--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I have never heard a dancer asking for…" description: "\"I have never heard a dancer asking for advice about how to stay focused on her footwork, or a painter complaining about the dull day-to-day task of pai..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9e/ursula-k-le-guin-138_advice_i-have-never-heard-a-dancer-asking-for-a_1183478.jpg" --- # I have never heard a dancer asking for advice about how to… ![“I have never heard a dancer asking for advice about how to stay focused on her footwork, or a painter complaining about the dull day-to-day task of painting. What task worth doing isn't worth daily effort? Do you think Michelangelo was having fun the whole time he was on his back painting the…” quote by Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9e/ursula-k-le-guin-138_advice_i-have-never-heard-a-dancer-asking-for-a_1183478.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9e/ursula-k-le-guin-138_advice_i-have-never-heard-a-dancer-asking-for-a_1183478.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9e/ursula-k-le-guin-138_advice_i-have-never-heard-a-dancer-asking-for-a_1183478.jpg) > “I have never heard a dancer asking for advice about how to stay focused on her footwork, or a painter complaining about the dull day-to-day task of painting. What task worth doing isn't worth daily effort? Do you think Michelangelo was having fun the whole time he was on his back painting the Sistine Chapel's ceiling.” [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Creative work demands consistent, often unglamorous effort; mastery comes from daily practice rather than occasional inspiration. **In simple terms:** Great art needs daily work. Key Takeaway Embrace routine practice. Themes creativity discipline craft mastery Mood reflective inspirational Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - painting - dance - writing - skill development - long‑term projects Key Concepts deliberate practice flow intrinsic motivation Questions to Reflect On - How do you sustain focus on repetitive tasks? - What makes mundane work feel meaningful? A Different Perspective Even with routine, burnout can sap motivation if not balanced with rest. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Advice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/advice/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Asking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/asking/) [Asking for advice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/asking-for-advice/) [Ceilings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ceilings/) [Chapel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chapel/) [Complaining](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/complaining/) [Dance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dance/) [Dancer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dancer/) [Day to day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/day-to-day/) [Dull](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dull/) [Dull days](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dull-days-51690/) [Effort](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/effort/) [Focused](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/focused/) [Footwork](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/footwork/) [Fun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fun/) [Having fun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/having-fun/) [Heard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heard/) [Michelangelo Having](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/michelangelo-having-3480634/) [Painter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/painter/) [Painter Complaining](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/painter-complaining-3480632/) [Painting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/painting/) [Painting Task](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/painting-task-3480633/) [Sistine chapel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sistine-chapel/) [Stay focused](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stay-focused/) [Tasks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tasks/) [Think Michelangelo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/think-michelangelo-3281587/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Whole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/whole/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [If something becomes old-fashioned, it was no good to start with. 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Stop talking about your partner to others. I see so many statuses about folks…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-modise/being-in-a-relationship-today-requires-hard-work-and-dedication-stop/) [Gregory Modise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-modise/) > [Asking for advice about what you should write is a little like asking for help getting dressed. I can you tell you what I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/asking-for-advice-about-what-you-should-write-is-a-little-like-asking/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) > [Asking for advice is an act of humility… The act alone says, "I need you." The decision maker and the adviser are pushed into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-bakke/asking-for-advice-is-an-act-of-humility-the-act-alone-says-i-need-you/) [Dennis Bakke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-bakke/) > [I didn't know how to pass a major piece of legislation; I didn't know how to get colleagues to support my views. It took…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kirsten-gillibrand/i-didn-t-know-how-to-pass-a-major-piece-of-legislation-i-didn-t-know/) [Kirsten Gillibrand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kirsten-gillibrand/) > [I lean on a lot of drivers. I have a dirt racing background so I gravitate towards asking for advice from drivers who also…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/austin-dillon/i-lean-on-a-lot-of-drivers-i-have-a-dirt-racing-background-so-i/) [Austin Dillon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/austin-dillon/) ## More by Ursula K. Le Guin > [“...I wore his blood for clothing, on my legs and thighs and hands: a dry, stiff, brown garment with no warmth in it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/i-wore-his-blood-for-clothing-on-my-legs-and-thighs-and-hands-a-dry/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [Translation is entirely mysterious. Increasingly I have felt that the art of writing is itself translating, or more like translating than it is like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/translation-is-entirely-mysterious-increasingly-i-have-felt-that-the/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [“Aeneas' mother is a star?" "No; a goddess." I said cautiously, "Venus is the power that we invoke in spring, in the garden, when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/aeneas-mother-is-a-star-no-a-goddess-i-said-cautiously-venus-is-the/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [“Meaning - this is perhaps the common note, the bane I am seeking. What is the Meaning of this book, this event in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/meaning-this-is-perhaps-the-common-note-the-bane-i-am-seeking-what-is/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [For fantasy is true, of course. It isn't factual, but it is true. Children know that. Adults know it too, and that is precisely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/for-fantasy-is-true-of-course-it-isn-t-factual-but-it-is-true/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [“. . . chronosophy does involve ethics. Because our sense of time involves our ability to separate cause and effect, means and end. