---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: He only can create the greatest…"
description: "\"He only can create the greatest imaginable beauty who has endured all imaginable pangs, for only when we have seen and foreseen what we dread shall we ..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/835/william-butler-yeats-350_beauty_he-only-can-create-the-greatest-imaginab_2776782.png"
---

#  He only can create the greatest imaginable beauty who has…

![“He only can create the greatest imaginable beauty who has endured all imaginable pangs, for only when we have seen and foreseen what we dread shall we be rewarded by that dazzling unforeseen wing-footed wanderer.” quote by William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/835/william-butler-yeats-350_beauty_he-only-can-create-the-greatest-imaginab_2776782.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/835/william-butler-yeats-350_beauty_he-only-can-create-the-greatest-imaginab_2776782.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/835/william-butler-yeats-350_beauty_he-only-can-create-the-greatest-imaginab_2776782.png)

> “He only can create the greatest imaginable beauty who has endured all imaginable pangs, for only when we have seen and foreseen what we dread shall we be rewarded by that dazzling unforeseen wing-footed wanderer.”

[William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Enduring deep suffering expands one's capacity to create profound beauty, as confronting fear reveals unexpected rewards.

**In simple terms:** Suffering can unlock great beauty.

Key Takeaway

Embrace hardship to discover hidden gifts.

Themes

suffering beauty creativity reward

Mood

reflective hopeful

Type

philosophical inspirational

When to use this quote

- artistic creation
- personal growth
- healing
- spiritual quest

Key Concepts

existentialism aesthetic philosophy

Questions to Reflect On

- How have your hardships shaped your creative work?
- What fears might you need to face to unlock new possibilities?

A Different Perspective

Beauty may require pain, and not all pain leads to beauty.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Beauty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beauty/) [Wanderers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wanderers/)

## Related quotes

> [“She had beauty that endured, and a smile that was not forgotten. Somewhere her voice still lingered, and the memory of her words.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-du-maurier/she-had-beauty-that-endured-and-a-smile-that-was-not-forgotten/)

[Daphne du Maurier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-du-maurier/)

> [And he will manage the cure best who has foreseen what is to happen from the present state of matters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hippocrates/and-he-will-manage-the-cure-best-who-has-foreseen-what-is-to-happen/)

[Hippocrates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hippocrates/)

> [The future of nations cannot be frozen . . . cannot be foreseen. If we are going to accomplish anything in our time we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-hoover/the-future-of-nations-cannot-be-frozen-cannot-be-foreseen-if-we-are/)

[Herbert Hoover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-hoover/)

> [A lot of Democrats have said that raising the minimum wage is both good economics and good politics. The nonpartisan CBO issued a report…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-e-cupp-2/a-lot-of-democrats-have-said-that-raising-the-minimum-wage-is-both/)

S. E. Cupp

> [A short story relies on those values that make poetry and jazz what they are: tension, rhythms, inner beat, into unforeseen within foreseen parameters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julio-cort-zar/a-short-story-relies-on-those-values-that-make-poetry-and-jazz-what/)

[Julio Cortazar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julio-cort-zar/)

> [In creativity the way will be found for subject to pass into object, the identity of subject with object will be restored. All the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikolai-berdyaev/in-creativity-the-way-will-be-found-for-subject-to-pass-into-object/)

[Nikolai Berdyaev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikolai-berdyaev/)

> [Election is an act of God before creation in which He chooses some people to be saved, not on account of any foreseen merit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-grudem/election-is-an-act-of-god-before-creation-in-which-he-chooses-some/)

[Wayne Grudem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-grudem/)

> [Notwithstanding all the care and anxiety of the persons who frame Acts of Parliament to guard against every event, it frequently turns out that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherrilyn-kenyon/notwithstanding-all-the-care-and-anxiety-of-the-persons-who-frame/)

[Sherrilyn Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherrilyn-kenyon/)

> [O visions ill foreseen! Better had I Liv'd ignorant of future, so had borne My part of evil only.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/o-visions-ill-foreseen-better-had-i-liv-d-ignorant-of-future-so-had/)

[John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/)

> [I came to fantasy fairly late. For some ten years, I had been happily writing fiction and non-fiction for adults. But I always loved…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lloyd-alexander/i-came-to-fantasy-fairly-late-for-some-ten-years-i-had-been-happily/)

[Lloyd Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lloyd-alexander/)

