--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What is an artist? For every thousand…" description: "\"“What is an artist? For every thousand people there's nine hundred doing the work, ninety doing well, nine doing good, and one lucky bastard who's the ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eec/tom-stoppard-437_art_what-is-an-artist-for-every-thousand-peo_39557.jpg" --- # What is an artist? For every thousand people there's nine… ![“What is an artist? For every thousand people there's nine hundred doing the work, ninety doing well, nine doing good, and one lucky bastard who's the artist.” quote by Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eec/tom-stoppard-437_art_what-is-an-artist-for-every-thousand-peo_39557.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eec/tom-stoppard-437_art_what-is-an-artist-for-every-thousand-peo_39557.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eec/tom-stoppard-437_art_what-is-an-artist-for-every-thousand-peo_39557.jpg) > ““What is an artist? For every thousand people there's nine hundred doing the work, ninety doing well, nine doing good, and one lucky bastard who's the artist.”” [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) ## 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 sat that artistic identity is largely a matter of luck and perception rather than innate talent, highlighting how few are recognized as true artists despite many practicing the craft. **In simple terms:** Artistic status is often a matter of chance. Key Takeaway Recognition as an artist is rare and arbitrary. Themes identity recognition luck creativity perception Mood ironic reflective skeptical Type aphor observation When to use this quote - evaluating artistic merit - career discussions in creative fields - debates on talent vs. opportunity Key Concepts artist definition social validation skill vs. reputation Practical Applications - critique of art world hierarchies - motivational talk for creators Questions to Reflect On - What determines true artistic value? - How does societal perception shape artistic identity? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Doing good](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doing-good/) [Doing The Work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doing-the-work/) ## Related quotes > [Salome had but seven veils; the artist has a thousand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/salome-had-but-seven-veils-the-artist-has-a-thousand/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [Let me explain something to you. Look around here. How many people do you count? Sixty, eighty, eighty people? Greeks, Germans, Italians, French, Americans.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-david-roberts/let-me-explain-something-to-you-look-around-here-how-many-people-do/) [Gregory David Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-david-roberts/) > [“A hundred people to a car, a thousand people to a train, a thousand trains crisscrossing the city.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/makoto-shinkai/a-hundred-people-to-a-car-a-thousand-people-to-a-train-a-thousand/) [Makoto Shinkai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/makoto-shinkai/) > [If a hundred or a thousand people, all of the same age, of the same constitution and habits, were suddenly seized by the same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/petrarch/if-a-hundred-or-a-thousand-people-all-of-the-same-age-of-the-same/) [Petrarch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/petrarch/) > [There are ten thousand people in the United States in a persistent vegetative state. Just enough to start a small town. Think of them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-carlin/there-are-ten-thousand-people-in-the-united-states-in-a-persistent/) [George Carlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-carlin/) > [I've literally worked with over a thousand people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mrbeast/i-ve-literally-worked-with-over-a-thousand-people/) MrBeast > [Do you know how hard it is to gather seventy thousand people? Especially people who are confused and scared that they might be eaten…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/do-you-know-how-hard-it-is-to-gather-seventy-thousand-people/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“There are maybe two or three thousand people in the world as smart as us, little sister. Most of them are making a living…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/there-are-maybe-two-or-three-thousand-people-in-the-world-as-smart-as/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [There are moments in South America, in Brazil, where you look out, and there are literally thirty, forty thousand people jumping up and down…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-mccready/there-are-moments-in-south-america-in-brazil-where-you-look-out-and/) [Mike McCready](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-mccready/) > [The terrible thing in England is if you interview a thousand people, five hundred of them will talk like they're going into a Guy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ricky-gervais/the-terrible-thing-in-england-is-if-you-interview-a-thousand-people/) [Ricky Gervais](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ricky-gervais/) > [We've gone from venues that hold 500 up to 3,000 on our own, so I guess we're not entirely unknown. But there is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-forge/we-ve-gone-from-venues-that-hold-500-up-to-3-000-on-our-own-so-i/) [Tobias Forge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-forge/) > [“I don’t need a thousand people to know I existed. I just want someone to know I lived.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/whitney-barbetti/i-don-t-need-a-thousand-people-to-know-i-existed-i-just-want-someone/) [Whitney Barbetti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/whitney-barbetti/) > [“Now it was just the two of us, Max and me. And about a thousand other people around us.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kimberly-derting/now-it-was-just-the-two-of-us-max-and-me-and-about-a-thousand-other/) [Kimberly Derting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kimberly-derting/) > [At 10 years old, I was in my church band, playing in front of a couple thousand people every week.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bazzi/at-10-years-old-i-was-in-my-church-band-playing-in-front-of-a-couple/) [Bazzi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bazzi/) > [On stage I make love to twenty five thousand people; and then I go home alone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janis-joplin/on-stage-i-make-love-to-twenty-five-thousand-people-and-then-i-go/) [Janis Joplin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janis-joplin/) ## More by Tom Stoppard > [If I wanted to change the world, the last thing I would do is write a play.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/if-i-wanted-to-change-the-world-the-last-thing-i-would-do-is-write-a/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [If you want to change something by Tuesday, theater is no good. Journalism is what does that. But, if you want to just alter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/if-you-want-to-change-something-by-tuesday-theater-is-no-good/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [Childhood is Last Chance Gulch for happiness. After that, you know too much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/childhood-is-last-chance-gulch-for-happiness-after-that-you-know-too/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [After all these years, I definitely associate having a pen in my hand with having an ashtray just out of eye line.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/after-all-these-years-i-definitely-associate-having-a-pen-in-my-hand/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [The universe is deterministic all right, just like Newton said, I mean it's trying to be, but the only thing going wrong is people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/the-universe-is-deterministic-all-right-just-like-newton-said-i-mean/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [For me, human rights simply endorse a view of life and a set of moral values that are perfectly clear to an eight-year-old child.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/for-me-human-rights-simply-endorse-a-view-of-life-and-a-set-of-moral/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [Dying is not romantic, and death is not a game which will soon be over... Death is not anything... death is not... It's the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/dying-is-not-romantic-and-death-is-not-a-game-which-will-soon-be-over/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [I'm not interested in clothes; I just like them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/i-m-not-interested-in-clothes-i-just-like-them/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [For 10 years of my life, 3 times a day, I thanked the Lord for what I was about to receive and thanked him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/for-10-years-of-my-life-3-times-a-day-i-thanked-the-lord-for-what-i/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [You should not translate for more than two hours at a time. After that, you lose your edge, the language becomes clumsy, rigid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/you-should-not-translate-for-more-than-two-hours-at-a-time-after-that/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [No matter how imperfect things are, if you've got a free press everything is correctable, and without it everything is concealable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/no-matter-how-imperfect-things-are-if-you-ve-got-a-free-press/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [We must be born with an intuition of mortality. Before we know the word for it. Before we know that there are words. Out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/we-must-be-born-with-an-intuition-of-mortality-before-we-know-the/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [Eternity's a terrible thought. I mean, where's it all going to end?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/eternity-s-a-terrible-thought-i-mean-where-s-it-all-going-to-end/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [There is truth and falsehood in a comma.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/there-is-truth-and-falsehood-in-a-comma/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [When I was 20, the idea of having a play on anywhere was just beyond my dreams.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/when-i-was-20-the-idea-of-having-a-play-on-anywhere-was-just-beyond/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) [Explore all 559 Tom Stoppard quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) ## 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": "“What is an artist? 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