--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The poet must work with brush and…" description: "\"The poet must work with brush and paper,but this is not what makes the poem. A man does not go in search of a poem - the poem comes in search of him.\" ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2e6/yang-wanli-65664_brushes_the-poet-must-work-with-brush-and-paper_1603913.jpg" --- # The poet must work with brush and paper,but this is not… ![“The poet must work with brush and paper,but this is not what makes the poem. A man does not go in search of a poem - the poem comes in search of him.” quote by Yang Wanli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2e6/yang-wanli-65664_brushes_the-poet-must-work-with-brush-and-paper_1603913.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2e6/yang-wanli-65664_brushes_the-poet-must-work-with-brush-and-paper_1603913.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2e6/yang-wanli-65664_brushes_the-poet-must-work-with-brush-and-paper_1603913.jpg) > “The poet must work with brush and paper,but this is not what makes the poem. A man does not go in search of a poem - the poem comes in search of him.” Yang Wanli ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The poem seeks the poet; creation is a discovery, not a pursuit. **In simple terms:** Poems find the poet, not vice‑versa. Key Takeaway Be open to inspiration. Themes creativity search inspiration Mood contemplative inspired Type philosophical artistic When to use this quote - writing retreats - artistic blocks - creative workshops Key Concepts poetics mindfulness Questions to Reflect On - How do you create space for poems to find you? - What habits foster receptive creativity? A Different Perspective May underestimate effort required to craft poetry. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Poet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poet/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) ## Related quotes > [No man ever raised a monument to a cynic or wrote a poem about a man without faith.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-l-amour/no-man-ever-raised-a-monument-to-a-cynic-or-wrote-a-poem-about-a-man/) [Louis L'Amour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-l-amour/) > [Christmas poem to a man in jail hello Bill Abbott: I appreciate your passing around my books in jail there, my poems and stories.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/christmas-poem-to-a-man-in-jail-hello-bill-abbott-i-appreciate-your/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [Poetry for me is very easy. It's like a lightning bolt. I feel this calling, and the first line of the poem comes into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gioconda-belli/poetry-for-me-is-very-easy-it-s-like-a-lightning-bolt-i-feel-this/) [Gioconda Belli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gioconda-belli/) > [I don't know where the shape of a poem comes from. I certainly don't impose it. I write out of a jumble of emotions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-longley/i-don-t-know-where-the-shape-of-a-poem-comes-from-i-certainly-don-t/) [Michael Longley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-longley/) > [The poem comes in the form of a blessing, like rapture breaking on the mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-kunitz/the-poem-comes-in-the-form-of-a-blessing-like-rapture-breaking-on-the/) [Stanley Kunitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-kunitz/) > [Again like Williams, with the emphasis now regrettable, when a man makes a poem, makes it mind you, he takes the words as he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-creeley/again-like-williams-with-the-emphasis-now-regrettable-when-a-man/) [Robert Creeley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-creeley/) > [I write from the various experiences I live. Not every poem comes from my personal experience, though. It could be something that a friend…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rupi-kaur/i-write-from-the-various-experiences-i-live-not-every-poem-comes-from/) [Rupi Kaur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rupi-kaur/) > [After writing all day I go for a walk and see a piece of architecture i want to photograph and i have to take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patti-smith/after-writing-all-day-i-go-for-a-walk-and-see-a-piece-of-architecture/) [Patti Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patti-smith/) > [I don't know where a poem comes from until after I've lived with it a long time. I've a notion that a poem comes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-hall/i-don-t-know-where-a-poem-comes-from-until-after-i-ve-lived-with-it-a/) [Donald Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-hall/) > [Often it is a moment rather than an event that makes a poem.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracy-k-smith/often-it-is-a-moment-rather-than-an-event-that-makes-a-poem/) [Tracy K. Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracy-k-smith/) > [For it is not metres, but a metre-making argument that makes a poem, - a thought so passionate and alive that like the spirit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/for-it-is-not-metres-but-a-metre-making-argument-that-makes-a-poem-a/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [The speaker tentatively reaches out with that feeling and realizes that it's kind of absurd, or at least a dangerous consolation, which is what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-zapruder/the-speaker-tentatively-reaches-out-with-that-feeling-and-realizes/) [Matthew Zapruder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-zapruder/) > [Those moments before a poem comes, when the heightened awareness comes over you, and you realize a poem is buried there somewhere, you prepare…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/those-moments-before-a-poem-comes-when-the-heightened-awareness-comes/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [When I get interested in a new topic I teach