--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I'm not satisfied sitting in just the…" description: "\"I'm not satisfied sitting in just the world of abstract work.\" — Twyla Tharp" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/357/twyla-tharp-1069_abstract_i-m-not-satisfied-sitting-in-just-the-wo_1104553.png" --- # I'm not satisfied sitting in just the world of abstract… ![“I'm not satisfied sitting in just the world of abstract work.” quote by Twyla Tharp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/357/twyla-tharp-1069_abstract_i-m-not-satisfied-sitting-in-just-the-wo_1104553.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/357/twyla-tharp-1069_abstract_i-m-not-satisfied-sitting-in-just-the-wo_1104553.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/357/twyla-tharp-1069_abstract_i-m-not-satisfied-sitting-in-just-the-wo_1104553.png) > “I'm not satisfied sitting in just the world of abstract work.” [Twyla Tharp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/twyla-tharp/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. She expresses frustration with being confined to abstract concepts without practical application. **In simple terms:** Desire practical work beyond theory. Key Takeaway Seek tangible experiences to complement ideas. Themes creativity practicality artistic growth Mood reflective motivational Type artistic philosophical When to use this quote - workshops - studio sessions - collaborative projects Key Concepts theory vs practice embodied learning creative process Questions to Reflect On - What practical steps can bridge theory and action? - How does embodiment enhance creativity? A Different Perspective Abstract work can still be valuable; balance is key. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Abstract](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstract/) [Abstract Work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstract-work-561558/) [Just](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/just/) [Satisfied](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/satisfied/) [Satisfied Sitting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/satisfied-sitting-2911317/) [Sitting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sitting/) [Sitting Just](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sitting-just-1918579/) [Work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/work/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) [World Abstract](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world-abstract-316151/) ## Related quotes > [With abstract work, I never was quite sure what it was that felt right about the painting, but I did know that I responded…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-wagner/with-abstract-work-i-never-was-quite-sure-what-it-was-that-felt-right-2/) [Kurt Wagner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-wagner/) > [With abstract work, I never was quite sure what it was that felt right about the painting, but I did know that I responded…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-wagner/with-abstract-work-i-never-was-quite-sure-what-it-was-that-felt-right/) [Kurt Wagner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-wagner/) > [Where human eyes have never seen, where human beings have never been, I build a world of abstract dreams, and I wait for you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-ra/where-human-eyes-have-never-seen-where-human-beings-have-never-been-i/) [Sun Ra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-ra/) > [Malevitch discovered abstraction as an experimental principle that can propel creative work to previously unheard levels of invention; this abstract work allowed much greater…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zaha-hadid/malevitch-discovered-abstraction-as-an-experimental-principle-that/) [Zaha Hadid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zaha-hadid/) > [“I'm perfectly normal; its the rest of the world that's abstract.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-allinson/i-m-perfectly-normal-its-the-rest-of-the-world-that-s-abstract/) [Alexis Allinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-allinson/) > [The things I talk about and explain couldn't happen - yet, they don't seem impossible - you could say I talk about the world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-wright/the-things-i-talk-about-and-explain-couldn-t-happen-yet-they-don-t/) [Steven Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-wright/) > [The good thing I will say about the Chicago School is that it was always about the world, not about the abstract.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-thaler/the-good-thing-i-will-say-about-the-chicago-school-is-that-it-was/) [Richard Thaler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-thaler/) > [“And then one day, you too disappear. Your armchair is still there. But instead of you sitting in it, there is just an empty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/and-then-one-day-you-too-disappear-your-armchair-is-still-there-but/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Steve Blake is a great vet, but when I'm sitting behind him it's just like, c'mon, guys.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/spencer-dinwiddie/steve-blake-is-a-great-vet-but-when-i-m-sitting-behind-him-it-s-just/) [Spencer Dinwiddie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/spencer-dinwiddie/) > [“sitting still” is just about the worst thing you can do. It’s the new “going backward.