--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When you look back on a lifetime and…" description: "\"When you look back on a lifetime and think of what has been given to the world by your presence, your fugitive presence, inevitably you think of your a..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e2d/stanley-kunitz-10896_art_when-you-look-back-on-a-lifetime-and-thi_754590.jpg" --- # When you look back on a lifetime and think of what has… ![“When you look back on a lifetime and think of what has been given to the world by your presence, your fugitive presence, inevitably you think of your art, whatever it may be, as the gift you have made to the world in acknowledgment of the gift you have been given, which is the life itself... That…” quote by Stanley Kunitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e2d/stanley-kunitz-10896_art_when-you-look-back-on-a-lifetime-and-thi_754590.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e2d/stanley-kunitz-10896_art_when-you-look-back-on-a-lifetime-and-thi_754590.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e2d/stanley-kunitz-10896_art_when-you-look-back-on-a-lifetime-and-thi_754590.jpg) > “When you look back on a lifetime and think of what has been given to the world by your presence, your fugitive presence, inevitably you think of your art, whatever it may be, as the gift you have made to the world in acknowledgment of the gift you have been given, which is the life itself... That work is not an expression of the desire for praise or recognition, or prizes, but the deepest manifestation of your gratitiude for the gift of life.” [Stanley Kunitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-kunitz/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Creating art is a way to thank life by sharing one's unique contribution, not to seek fame. **In simple terms:** Art is gratitude for life. Key Takeaway Make art to give back. Themes gratitude creativity legacy Mood reflective inspired Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal reflection - public exhibition - teaching - community projects Key Concepts existentialism selfless expression Questions to Reflect On - How does your work reflect gratitude? - What drives you beyond recognition? A Different Perspective May be limited by personal insecurity or market pressures. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) [Expression](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/expression/) [Fugitive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fugitive/) [Gift Of Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gift-of-life/) [Gifts of life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gifts-of-life/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Life itself](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-itself/) [Lifetime](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lifetime/) [Manifestation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/manifestation/) [Praise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/praise/) [Prize](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prize/) [Recognition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/recognition/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [I always think about which blood drive was going on in Georgia that day when that husband or mom or school teacher rolled up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niki-taylor/i-always-think-about-which-blood-drive-was-going-on-in-georgia-that/) [Niki Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niki-taylor/) > [We have a gift of life. What we do with that gift is dependent on the choices we make. The people who we spend…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-keoghan/we-have-a-gift-of-life-what-we-do-with-that-gift-is-dependent-on-the/) [Phil Keoghan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-keoghan/) > [The greatest gift we have is the gift of life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-ditka/the-greatest-gift-we-have-is-the-gift-of-life/) [Mike Ditka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-ditka/) > [Before anything else, you have received breath - the gift of life itself. The first word about you is GIFT.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-bell/before-anything-else-you-have-received-breath-the-gift-of-life-itself/) [Rob Bell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-bell/) > [Our mothers give us so many gifts. 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One should never look a gift…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-rolheiser/the-highest-compliment-we-can-give-to-god-our-creator-is-to/) [Ronald Rolheiser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-rolheiser/) > [No one should be allowed to give back the gift of life, unless they are very old and full of tears, when the body…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fay-weldon/no-one-should-be-allowed-to-give-back-the-gift-of-life-unless-they/) [Fay Weldon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fay-weldon/) > [Our mother's first gift to us comes at the moment we are born, because Mom, as she will subsequently remind us over and over,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-sunshine/our-mother-s-first-gift-to-us-comes-at-the-moment-we-are-born-because/) [Linda Sunshine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-sunshine/) > [The gift of life is so precious that we should feel an obligation to pay back the universe for the gift of being alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/the-gift-of-life-is-so-precious-that-we-should-feel-an-obligation-to/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [...we got this gift of life and we got it one time and we gonna get hurt in it and be hurt going through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-frey/we-got-this-gift-of-life-and-we-got-it-one-time-and-we-gonna-get-hurt/) [James Frey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-frey/) > [The gift of life is the gift to suffer sometimes and to embrace it, heartbreak and all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-o-russell/the-gift-of-life-is-the-gift-to-suffer-sometimes-and-to-embrace-it/) [David O. Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-o-russell/) > [A wise man once said, 'Every one of us is given the gift of life, and what a strange gift it is. If it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geraldine-ferraro/a-wise-man-once-said-every-one-of-us-is-given-the-gift-of-life-and/) [Geraldine Ferraro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geraldine-ferraro/) > [Life's a test, mistakes are lessons, but the gift of life is knowing that you have made a difference.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tupac-shakur/life-s-a-test-mistakes-are-lessons-but-the-gift-of-life-is-knowing/) [Tupac Shakur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tupac-shakur/) > [In gratitude for God's gift of life to us we should share that gift with others. The art of giving encompasses many areas. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilferd-peterson/in-gratitude-for-god-s-gift-of-life-to-us-we-should-share-that-gift/) [Wilferd Peterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilferd-peterson/) > [But most importantly, we can all be donors. It does not matter how old you are, your race, where you live; all of us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-inslee/but-most-importantly-we-can-all-be-donors-it-does-not-matter-how-old/) [Jay Inslee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-inslee/) ## More by Stanley Kunitz > [The supreme morality of art is to endure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-kunitz/the-supreme-morality-of-art-is-to-endure/) [Stanley Kunitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-kunitz/) > [“Mind's acres are forever green: Oh, I Shall keep perpetual summer here; I shall Refuse to let one startled swallow die, Or, from the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-kunitz/mind-s-acres-are-forever-green-oh-i-shall-keep-perpetual-summer-here/) [Stanley Kunitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-kunitz/) > [Be what you are. Give What is yours to give. Have Style. Dare.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-kunitz/be-what-you-are-give-what-is-yours-to-give-have-style-dare/) [Stanley Kunitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-kunitz/) > [Not that you need to be a saint to have visions worth talking about. 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I don't know why, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-kunitz/one-critic-wrote-that-my-poems-sounded-as-though-they-had-been/) [Stanley Kunitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-kunitz/) > [In every house of marriage there's room for an interpreter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-kunitz/in-every-house-of-marriage-there-s-room-for-an-interpreter/) [Stanley Kunitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-kunitz/) > [The heart breaks and breaks and lives by breaking it is necessary to go through dark and deeper dark and not to turn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-kunitz/the-heart-breaks-and-breaks-and-lives-by-breaking-it-is-necessary-to/) [Stanley Kunitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-kunitz/) > [A longing for the dance stirs in the buried life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-kunitz/a-longing-for-the-dance-stirs-in-the-buried-life/) [Stanley Kunitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-kunitz/) > [Poetry is language surprised in the act of changing into meaning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-kunitz/poetry-is-language-surprised-in-the-act-of-changing-into-meaning/) [Stanley Kunitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-kunitz/) > [Poetry is the enemy of the poem.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-kunitz/poetry-is-the-enemy-of-the-poem/) [Stanley Kunitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-kunitz/) > [I dance/for the joy of surviving, at the edge of the road.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-kunitz/i-dance-for-the-joy-of-surviving-at-the-edge-of-the-road/) [Stanley Kunitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-kunitz/) > [We have to learn how to live with our frailties. The best people I know are inadequate and unashamed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-kunitz/we-have-to-learn-how-to-live-with-our-frailties-the-best-people-i/) [Stanley Kunitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-kunitz/) [Explore all 62 Stanley Kunitz quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-kunitz/) ## 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. 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