--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Art is a means to function thoroughly and…" description: "\"Art is a means to function thoroughly and passionately in a world that has a lot more to it than paint.\" — Robert Rauschenberg" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a8c/robert-rauschenberg-5257_art_art-is-a-means-to-function-thoroughly-an_2433124.jpg" --- # Art is a means to function thoroughly and passionately in… ![“Art is a means to function thoroughly and passionately in a world that has a lot more to it than paint.” quote by Robert Rauschenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a8c/robert-rauschenberg-5257_art_art-is-a-means-to-function-thoroughly-an_2433124.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a8c/robert-rauschenberg-5257_art_art-is-a-means-to-function-thoroughly-an_2433124.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a8c/robert-rauschenberg-5257_art_art-is-a-means-to-function-thoroughly-an_2433124.jpg) > “Art is a means to function thoroughly and passionately in a world that has a lot more to it than paint.” [Robert Rauschenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-rauschenberg/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Art should be a vehicle for deep, passionate engagement with life’s richness beyond its visual form. **In simple terms:** Art is a way to fully engage with life. Key Takeaway Use creative practice to explore all aspects of experience. Themes creativity passion holistic living Mood inspirational thoughtful Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - education - therapy - community building - personal growth Key Concepts expression function depth Questions to Reflect On - In what ways can art deepen everyday experience? - How can passion drive purposeful action? A Different Perspective Art alone cannot solve all problems. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Painting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/painting/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [The definition of public art to me means everything and means nothing because for me, all art is public. Art has to be public…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emi-fontana/the-definition-of-public-art-to-me-means-everything-and-means-nothing/) Emi Fontana > [In order to correctly define art, it is necessary, first of all, to cease to consider it as a means to pleasure and consider…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/in-order-to-correctly-define-art-it-is-necessary-first-of-all-to/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [There was a whole language that I could never make function for myself; it revolved around words like 'tortured', 'struggle'. 'pain'.. .I could never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-rauschenberg/there-was-a-whole-language-that-i-could-never-make-function-for/) [Robert Rauschenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-rauschenberg/) > [To behave creatively in art means behavior with skill; and skill comes from discipline, not derangement. The artist who knows the rules -and proportion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/burne-hogarth/to-behave-creatively-in-art-means-behavior-with-skill-and-skill-comes/) Burne Hogarth > [Art means something very rare, an extraordinary achievement.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-thiebaud/art-means-something-very-rare-an-extraordinary-achievement/) [Wayne Thiebaud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-thiebaud/) > [Art makes people do a double take and then, if they're looking at the picture, maybe they'll read the text under it that says,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-drooker/art-makes-people-do-a-double-take-and-then-if-they-re-looking-at-the/) [Eric Drooker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-drooker/) > [Good art means the ability of any one man to pin down in some permanent and intelligible medium a sort of idea of what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft/good-art-means-the-ability-of-any-one-man-to-pin-down-in-some/) [H. P. Lovecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft/) > [Filling a space in a beautiful way - that is what art means to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georgia-o-keeffe/filling-a-space-in-a-beautiful-way-that-is-what-art-means-to-me/) [Georgia O'Keeffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georgia-o-keeffe/) > [You do not use art as a means to an end, but as a way to inhabit and explore the present. Right and wrong…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michele-cassou/you-do-not-use-art-as-a-means-to-an-end-but-as-a-way-to-inhabit-and/) [Michele Cassou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michele-cassou/) > [What modern art means is that you have to keep finding new ways to express yourself, to express the problems, that there are no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-bourgeois/what-modern-art-means-is-that-you-have-to-keep-finding-new-ways-to/) [Louise Bourgeois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-bourgeois/) > [To choose art means to turn one's back on the world, or at least on certain of its distractions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melvin-maddocks/to-choose-art-means-to-turn-one-s-back-on-the-world-or-at-least-on/) [Melvin Maddocks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melvin-maddocks/) > [It was Richepin who said somewhere, 'The love of art means loss of real love'... True, but on the other hand, real love makes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vincent-van-gogh/it-was-richepin-who-said-somewhere-the-love-of-art-means-loss-of-real/) [Vincent Van Gogh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vincent-van-gogh/) > [Art means: revealing God in everything that exists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-benedict-xvi/art-means-revealing-god-in-everything-that-exists/) [Pope Benedict XVI](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-benedict-xvi/) > [Therefore art means: you have to believe, to have faith, that is, cultivate vision.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josef-albers/therefore-art-means-you-have-to-believe-to-have-faith-that-is/) [Josef Albers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josef-albers/) > [As someone who has been asked to ask David Lynch what his movies mean for 25 years, I'm very careful about asking artists what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-dern/as-someone-who-has-been-asked-to-ask-david-lynch-what-his-movies-mean/) [Laura Dern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-dern/) ## More by Robert Rauschenberg > [Having to be different is the same trap as having to be the same.