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-horton/sitting-still-is-just-about-the-worst-thing-you-can-do-it-s-the-new/) [Tony Horton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-horton/) > [Sometimes I spend so much time just sitting and just thinking about what I want and what I need and worry about how it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/sometimes-i-spend-so-much-time-just-sitting-and-just-thinking-about/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Whenever I travel I like to keep the seat next to me empty. I found a great way to do it. When someone walks…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-leifer/whenever-i-travel-i-like-to-keep-the-seat-next-to-me-empty-i-found-a/) [Carol Leifer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-leifer/) > [It is kind of lovely to be sitting alone, just thinking, very quiet, no one around. I don't feel alone or left out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vin-scully/it-is-kind-of-lovely-to-be-sitting-alone-just-thinking-very-quiet-no/) [Vin Scully](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vin-scully/) > [My own physicality, not an abstract idea, makes me a choreographer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/twyla-tharp/my-own-physicality-not-an-abstract-idea-makes-me-a-choreographer/) [Twyla Tharp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/twyla-tharp/) > [Love is like that, fragile and light. No wonder it rests upon our hearts in intangible moments, bids us follow fleeting thoughts and ideas…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/love-is-like-that-fragile-and-light-no-wonder-it-rests-upon-our/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Twyla Tharp > [“A lot of habitually creative people have preparation rituals linked to the setting in which they choose to start their day. By putting themselves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/twyla-tharp/a-lot-of-habitually-creative-people-have-preparation-rituals-linked/) [Twyla Tharp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/twyla-tharp/) > [I have learned over the years that you should never save for two meetings what you can accomplish in one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/twyla-tharp/i-have-learned-over-the-years-that-you-should-never-save-for-two/) [Twyla Tharp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/twyla-tharp/) > [I always find that the best collaborations are when you work with people that know what they're doing, and you leave them alone to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/twyla-tharp/i-always-find-that-the-best-collaborations-are-when-you-work-with/) [Twyla Tharp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/twyla-tharp/) > [I don't mean this, but I'm going to say it anyway. I don't really think of pop art and serious art as being that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/twyla-tharp/i-don-t-mean-this-but-i-m-going-to-say-it-anyway-i-don-t-really-think/) [Twyla Tharp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/twyla-tharp/) > [The art of these Fifties movies was in sustaining forever the moment before sex.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/twyla-tharp/the-art-of-these-fifties-movies-was-in-sustaining-forever-the-moment/) [Twyla Tharp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/twyla-tharp/) > [This is not a pleasant route for many young people to consider. You have to be either hopelessly passionate, or very stupid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/twyla-tharp/this-is-not-a-pleasant-route-for-many-young-people-to-consider-you/) [Twyla Tharp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/twyla-tharp/) > [I often say that in making dances I can make a world where I think things are done morally, done democratically, done honestly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/twyla-tharp/i-often-say-that-in-making-dances-i-can-make-a-world-where-i-think/) [Twyla Tharp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/twyla-tharp/) > [I had received my first establishment grants in response to applications filed the year before. To the pages of baffling forms I had simply…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/twyla-tharp/i-had-received-my-first-establishment-grants-in-response-to/) [Twyla Tharp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/twyla-tharp/) > [I find the aesthetics of the 20th century hopelessly barren.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/twyla-tharp/i-find-the-aesthetics-of-the-20th-century-hopelessly-barren/) [Twyla Tharp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/twyla-tharp/) > [I don't think that scheduling is uncreative. I think that structure is required for creativity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/twyla-tharp/i-don-t-think-that-scheduling-is-uncreative-i-think-that-structure-is/) [Twyla Tharp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/twyla-tharp/) > [I have always felt one of the things dance should do - its business being so clearly physical - is challenge the culture's gender…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/twyla-tharp/i-have-always-felt-one-of-the-things-dance-should-do-its-business/) [Twyla Tharp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/twyla-tharp/) > [There really is nothing I ever had access to that I didn't appreciate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/twyla-tharp/there-really-is-nothing-i-ever-had-access-to-that-i-didn-t-appreciate/) [Twyla Tharp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/twyla-tharp/) > [Destiny, quite often, is a determined parent. Mozart was hardly some naive prodigy who sat down at the keyboard and, with God whispering in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/twyla-tharp/destiny-quite-often-is-a-determined-parent-mozart-was-hardly-some/) [Twyla Tharp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/twyla-tharp/) > [When it all comes together, a creative life has the nourishing power we normally associate with food, love and faith.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/twyla-tharp/when-it-all-comes-together-a-creative-life-has-the-nourishing-power/) [Twyla Tharp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/twyla-tharp/) > [Things change all the time, so why do people make such a philosophical to-do that things are constantly in transition?