a class on it. There's a graduate seminar I teach in which the students…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthea-harvey/when-i-get-interested-in-a-new-topic-i-teach-a-class-on-it-there-s-a/) [Matthea Harvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthea-harvey/) > [“I know now that the poem in my head, the one that pushed me to the page, begged me - or dared me to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juan-paolo-perre/i-know-now-that-the-poem-in-my-head-the-one-that-pushed-me-to-the/) Juan-Paolo Perre ## More by Yang Wanli > [Get rid of words and meaning, and there is still poetry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yang-wanli/get-rid-of-words-and-meaning-and-there-is-still-poetry/) Yang Wanli > [Get rid of words, and get rid of meaning, and still there is poetry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yang-wanli/get-rid-of-words-and-get-rid-of-meaning-and-still-there-is-poetry/) Yang Wanli > [I drink alone in my study, huddled close to the brazier.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yang-wanli/i-drink-alone-in-my-study-huddled-close-to-the-brazier/) Yang Wanli Explore all 4 Yang Wanli quotes ## More Brushes quotes > [People say I've had brushes with the law. That's not true. I've had brushes with overzealous prosecutors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-edwards/people-say-i-ve-had-brushes-with-the-law-that-s-not-true-i-ve-had/) [Edwin Edwards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-edwards/) > [Yet, it had been Dimitri’s gentleness and thoughtfulness mixed with that deadliness that made him so wonderful. The same hands that wielded stakes with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richelle-mead/yet-it-had-been-dimitri-s-gentleness-and-thoughtfulness-mixed-with/) [Richelle Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelle-mead/) > [“They are not brave, the days when we are twenty-one. They are full of little cowardices, little fears without foundation, and one is so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-du-maurier/they-are-not-brave-the-days-when-we-are-twenty-one-they-are-full-of/) [Daphne du Maurier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-du-maurier/) > [The body is living art. Your movement through time and space is art. A painter has brushes. You have your body.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-halprin/the-body-is-living-art-your-movement-through-time-and-space-is-art-a/) [Anna Halprin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-halprin/) > [Well, I do expect a lot of myself. I'm a harsh critic because I know what I'm capable of. I have hit those occasional…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-stevens/well-i-do-expect-a-lot-of-myself-i-m-a-harsh-critic-because-i-know/) Dave Stevens > [Our fans have been branded with the same brush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-atkinson/our-fans-have-been-branded-with-the-same-brush/) [Ron Atkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-atkinson/) > [Everything we do is escapism, because we'll all be dead and everything we do is completely meaningless. Why brush your teeth? Why not be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-c-boyle/everything-we-do-is-escapism-because-we-ll-all-be-dead-and-everything/) [T.C. Boyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-c-boyle/) > [It's as if a child with a brush and too much enthusiasm has been set free with a tin of black paint inside me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenny-downham/it-s-as-if-a-child-with-a-brush-and-too-much-enthusiasm-has-been-set/) [Jenny Downham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenny-downham/) > [My whole philosophy in survival is to take down brush as soon as you get in a situation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-teti/my-whole-philosophy-in-survival-is-to-take-down-brush-as-soon-as-you/) [Joe Teti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-teti/) > [Take your brush here and there like a bee in an alpine meadow. In other words, don't laboriously work on or try to finish…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-genn/take-your-brush-here-and-there-like-a-bee-in-an-alpine-meadow-in/) [Robert Genn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-genn/) > [I grill almost all of my fish with the skin on because that gives you real protection at least on one side. It's a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alton-brown/i-grill-almost-all-of-my-fish-with-the-skin-on-because-that-gives-you/) [Alton Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alton-brown/) > [I don't have much to compare it to because I really didn't know much about theater. After I signed on, I started reading a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taissa-farmiga/i-don-t-have-much-to-compare-it-to-because-i-really-didn-t-know-much/) [Taissa Farmiga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taissa-farmiga/) > [Enlightenment is like witnessing the brilliant sun for the first time in the morning. It is like seeing the beautiful flowers that grow in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chogyam-trungpa/enlightenment-is-like-witnessing-the-brilliant-sun-for-the-first-time/) [Chogyam Trungpa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chogyam-trungpa/) > [O, how much simpler things would be If eyes could paint or brush could see.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/o-how-much-simpler-things-would-be-if-eyes-could-paint-or-brush-could/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [The only thing I can do is wipe my arse, brush my teeth, turn up and do the best work I can.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hardy/the-only-thing-i-can-do-is-wipe-my-arse-brush-my-teeth-turn-up-and-do/) [Tom Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hardy/) Browse all 592 Brushes quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The poet must work with brush and paper,but this is not what makes the poem. 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