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/chronosophy-does-involve-ethics-because-our-sense-of-time-involves/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [“If both you and your plane are on time, the airport is merely a diffuse, short, miserable prelude to the intense, long, miserable plane…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/if-both-you-and-your-plane-are-on-time-the-airport-is-merely-a/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [“The author is not impartial. Dystopia is not tragedy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/the-author-is-not-impartial-dystopia-is-not-tragedy/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [Between thought and spoken word is a gap where intention can enter, the symbol be twisted aside, and the lie come to be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/between-thought-and-spoken-word-is-a-gap-where-intention-can-enter/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [I have no control over my writing. I have lots of good intentions, but no control. There's a story that wants to be told.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/i-have-no-control-over-my-writing-i-have-lots-of-good-intentions-but/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [“I did a lot today. That is, I did something. The only thing I have ever done. I pressed a button. It took the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/i-did-a-lot-today-that-is-i-did-something-the-only-thing-i-have-ever/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [To me the female principle is, or at least historically has been, basically anarchic. It values order without constraint, rule by custom not by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/to-me-the-female-principle-is-or-at-least-historically-has-been/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [“Hector had no virtue?” “Of course he did. He won all his battles, till the last one.” “We all do,” Aeneas remarked.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/hector-had-no-virtue-of-course-he-did-he-won-all-his-battles-till-the/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [“I was willing to believe him that most modern writing was trash, on the evidence that so much old writing was trash; but I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/i-was-willing-to-believe-him-that-most-modern-writing-was-trash-on/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [“Can women operate as women in a male institution without becoming imitation men?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/can-women-operate-as-women-in-a-male-institution-without-becoming/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) [Explore all 1,114 Ursula K. Le Guin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) ## More Advice quotes > [The sensible person is always serious about sensible advice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/the-sensible-person-is-always-serious-about-sensible-advice/) [Mak\_786](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mak-786/) > [I ask for tips, for advice. What I have also learnt is that I need to do things that are good for me. In…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthijs-de-ligt/i-ask-for-tips-for-advice-what-i-have-also-learnt-is-that-i-need-to/) [Matthijs de Ligt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthijs-de-ligt/) > [Don't get too attached to someone you know you can't be together with.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anurag-prakash-ray/don-t-get-too-attached-to-someone-you-know-you-can-t-be-together-with/) [Anurag Prakash Ray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anurag-prakash-ray/) > [A low-minded person should not be given good advice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chanakya/a-low-minded-person-should-not-be-given-good-advice/) [Chanakya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chanakya/) > [The worst advice? 'Don't listen to the critics.' I think that you really ought to listen to the critics, because sometimes they're telling you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/the-worst-advice-don-t-listen-to-the-critics-i-think-that-you-really/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [When I was in my twenties and just so sexually prolific, the first time I went to Machu Picchu, this guy, a spiritual teacher,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woody-harrelson/when-i-was-in-my-twenties-and-just-so-sexually-prolific-the-first/) [Woody Harrelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woody-harrelson/) > [The best way to succeed in this world is to act on the advice you give to others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-hill/the-best-way-to-succeed-in-this-world-is-to-act-on-the-advice-you/) [Napoleon Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-hill/) > [Time is priceless. You have it, but you don't own it. You spend it, but you can't keep it. And once it's gone, there's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/time-is-priceless-you-have-it-but-you-don-t-own-it-you-spend-it-but/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [You don't need to take a persons advice to make him feel good, just ask him for it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-j-peter/you-don-t-need-to-take-a-persons-advice-to-make-him-feel-good-just/) [Laurence J. Peter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-j-peter/) > [Some of the things that we hold onto the most, are the things that we need to let go of.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryaj-ablando-catayas/some-of-the-things-that-we-hold-onto-the-most-are-the-things-that-we/) [Ryaj Ablando Catayas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryaj-ablando-catayas/) > [“If your clothes are enough to drive would-be friends away, they're not the kind of friends you want." Typical mother advice. Sweet, honest, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aprilynne-pike/if-your-clothes-are-enough-to-drive-would-be-friends-away-they-re-not/) [Aprilynne Pike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aprilynne-pike/) > [“My kingdom not for a horse, but for a good piece of advice!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/my-kingdom-not-for-a-horse-but-for-a-good-piece-of-advice/) [Mehmet Murat ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [I always advise people not to act upon the advice that I give them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikrant-parsai/i-always-advise-people-not-to-act-upon-the-advice-that-i-give-them/) [Vikrant Parsai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikrant-parsai/) > [ \[A\]s you partake of the world's bill of fare, that's darned good advice to follow. 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