--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The stuff of which masterpieces are made…" description: "\"The stuff of which masterpieces are made drifts about the world waiting to be clothed in words.\" — Thornton Wilder" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d8d/thornton-wilder-1495_artist_the-stuff-of-which-masterpieces-are-made_467543.jpg" --- # The stuff of which masterpieces are made drifts about the… ![“The stuff of which masterpieces are made drifts about the world waiting to be clothed in words.” quote by Thornton Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d8d/thornton-wilder-1495_artist_the-stuff-of-which-masterpieces-are-made_467543.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d8d/thornton-wilder-1495_artist_the-stuff-of-which-masterpieces-are-made_467543.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d8d/thornton-wilder-1495_artist_the-stuff-of-which-masterpieces-are-made_467543.jpg) > “The stuff of which masterpieces are made drifts about the world waiting to be clothed in words.” [Thornton Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thornton-wilder/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote suggests that great works originate from raw material wandering the world, awaiting expression through language. **In simple terms:** Masterpieces arise from untamed ideas seeking words. Key Takeaway Seek to capture and articulate raw inspiration. Themes creativity art language inspiration Mood reflective creative Type artistic philosophical When to use this quote - writing - visual arts - music composition Key Concepts literature creative process expression Questions to Reflect On - What raw ideas inspire you to create? - How do you decide which thoughts become art? A Different Perspective Not all raw material is worthy of artistic transformation; discernment needed. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Masterpiece](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/masterpiece/) [Masterpieces](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/masterpieces/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [The public for which masterpieces are intended is not of this earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thornton-wilder/the-public-for-which-masterpieces-are-intended-is-not-of-this-earth/) [Thornton Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thornton-wilder/) > [The effect of studying masterpieces is to make me admire and do otherwise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerard-manley-hopkins/the-effect-of-studying-masterpieces-is-to-make-me-admire-and-do/) [Gerard Manley Hopkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerard-manley-hopkins/) > [It is when their age of passions is past that great men produce their masterpieces, just as it is after volcanic eruptions that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicolas-chamfort/it-is-when-their-age-of-passions-is-past-that-great-men-produce-their/) [Nicolas Chamfort](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicolas-chamfort/) > [“Make your lives a masterpiece, you only get one canvas.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/make-your-lives-a-masterpiece-you-only-get-one-canvas/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [There is something frightful in being required to enjoy and appreciate all masterpieces; to read with equal relish Milton, and Dante, and Calderon, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-repplier/there-is-something-frightful-in-being-required-to-enjoy-and/) [Agnes Repplier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-repplier/) > [“It should be the ambition of every true artist to transform wounds and traumas into masterpieces.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-gerard-trotman/it-should-be-the-ambition-of-every-true-artist-to-transform-wounds/) [Wayne Gerard Trotman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-gerard-trotman/) > [Masterpieces are only lucky attempts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-sand/masterpieces-are-only-lucky-attempts/) [George Sand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-sand/) > [We know that Las Vegas is junk, but at the same time I think that exactly the same process and ultimately also, perhaps the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rem-koolhaas/we-know-that-las-vegas-is-junk-but-at-the-same-time-i-think-that/) [Rem Koolhaas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rem-koolhaas/) > [I try to play, always, beautiful games...always I wanted to create masterpieces.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garry-kasparov/i-try-to-play-always-beautiful-games-always-i-wanted-to-create/) [Garry Kasparov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garry-kasparov/) > [In a longish life as a professional writer, I have heard a thousand masterpieces talked out over bars, restaurant tables and love seats. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/morris-west/in-a-longish-life-as-a-professional-writer-i-have-heard-a-thousand/) [Morris West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/morris-west/) > [My mother's songs are really turning out to be masterpieces. I have inherited this incredible legacy and am so fortunate to bathe in her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rufus-wainwright/my-mother-s-songs-are-really-turning-out-to-be-masterpieces-i-have/) [Rufus Wainwright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rufus-wainwright/) > [Masterpieces of art possess immense potential to advance a worldview that could help assuage the societal terrors posed by globalization, the most thoroughgoing socioeconomic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-filler/masterpieces-of-art-possess-immense-potential-to-advance-a-worldview/) [Martin Filler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-filler/) > [And the works that endure and will endure for ever, the great masterpieces, cannot have come into being as humanity... imagines. Man is only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-webern/and-the-works-that-endure-and-will-endure-for-ever-the-great/) [Anton Webern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-webern/) > [A good critic is the man who describes his adventures among masterpieces.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatole-france/a-good-critic-is-the-man-who-describes-his-adventures-among/) [Anatole France](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatole-france/) > [Im God's masterpiece still in the making.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tersa-almaw/im-god-s-masterpiece-still-in-the-making/) [Tersa Almaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tersa-almaw/) ## More by Thornton Wilder > [“He respected the slight nervous shadow that crossed her face when he came too near her. But there arose out of this denial itself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thornton-wilder/he-respected-the-slight-nervous-shadow-that-crossed-her-face-when-he/) [Thornton Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thornton-wilder/) > [When you're safe at home you wish you were having an adventure; when you're having an adventure you wish you were safe at home.