--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Art is like a kite. You have to pull the…" description: "\"Art is like a kite. You have to pull the string hard in order to stretch it to its limit, but you don't want to pull it so hard that you break the thre..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c6f/wu-guanzhong-53230_art_art-is-like-a-kite-you-have-to-pull-the_2970902.jpg" --- # Art is like a kite. You have to pull the string hard in… ![“Art is like a kite. You have to pull the string hard in order to stretch it to its limit, but you don't want to pull it so hard that you break the thread, because the thread connects you to the land and its peoples.” quote by Wu Guanzhong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c6f/wu-guanzhong-53230_art_art-is-like-a-kite-you-have-to-pull-the_2970902.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c6f/wu-guanzhong-53230_art_art-is-like-a-kite-you-have-to-pull-the_2970902.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c6f/wu-guanzhong-53230_art_art-is-like-a-kite-you-have-to-pull-the_2970902.jpg) > “Art is like a kite. You have to pull the string hard in order to stretch it to its limit, but you don't want to pull it so hard that you break the thread, because the thread connects you to the land and its peoples.” [Wu Guanzhong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wu-guanzhong/) ## 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 requires tension: enough effort to expand limits but not so much that it breaks the essential connection. **In simple terms:** Balance effort and restraint in art. Key Takeaway Push limits without breaking the core. Themes creativity discipline balance Mood thoughtful inspirational Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - painting - design - performance - collaboration Key Concepts artistic process risk management Questions to Reflect On - When do you know to ease the pull? - How does the “thread” guide your work? A Different Perspective Too much pressure can stifle creativity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Art is](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art-is/) [Art Like](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art-like/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Break](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/break/) [Hard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hard/) [Kites](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kites/) [Land](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/land/) [Limits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/limits/) [Order](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/order/) [Stretch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stretch/) [Stretch Limit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stretch-limit-4573063/) [String](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/string/) [String Hard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/string-hard-675623/) [Strings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strings/) [Thread](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thread/) [Want](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/want/) ## Related quotes > [Such Roots as are soft, your best way is to dry in the Sun, or else hang them up in the Chimney corner upon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-culpeper/such-roots-as-are-soft-your-best-way-is-to-dry-in-the-sun-or-else/) [Nicholas Culpeper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-culpeper/) > [If a painting contains no abstraction nor impressionistic elements, it is a kite that will never fly. But if the painting completely breaks the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wu-guanzhong/if-a-painting-contains-no-abstraction-nor-impressionistic-elements-it/) [Wu Guanzhong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wu-guanzhong/) > [If I like a person, I like them. I may like the art and not like the person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-denes/if-i-like-a-person-i-like-them-i-may-like-the-art-and-not-like-the/) [Agnes Denes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-denes/) > [Art, like morality, consists in drawing the line somewhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/art-like-morality-consists-in-drawing-the-line-somewhere/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [I don't want to sound pretentious, but I love art, I like to go to museums, and I like to read books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainn-wilson/i-don-t-want-to-sound-pretentious-but-i-love-art-i-like-to-go-to/) [Rainn Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainn-wilson/) > [Art is like ham-it nourishes people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diego-rivera/art-is-like-ham-it-nourishes-people/) [Diego Rivera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diego-rivera/) > [“Art, like Nebraska, is a journey into thin air, a walk into whiteness, where you lose everything but yourself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-acocella/art-like-nebraska-is-a-journey-into-thin-air-a-walk-into-whiteness/) [Joan Acocella](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-acocella/) > [A verbal art like poetry is reflective; it stops to think. Music is immediate, it goes on to become.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/a-verbal-art-like-poetry-is-reflective-it-stops-to-think-music-is/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [Art is like singing. Some do it better than others, but everyone can and should be doing it for their soul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-mason/art-is-like-singing-some-do-it-better-than-others-but-everyone-can/) [Barbara Mason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-mason/) > [I have been brought up around art. Even now, when I travel, I love going to museums and spend hours in front of paintings.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sayani-gupta/i-have-been-brought-up-around-art-even-now-when-i-travel-i-love-going/) [Sayani Gupta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sayani-gupta/) > [As I create art, it is like a love affair. My days go by loving what I do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-max/as-i-create-art-it-is-like-a-love-affair-my-days-go-by-loving-what-i/) [Peter Max](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-max/) > [Treat a work of art like a prince. Let it speak to you first.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-schopenhauer/treat-a-work-of-art-like-a-prince-let-it-speak-to-you-first/) [Arthur Schopenhauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-schopenhauer/) > [Art, like Nature, has her monsters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/art-like-nature-has-her-monsters/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [I don't have a favorite place to see art. I like to encounter it anywhere, museum, gallery, home, studio, street... I do prefer to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-nares/i-don-t-have-a-favorite-place-to-see-art-i-like-to-encounter-it/) [James Nares](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-nares/) > [There are forms of art that I might not like to do myself, but I still have respect for the artists who create it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vanessa-paradis/there-are-forms-of-art-that-i-might-not-like-to-do-myself-but-i-still/) [Vanessa Paradis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vanessa-paradis/) ## More by Wu Guanzhong > [There is no standard way of using painting techniques.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wu-guanzhong/there-is-no-standard-way-of-using-painting-techniques/) [Wu Guanzhong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wu-guanzhong/) > [Brush and ink are only servants of thoughts and emotion. They should follow your emotion and change with the emotion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wu-guanzhong/brush-and-ink-are-only-servants-of-thoughts-and-emotion-they-should/) [Wu Guanzhong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wu-guanzhong/) > [If a painting contains no abstraction nor impressionistic elements, it is a kite that will never fly. But if the painting completely breaks the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wu-guanzhong/if-a-painting-contains-no-abstraction-nor-impressionistic-elements-it/) [Wu Guanzhong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wu-guanzhong/) > [Chinese architecture has a complete organic structure; it contains both sensibility and purpose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wu-guanzhong/chinese-architecture-has-a-complete-organic-structure-it-contains/) [Wu Guanzhong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wu-guanzhong/) > [If you plagiarize others' techniques, you steal their emotions and tell your spectators a lie with your work. Works as such equal zero.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wu-guanzhong/if-you-plagiarize-others-techniques-you-steal-their-emotions-and-tell/) [Wu Guanzhong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wu-guanzhong/) [Explore all 6 Wu Guanzhong quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wu-guanzhong/) ## 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](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/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": "Art is like a kite. 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