral-progress/) [Clement Attlee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clement-attlee/) > [What annoys me about most self-help books is that they have no tragic sense. They have no sense that life is fundamentally incomplete rather…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/what-annoys-me-about-most-self-help-books-is-that-they-have-no-tragic/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“Life is fundamentally a mental state. We live in a dream world that we create. Whose life is truer, the rational man of action…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kilroy-j-oldster/life-is-fundamentally-a-mental-state-we-live-in-a-dream-world-that-we/) [Kilroy J. Oldster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kilroy-j-oldster/) > [When you're passionate about something, you want it to be all it can be. But in the endgame of life, I fundamentally believe the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debra-messing/when-you-re-passionate-about-something-you-want-it-to-be-all-it-can/) [Debra Messing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debra-messing/) > [Everything in life is most fundamentally a gift. And you receive it best and you live it best by holding it with very open…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-j-o-donovan/everything-in-life-is-most-fundamentally-a-gift-and-you-receive-it/) Leo J. O'Donovan > [The greatest and most important problems of life are all fundamentally insoluble. They can never be solved but only outgrown.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/the-greatest-and-most-important-problems-of-life-are-all/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) > [Life fundamentally does not change depending on work or fame or success.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anson-mount/life-fundamentally-does-not-change-depending-on-work-or-fame-or/) [Anson Mount](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anson-mount/) > [Life is fundamentally up for grabs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/life-is-fundamentally-up-for-grabs/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) ## More by Robert Henri > [It is the common defect of modern art study. Too many students do not know why they draw.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-henri/it-is-the-common-defect-of-modern-art-study-too-many-students-do-not/) [Robert Henri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-henri/) > [Your only hope of satisfying others is in satisfying yourself. I speak of a great satisfaction, not a commercial satisfaction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-henri/your-only-hope-of-satisfying-others-is-in-satisfying-yourself-i-speak/) [Robert Henri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-henri/) > [Keep a bad drawing until by study you have found out why it is bad.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-henri/keep-a-bad-drawing-until-by-study-you-have-found-out-why-it-is-bad/) [Robert Henri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-henri/) > [Self-education only produces expressions of self.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-henri/self-education-only-produces-expressions-of-self/) [Robert Henri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-henri/) > [Genius is not a possession of the limited few, but exists in some degree in everyone. Where there is natural growth, a full and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-henri/genius-is-not-a-possession-of-the-limited-few-but-exists-in-some/) [Robert Henri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-henri/) > [Your painting is the marking of your progression into nature, a sensation of something you see way beyond the two pretty colors over there.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-henri/your-painting-is-the-marking-of-your-progression-into-nature-a/) [Robert Henri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-henri/) > [The sketch hunter moves through life as he finds it, not passing negligently the things he loves, but stopping to know them, and to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-henri/the-sketch-hunter-moves-through-life-as-he-finds-it-not-passing/) [Robert Henri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-henri/) > [There are pictures that manifest education and there are pictures that manifest love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-henri/there-are-pictures-that-manifest-education-and-there-are-pictures/) [Robert Henri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-henri/) > [I am interested in the size of your intention. It is better to overstate the important than to understate it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-henri/i-am-interested-in-the-size-of-your-intention-it-is-better-to/) [Robert Henri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-henri/) > [“We will be happy if we can get around to the idea that art is not an outside and extra thing; that it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-henri/we-will-be-happy-if-we-can-get-around-to-the-idea-that-art-is-not-an/) [Robert Henri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-henri/) > [“It beats all the things that wealth can give and everything else in the world to say the things one believes, to put them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-henri/it-beats-all-the-things-that-wealth-can-give-and-everything-else-in/) [Robert Henri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-henri/) > [“A GREAT PAINTER will know a great deal about how he did it, but still he will say, “How did I do it?” The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-henri/a-great-painter-will-know-a-great-deal-about-how-he-did-it-but-still/) [Robert Henri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-henri/) > [“Concentrate on a single feature – as, build all toward one eye – make all lines lead toward that eye. (Robert Henri)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-henri/concentrate-on-a-single-feature-as-build-all-toward-one-eye-make-all/) [Robert Henri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-henri/) > [Good composition is like a suspension bridge - each line adds strength and takes none away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-henri/good-composition-is-like-a-suspension-bridge-each-line-adds-strength/) [Robert Henri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-henri/) > [Cherish your own emotions and never undervalue them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-henri/cherish-your-own-emotions-and-never-undervalue-them/) [Robert Henri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-henri/) [Explore all 207 Robert Henri quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-henri/) ## 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": "Each man must take the material that he finds at hand, see that in it there are the big truths of life, the fundamentally big forces, and then express in his art whatever is the cause of his pleasure.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robert Henri" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-henri/each-man-must-take-the-material-that-he-finds-at-hand-see-that-in-it/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-henri/each-man-must-take-the-material-that-he-finds-at-hand-see-that-in-it/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/972/robert-henri-1803_art_each-man-must-take-the-material-that-he_1435504.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/972/robert-henri-1803_art_each-man-must-take-the-material-that-he_1435504.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/972/robert-henri-1803_art_each-man-must-take-the-material-that-he_1435504.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Each man must take the material that he finds at hand, see that in it there are the big truths of life, the…” — Robert Henri", "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 Henri", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-henri/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Each man must take the material...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-henri/each-man-must-take-the-material-that-he-finds-at-hand-see-that-in-it/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-henri/each-man-must-take-the-material-that-he-finds-at-hand-see-that-in-it/#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 } } ] } ```