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thornton-wilder/when-you-re-safe-at-home-you-wish-you-were-having-an-adventure-when/) [Thornton Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thornton-wilder/) > [“Simon Stimson: "...That's what it was to be alive. To move about in a cloud of ignorance; to go up and down trampling on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thornton-wilder/simon-stimson-that-s-what-it-was-to-be-alive-to-move-about-in-a-cloud/) [Thornton Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thornton-wilder/) > [“Love as education is one of the great powers of the world, but it hangs in a delicate suspension; it achieves its harmony as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thornton-wilder/love-as-education-is-one-of-the-great-powers-of-the-world-but-it/) [Thornton Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thornton-wilder/) > [Many great writers have been extraordinarily awkward in daily exchange, but the greatest give the impression that their style was nursed by the closest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thornton-wilder/many-great-writers-have-been-extraordinarily-awkward-in-daily/) [Thornton Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thornton-wilder/) > [A man looks pretty small at a wedding, George. All those good women standing shoulder to shoulder, making sure that the knot's tied in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thornton-wilder/a-man-looks-pretty-small-at-a-wedding-george-all-those-good-women/) [Thornton Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thornton-wilder/) > [The knowledge that she would never be loved in return acted upon her ideas as a tide acts upon cliffs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thornton-wilder/the-knowledge-that-she-would-never-be-loved-in-return-acted-upon-her/) [Thornton Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thornton-wilder/) > [“But while they continued staring into one another’s face waiting for the miracle of science the pain grew worse.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thornton-wilder/but-while-they-continued-staring-into-one-another-s-face-waiting-for/) [Thornton Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thornton-wilder/) > [I am convinced that, except in a few extraordinary cases, one form or another of an unhappy childhood is essential to the formation of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thornton-wilder/i-am-convinced-that-except-in-a-few-extraordinary-cases-one-form-or/) [Thornton Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thornton-wilder/) > [Many who have spent a lifetime in it can tell us less of love than the child that lost a dog yesterday.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thornton-wilder/many-who-have-spent-a-lifetime-in-it-can-tell-us-less-of-love-than/) [Thornton Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thornton-wilder/) > [“Cesar is not a philosophical man. His life has been one long flight from reflection. At least he is clever enough not to expose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thornton-wilder/cesar-is-not-a-philosophical-man-his-life-has-been-one-long-flight/) [Thornton Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thornton-wilder/) > [Every person who has ever lived has lived an unbroken succession of unique occasions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thornton-wilder/every-person-who-has-ever-lived-has-lived-an-unbroken-succession-of/) [Thornton Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thornton-wilder/) > [“Without your wounds where would your power be? It is your melancholy that makes your low voice tremble into the hearts of men and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thornton-wilder/without-your-wounds-where-would-your-power-be-it-is-your-melancholy/) [Thornton Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thornton-wilder/) > [Ninety-nine per cent of the people in the world are fools and the rest of us are in great danger of contagion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thornton-wilder/ninety-nine-per-cent-of-the-people-in-the-world-are-fools-and-the/) [Thornton Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thornton-wilder/) > [There's nothing like mixing with woman to bring out all the foolishness in a man of sense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thornton-wilder/there-s-nothing-like-mixing-with-woman-to-bring-out-all-the/) [Thornton Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thornton-wilder/) [Explore all 232 Thornton Wilder quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thornton-wilder/) ## More Artist quotes > [One is a painter because one wants so-called freedom; one doesn't want to go to the office every morning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/one-is-a-painter-because-one-wants-so-called-freedom-one-doesn-t-want/) [Marcel Duchamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-duchamp/) > [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/) > [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/) > [“People in coats and ties were milling around the Talley gallery, and on the wall were the minimally rendered still lifes by Giorgio Morandi,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-martin/people-in-coats-and-ties-were-milling-around-the-talley-gallery-and/) [Steve Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-martin/) > [The prophet who fails to present a bearable alternative and yet preaches doom is part of the trap that he postulates. Not only does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mead/the-prophet-who-fails-to-present-a-bearable-alternative-and-yet/) [Margaret Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mead/) > [“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 > [From as long as I can remember, I was always fond of drawing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/st-lucia/from-as-long-as-i-can-remember-i-was-always-fond-of-drawing/) [St. Lucia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/st-lucia/) > [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 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/) > [Designers shouldn’t design for museums any more than mummies should die for them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-caplan/designers-shouldn-t-design-for-museums-any-more-than-mummies-should/) [Ralph Caplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-caplan/) > [I don't believe in competitions between artists. This is insane. Who has the authority to say someone is better?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-arkin/i-don-t-believe-in-competitions-between-artists-this-is-insane-who/) [Alan Arkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-arkin/) > [I am not the avant-garde. I am the artist who comes after the advancing guard. I am more concerned with continuity of ideas and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-oliveira/i-am-not-the-avant-garde-i-am-the-artist-who-comes-after-the/) [Nathan Oliveira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-oliveira/) > [I am a horrible visual artist. I can't fix a car, sew, knit, cook, etc. Statistically, there is more I don't do than do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-brownstein/i-am-a-horrible-visual-artist-i-can-t-fix-a-car-sew-knit-cook-etc/) [Carrie Brownstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-brownstein/) [Browse all 32,600 Artist quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The stuff of which masterpieces are made drifts about the world waiting to be clothed in words.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Thornton Wilder" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thornton-wilder/the-stuff-of-which-masterpieces-are-made-drifts-about-the-world/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Artist" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thornton-wilder/the-stuff-of-which-masterpieces-are-made-drifts-about-the-world/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d8d/thornton-wilder-1495_artist_the-stuff-of-which-masterpieces-are-made_467543.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d8d/thornton-wilder-1495_artist_the-stuff-of-which-masterpieces-are-made_467543.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d8d/thornton-wilder-1495_artist_the-stuff-of-which-masterpieces-are-made_467543.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The stuff of which masterpieces are made drifts about the world waiting to be clothed in words.” — Thornton Wilder", "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": "Thornton Wilder", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thornton-wilder/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The stuff of which masterpieces are...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thornton-wilder/the-stuff-of-which-masterpieces-are-made-drifts-about-the-world/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thornton-wilder/the-stuff-of-which-masterpieces-are-made-drifts-about-the-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 } } ] } ```