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-rauschenberg/having-to-be-different-is-the-same-trap-as-having-to-be-the-same/) [Robert Rauschenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-rauschenberg/) > [There is no reason not to consider the world as one gigantic painting,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-rauschenberg/there-is-no-reason-not-to-consider-the-world-as-one-gigantic-painting/) [Robert Rauschenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-rauschenberg/) > [I'm quite taken aback when I get something that appears to be technically a good photograph, because it's not necessarily my intention.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-rauschenberg/i-m-quite-taken-aback-when-i-get-something-that-appears-to-be/) [Robert Rauschenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-rauschenberg/) > [I was much happier when I had less responsibility... when my only responsibility was to my work and to myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-rauschenberg/i-was-much-happier-when-i-had-less-responsibility-when-my-only/) [Robert Rauschenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-rauschenberg/) > [It is neither Art for Art, nor Art against Art. I am for Art, but for Art that has nothing to do with Art.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-rauschenberg/it-is-neither-art-for-art-nor-art-against-art-i-am-for-art-but-for/) [Robert Rauschenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-rauschenberg/) > [People ask me, 'Don't you ever run out of ideas?' In the first place I don't use ideas. Every time I have an idea…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-rauschenberg/people-ask-me-don-t-you-ever-run-out-of-ideas-in-the-first-place-i/) [Robert Rauschenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-rauschenberg/) > [So that ideas of sort of relaxed symmetry have been something for years that I have been concerned with because I think that symmetry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-rauschenberg/so-that-ideas-of-sort-of-relaxed-symmetry-have-been-something-for/) [Robert Rauschenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-rauschenberg/) > [I don't really trust ideas, especially good ones. Rather I put my trust in the materials that confront me, because they put me in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-rauschenberg/i-don-t-really-trust-ideas-especially-good-ones-rather-i-put-my-trust/) [Robert Rauschenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-rauschenberg/) > [I refuse to be in this world by myself. I want an open commitment from the rest of the people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-rauschenberg/i-refuse-to-be-in-this-world-by-myself-i-want-an-open-commitment-from/) [Robert Rauschenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-rauschenberg/) > [The only thing that I could get with chance, and I never was able to use it, was that I would end up with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-rauschenberg/the-only-thing-that-i-could-get-with-chance-and-i-never-was-able-to/) [Robert Rauschenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-rauschenberg/) > [This telegram is a work of art if I say it is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-rauschenberg/this-telegram-is-a-work-of-art-if-i-say-it-is/) [Robert Rauschenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-rauschenberg/) > [Understanding is a form of blindness. Good art, I think, can never be understood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-rauschenberg/understanding-is-a-form-of-blindness-good-art-i-think-can-never-be/) [Robert Rauschenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-rauschenberg/) > [Sometimes I have taken photographs and just felt so excited that I could barely hold the camera steady, and the photo was boring.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-rauschenberg/sometimes-i-have-taken-photographs-and-just-felt-so-excited-that-i/) [Robert Rauschenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-rauschenberg/) > [I am sick of talking about What and Why I am doing. I have always believed that the WORK is the word. Action is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-rauschenberg/i-am-sick-of-talking-about-what-and-why-i-am-doing-i-have-always/) [Robert Rauschenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-rauschenberg/) > [And also the new excitement and variety of ways that the abstract expressionists were applying paint. You could put it on as though it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-rauschenberg/and-also-the-new-excitement-and-variety-of-ways-that-the-abstract/) [Robert Rauschenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-rauschenberg/) [Explore all 102 Robert Rauschenberg quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-rauschenberg/) ## 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": "Art is a means to function thoroughly and passionately in a world that has a lot more to it than paint.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robert Rauschenberg" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-rauschenberg/art-is-a-means-to-function-thoroughly-and-passionately-in-a-world/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-rauschenberg/art-is-a-means-to-function-thoroughly-and-passionately-in-a-world/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a8c/robert-rauschenberg-5257_art_art-is-a-means-to-function-thoroughly-an_2433124.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a8c/robert-rauschenberg-5257_art_art-is-a-means-to-function-thoroughly-an_2433124.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a8c/robert-rauschenberg-5257_art_art-is-a-means-to-function-thoroughly-an_2433124.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Art is a means to function thoroughly and passionately in a world that has a lot more to it than paint.” — Robert Rauschenberg", "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 Rauschenberg", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-rauschenberg/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Art is a means to function...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-rauschenberg/art-is-a-means-to-function-thoroughly-and-passionately-in-a-world/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-rauschenberg/art-is-a-means-to-function-thoroughly-and-passionately-in-a-world/#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 } } ] } ```