> [A lot of people complain in the year 2003 that it's not the world of tomorrow as foreseen in the 1950s. 'Where are the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hardwick/a-lot-of-people-complain-in-the-year-2003-that-it-s-not-the-world-of/)

[Chris Hardwick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hardwick/)

> [The modern world needs people with a complex identity who are intellectually autonomous and prepared to cope with uncertainty; who are able to tolerate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-j-havighurst/the-modern-world-needs-people-with-a-complex-identity-who-are/)

[Robert J. Havighurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-j-havighurst/)

> [In a virtuous government, and more especially in times like these, public offices are what they should be - burdens to those appointed to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/in-a-virtuous-government-and-more-especially-in-times-like-these/)

[Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/)

> [“I can foreseen the fulfillment of my the visions.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/i-can-foreseen-the-fulfillment-of-my-the-visions/)

[Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/)

> [I first learnt to program a computer when I was nine, when my dad got a ZX80, but I think I would have had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suw-charman-anderson/i-first-learnt-to-program-a-computer-when-i-was-nine-when-my-dad-got/)

[Suw Charman-Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suw-charman-anderson/)

## More by William Butler Yeats

> [Time can but make her beauty over again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/time-can-but-make-her-beauty-over-again/)

[William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/)

> [I would have touched it like a child But knew my finger could but have touched Cold stone and water. I grew wild, Even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/i-would-have-touched-it-like-a-child-but-knew-my-finger-could-but/)

[William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/)

> [You know what the Englishman's idea of compromise is? He says, Some people say there is a God. Some people say there is no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/you-know-what-the-englishman-s-idea-of-compromise-is-he-says-some/)

[William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/)

> [Beloved, let your eyes half close, and your heart beat Over my heart, and your hair fall over my breast, Drowning love's lonely hour…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/beloved-let-your-eyes-half-close-and-your-heart-beat-over-my-heart/)

[William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/)

> [That toil of growing up; The ignominy of boyhood; the distress Of boyhood changing into man; The unfinished man and his pain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/that-toil-of-growing-up-the-ignominy-of-boyhood-the-distress-of/)

[William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/)

> [I see a schoolboy when I think of him, With face and nose pressed to a sweet-shop window.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/i-see-a-schoolboy-when-i-think-of-him-with-face-and-nose-pressed-to-a/)

[William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/)

> [Only God, my dear, Could love you for yourself alone And not your yellow hair.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/only-god-my-dear-could-love-you-for-yourself-alone-and-not-your/)

[William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/)

> [We can only begin to live when we conceive life as Tragedy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/we-can-only-begin-to-live-when-we-conceive-life-as-tragedy/)

[William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/)

> [I know that I shall meet my fate somewhere among the clouds above; those that I fight I do not hate, those that I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/i-know-that-i-shall-meet-my-fate-somewhere-among-the-clouds-above/)

[William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/)

> [Great literature has always been written in a like spirit, and is, indeed, the Forgiveness of Sin, and when we find it becoming the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/great-literature-has-always-been-written-in-a-like-spirit-and-is/)

[William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/)

> [Where the wave of moonlight glosses The dim gray sands with light, Far off by furthest Rosses We foot it all the night, Weaving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/where-the-wave-of-moonlight-glosses-the-dim-gray-sands-with-light-far/)

[William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/)

> [His element is so fine Being sharpened by his death, To drink from the wine-breath While our gross palates drink from the whole wine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/his-element-is-so-fine-being-sharpened-by-his-death-to-drink-from-the/)

[William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/)

> [We poets would die of loneliness but for women, and we choose our men friends that we may have somebody to talk about women…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/we-poets-would-die-of-loneliness-but-for-women-and-we-choose-our-men/)

[William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/)

> [Love is created and preserved by intellectual analysis, for we love only that which is unique, and it belongs to contemplation, not to action,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/love-is-created-and-preserved-by-intellectual-analysis-for-we-love/)

[William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/)

> [Who dreamed that beauty passes like a dream? For these red lips, with all their mournful pride, Mournful that no new wonder may betide,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/who-dreamed-that-beauty-passes-like-a-dream-for-these-red-lips-with/)

[William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/)

[Explore all 652 William Butler Yeats quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/)

## More Beauty quotes

> [We do not want nowadays temples of worship and outward rites and ceremonies. What we really want is an Asram. We want a place…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabindranath-tagore/we-do-not-want-nowadays-temples-of-worship-and-outward-rites-and/)

[Rabindranath Tagore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabindranath-tagore/)

