--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The principle factor in my success has…" description: "\"The principle factor in my success has been an absolute desire to draw constantly. I never decided to be an artist. Simply, I couldn't stop myself from..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/480/winsor-mccay-47882_art_the-principle-factor-in-my-success-has-b_202754.jpg" --- # The principle factor in my success has been an absolute… ![“The principle factor in my success has been an absolute desire to draw constantly. I never decided to be an artist. Simply, I couldn't stop myself from drawing. I drew for my own pleasure. I never wanted to know whether or not someone liked my drawings. I have never kept one of my drawings. I drew…” quote by Winsor McCay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/480/winsor-mccay-47882_art_the-principle-factor-in-my-success-has-b_202754.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/480/winsor-mccay-47882_art_the-principle-factor-in-my-success-has-b_202754.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/480/winsor-mccay-47882_art_the-principle-factor-in-my-success-has-b_202754.jpg) > “The principle factor in my success has been an absolute desire to draw constantly. I never decided to be an artist. Simply, I couldn't stop myself from drawing. I drew for my own pleasure. I never wanted to know whether or not someone liked my drawings. I have never kept one of my drawings. I drew on walls, the school blackboard, odd bits of paper, the walls of barns. Today I'm still as fond of drawings as when I was a kid - and that was a long time ago - but, surprising as it may seem, I never thought about the money I would receive for my drawings. I simply drew them.” [Winsor McCay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winsor-mccay/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A relentless drive to draw fuels artistic success, independent of external validation or financial reward. **In simple terms:** Passion for drawing leads to mastery without chasing fame. Key Takeaway Draw for joy, not for approval. Themes creativity passion discipline self‑motivation artistic integrity Mood focused hopeful Type motivational inspirational When to use this quote - daily sketching - personal projects - educational settings - community murals Key Concepts intrinsic motivation habit formation flow state Questions to Reflect On - What habits keep your creative spark alive? - How do you balance personal joy with professional demands? A Different Perspective Reliance on internal drive may ignore practical needs like income. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) [Kids](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kids/) [Pleasure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pleasure/) [Principles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/principles/) [School](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/school/) [Success](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/success/) [Today](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/today/) [Wall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wall/) ## Related quotes > [I was trouble - and always in trouble. Aged eight I still couldn't read. In fact, I was dyslexic and short-sighted. 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I draw an arrow from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-mccourt/on-the-left-side-of-the-blackboard-i-print-a-capital-f-on-the-right/) [Frank McCourt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-mccourt/) > [That's the amazing thing about life. You can just rub it out, like a blackboard, and start again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ricky-gervais/that-s-the-amazing-thing-about-life-you-can-just-rub-it-out-like-a/) [Ricky Gervais](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ricky-gervais/) > [“In the chalky trough under the blackboard are lessons dusted and already forgotten. 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It was my job to put away the chairs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carmen-yulin-cruz/when-i-was-in-school-i-was-too-short-to-erase-the-blackboard-it-was/) [Carmen Yulin Cruz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carmen-yulin-cruz/) > [I am not fully forgiven until I allow God to write his new dream for my life on the blackboard of my mind. ..…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-h-schuller/i-am-not-fully-forgiven-until-i-allow-god-to-write-his-new-dream-for/) [Robert H. Schuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-h-schuller/) > [Clouds are poems, and the most moving poems linger on the blackboard so long, written in cursive so lovely, they also exist inside our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-beattie/clouds-are-poems-and-the-most-moving-poems-linger-on-the-blackboard/) [Ann Beattie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-beattie/) > [Prosperity is just around the corner.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-hoover/prosperity-is-just-around-the-corner/) [Herbert Hoover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-hoover/) ## More by Winsor McCay > [“Nemo suggested that it might be some monster giant but his papa called him a "rattlebrain" and ordered him to pacify his mama who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winsor-mccay/nemo-suggested-that-it-might-be-some-monster-giant-but-his-papa/) [Winsor McCay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winsor-mccay/) > [“I'm lost! Mama! I'm lost! Oh! I'm lost! You are not lost, Nemo. Go back to sleep and behave, hear?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winsor-mccay/i-m-lost-mama-i-m-lost-oh-i-m-lost-you-are-not-lost-nemo-go-back-to/) [Winsor McCay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winsor-mccay/) > [Three Scotsmen of the clan McKay were looking for a fourth member to fight four members of the Irish clan Magee ... 'I'm not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winsor-mccay/three-scotsmen-of-the-clan-mckay-were-looking-for-a-fourth-member-to/) [Winsor McCay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winsor-mccay/) > [I hope and dream the time will come when serious artists will make marvelous pictures that will love and live in life-like manner and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winsor-mccay/i-hope-and-dream-the-time-will-come-when-serious-artists-will-make/) [Winsor McCay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winsor-mccay/) > [Any idiot that wants to make a couple of thousand drawings for a hundred feet of film is welcome to join the club.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winsor-mccay/any-idiot-that-wants-to-make-a-couple-of-thousand-drawings-for-a/) [Winsor McCay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winsor-mccay/) > [Animation should be an art…what you fellows have done with it, making it into a trade…not an art, but a trade…bad luck.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winsor-mccay/animation-should-be-an-art-what-you-fellows-have-done-with-it-making/) [Winsor McCay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winsor-mccay/) > [Eighteen thousand miles from the moon is some slide, but I'll get up there again some way!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winsor-mccay/eighteen-thousand-miles-from-the-moon-is-some-slide-but-i-ll-get-up/) [Winsor McCay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winsor-mccay/) [Explore all 8 Winsor McCay quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winsor-mccay/) ## 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. 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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": "The principle factor in my success has been an absolute desire to draw constantly. 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