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/twyla-tharp/things-change-all-the-time-so-why-do-people-make-such-a-philosophical/) [Twyla Tharp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/twyla-tharp/) [Explore all 298 Twyla Tharp quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/twyla-tharp/) ## More Abstract quotes > [Love is like that, fragile and light. No wonder it rests upon our hearts in intangible moments, bids us follow fleeting thoughts and ideas…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/love-is-like-that-fragile-and-light-no-wonder-it-rests-upon-our/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Wisdom is the abstract of the past, but beauty is the promise of the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/wisdom-is-the-abstract-of-the-past-but-beauty-is-the-promise-of-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Where human eyes have never seen, where human beings have never been, I build a world of abstract dreams, and I wait for you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-ra/where-human-eyes-have-never-seen-where-human-beings-have-never-been-i/) [Sun Ra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-ra/) > [A little too abstract, a little too wise, It is time for us to kiss the earth again, It is time to let the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robinson-jeffers/a-little-too-abstract-a-little-too-wise-it-is-time-for-us-to-kiss-the/) [Robinson Jeffers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robinson-jeffers/) > [“Happy is very abstract, you can't touch it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julius-veal/happy-is-very-abstract-you-can-t-touch-it/) [Julius Veal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julius-veal/) > [Abstract Expressionism was invented by New York drunks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joni-mitchell/abstract-expressionism-was-invented-by-new-york-drunks/) [Joni Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joni-mitchell/) > [The more horrible this world (as today, for instance), the more abstract our art, whereas a happy world brings forth an art of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-klee/the-more-horrible-this-world-as-today-for-instance-the-more-abstract/) [Paul Klee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-klee/) > [Describing comic sensibility is near impossible. It's sort of an abstract silliness, that sometimes the joke isn't the star.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dana-carvey/describing-comic-sensibility-is-near-impossible-it-s-sort-of-an/) [Dana Carvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dana-carvey/) > [For people of color - especially African Americans - the idea that racist cops might frame members of their community is no abstract notion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-wise/for-people-of-color-especially-african-americans-the-idea-that-racist/) [Tim Wise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-wise/) > [The word of the Lord never comes to us as an opinion, no attempt is made to support it by argument, it comes as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-w-ivins/the-word-of-the-lord-never-comes-to-us-as-an-opinion-no-attempt-is/) [Anthony W. Ivins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-w-ivins/) > [A mobile is an abstract sculpture made chiefly out of sheet metal, steel rods, wire and wood. Some or all of these elements move,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-calder/a-mobile-is-an-abstract-sculpture-made-chiefly-out-of-sheet-metal/) [Alexander Calder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-calder/) > [I'm this superphilosophical kind of person. Stuck in a prison of abstract ideas and overpowering emotions, I have this personality that makes it really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natsuo-kirino/i-m-this-superphilosophical-kind-of-person-stuck-in-a-prison-of/) [Natsuo Kirino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natsuo-kirino/) > [Future lawyers should be more aware that law is not a system of abstract logic, but the web of arrangements, rooted in history but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-frankfurter/future-lawyers-should-be-more-aware-that-law-is-not-a-system-of/) [Felix Frankfurter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-frankfurter/) > [The trouble is that when you read criticisms about the other films that I've made you get the impression that they're all about themes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-haneke/the-trouble-is-that-when-you-read-criticisms-about-the-other-films/) [Michael Haneke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-haneke/) > [Painting is... a richer language than words... Painting operates through signs which are not abstract and incorporeal like words. The signs of painting are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-dubuffet/painting-is-a-richer-language-than-words-painting-operates-through/) [Jean Dubuffet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-dubuffet/) [Browse all 1,403 Abstract quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstract/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I'm not satisfied sitting in just the world of abstract work.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Twyla Tharp" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/twyla-tharp/i-m-not-satisfied-sitting-in-just-the-world-of-abstract-work/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Abstract" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/twyla-tharp/i-m-not-satisfied-sitting-in-just-the-world-of-abstract-work/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/357/twyla-tharp-1069_abstract_i-m-not-satisfied-sitting-in-just-the-wo_1104553.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/357/twyla-tharp-1069_abstract_i-m-not-satisfied-sitting-in-just-the-wo_1104553.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/357/twyla-tharp-1069_abstract_i-m-not-satisfied-sitting-in-just-the-wo_1104553.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I'm not satisfied sitting in just the world of abstract work.” — Twyla Tharp", "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": "Twyla Tharp", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/twyla-tharp/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I'm not satisfied sitting in just...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/twyla-tharp/i-m-not-satisfied-sitting-in-just-the-world-of-abstract-work/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/twyla-tharp/i-m-not-satisfied-sitting-in-just-the-world-of-abstract-work/#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 } } ] } ```