> [How could anybody confuse truth with beauty, I thought as I looked at him. Truth came with sunken eyes, bony or scarred, decayed. Its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-fitch/how-could-anybody-confuse-truth-with-beauty-i-thought-as-i-looked-at/)

[Janet Fitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-fitch/)

> [A thing of beauty is a joy for ever;It's loveliness increase;it will never pass into nothingness;but still will keep a bower quiet for us,and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-keats/a-thing-of-beauty-is-a-joy-for-ever-it-s-loveliness-increase-it-will/)

[John Keats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-keats/)

> [To fathom the power, to witness the beauty, to bathe in the fountain, to swing on the spiral of our divinity, and still be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tool/to-fathom-the-power-to-witness-the-beauty-to-bathe-in-the-fountain-to/)

[Tool](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tool/)

> [The term "black metal" has become a lot looser, or can include a larger range of sounds and extra-musical aesthetics, not just Satan and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-marston/the-term-black-metal-has-become-a-lot-looser-or-can-include-a-larger/)

[Colin Marston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-marston/)

> [“We've all met people who are beautiful on the outside, however, when they open their mouths to speak, they have nothing of substance to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-c-young/we-ve-all-met-people-who-are-beautiful-on-the-outside-however-when/)

[Susan C. Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-c-young/)

> [There are various orders of beauty, causing men to make fools of themselves in various styles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/there-are-various-orders-of-beauty-causing-men-to-make-fools-of/)

[George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/)

> [To me, the beauty of a quilt or a dress lies within the stitches and the thought of the person who made them. When…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie/to-me-the-beauty-of-a-quilt-or-a-dress-lies-within-the-stitches-and/)

[Natalie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie/)

> [“do not misunderstand person by beauty You really do not know its real or Mask on dirty thoughts”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohammed-zaki-ansari/do-not-misunderstand-person-by-beauty-you-really-do-not-know-its-real/)

[Mohammed Zaki Ansari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohammed-zaki-ansari/)

> [“I already love in you your beauty, but I am only beginning to love in you that which is eternal and ever precious –…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/i-already-love-in-you-your-beauty-but-i-am-only-beginning-to-love-in/)

[Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/)

> [The more perfect the sight is the more delightful the beautiful object. The more perfect the appetite, the sweeter the food. The more musical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-baxter/the-more-perfect-the-sight-is-the-more-delightful-the-beautiful/)

[Richard Baxter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-baxter/)

> [Call her beautiful a million times and she won't believe you. Call her ugly once, and she will never forget it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tumblr/call-her-beautiful-a-million-times-and-she-won-t-believe-you-call-her/)

Tumblr

> [Time can but make her beauty over again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/time-can-but-make-her-beauty-over-again/)

[William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/)

> [ The social \[media channel\] isn't about beauty contests and popularity contests. They're a distortion, a caricature of the real thing. It's about trust, connection,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umair-haque/the-social-media-channel-isn-t-about-beauty-contests-and-popularity/)

[Umair Haque](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umair-haque/)

> [“What about you? What do you do?” I needed to ask questions, draw him out. I needed to find out all the information I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-avery-ellison/what-about-you-what-do-you-do-i-needed-to-ask-questions-draw-him-out/)

[Kate Avery Ellison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-avery-ellison/)

[Browse all 24,662 Beauty quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beauty/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "He only can create the greatest imaginable beauty who has endured all imaginable pangs, for only when we have seen and foreseen what we dread shall we be rewarded by that dazzling unforeseen wing-footed wanderer.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "William Butler Yeats"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/he-only-can-create-the-greatest-imaginable-beauty-who-has-endured-all/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Beauty"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/he-only-can-create-the-greatest-imaginable-beauty-who-has-endured-all/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/835/william-butler-yeats-350_beauty_he-only-can-create-the-greatest-imaginab_2776782.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/835/william-butler-yeats-350_beauty_he-only-can-create-the-greatest-imaginab_2776782.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/835/william-butler-yeats-350_beauty_he-only-can-create-the-greatest-imaginab_2776782.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“He only can create the greatest imaginable beauty who has endured all imaginable pangs, for only when we…” — William Butler Yeats",
                "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": "William Butler Yeats",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "He only can create the greatest...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/he-only-can-create-the-greatest-imaginable-beauty-who-has-endured-all/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/he-only-can-create-the-greatest-imaginable-beauty-who-has-endured-all/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
