--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Certainly, I devote my energy to both…" description: "\"Certainly, I devote my energy to both telling my personal life story and seeking self- obliteration. However, I will not destroy myself through art.\" —..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/586/yayoi-kusama-10408_art_certainly-i-devote-my-energy-to-both-tel_1313532.jpg" --- # Certainly, I devote my energy to both telling my personal… ![“Certainly, I devote my energy to both telling my personal life story and seeking self- obliteration. However, I will not destroy myself through art.” quote by Yayoi Kusama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/586/yayoi-kusama-10408_art_certainly-i-devote-my-energy-to-both-tel_1313532.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/586/yayoi-kusama-10408_art_certainly-i-devote-my-energy-to-both-tel_1313532.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/586/yayoi-kusama-10408_art_certainly-i-devote-my-energy-to-both-tel_1313532.jpg) > “Certainly, I devote my energy to both telling my personal life story and seeking self- obliteration. However, I will not destroy myself through art.” [Yayoi Kusama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yayoi-kusama/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. She balances sharing personal narrative with avoiding self-destruction through art, emphasizing creative resilience. **In simple terms:** She tells her story but avoids self‑destruction. Key Takeaway Maintain expression without self‑harm. Themes self‑expression mental health artistic resilience Mood reflective determined Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - artist statements - mental health advocacy - personal storytelling Key Concepts existentialism creative boundaries Questions to Reflect On - How do you protect yourself while creating? - What boundaries keep art healthy? A Different Perspective Art can still be harmful if not managed. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Energy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/energy/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Life story](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-story/) [Personal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/personal/) [Personal life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/personal-life/) [Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self/) [Story](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/story/) ## Related quotes > [I have a responsibility to devote my energy to my country and my people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chen-guangbiao/i-have-a-responsibility-to-devote-my-energy-to-my-country-and-my/) [Chen Guangbiao](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chen-guangbiao/) > [I will be what I will be - and I am now what I am. Here is where I will devote my energy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-prather/i-will-be-what-i-will-be-and-i-am-now-what-i-am-here-is-where-i-will/) [Hugh Prather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-prather/) > [I think it's fair to say we're both in the business of self-obliteration through music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-o-sullivan/i-think-it-s-fair-to-say-we-re-both-in-the-business-of-self/) [Daniel O'Sullivan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-o-sullivan/) > [Don't pay attention to what anyone is telling you about your personal journey just keep going, because that's what it's all about.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-sherwood/don-t-pay-attention-to-what-anyone-is-telling-you-about-your-personal/) [Billy Sherwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-sherwood/) > [Growing up, I was discouraged from telling personal stories. My dad often used the phrase 'Don't tell anyone.' But not about creepy things. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-birbiglia/growing-up-i-was-discouraged-from-telling-personal-stories-my-dad/) [Mike Birbiglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-birbiglia/) > [“Writers use both their blood and their brains to explore the darkest recesses of their pooling self. Writing allows us to harness the whimsy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kilroy-j-oldster/writers-use-both-their-blood-and-their-brains-to-explore-the-darkest/) [Kilroy J. Oldster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kilroy-j-oldster/) > [This whole show business industry is awkward; I just met you and I'm telling you personal things about my life. But that's my life:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-murphy/this-whole-show-business-industry-is-awkward-i-just-met-you-and-i-m/) [Nick Murphy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-murphy/) > [Some people don't like telling about personal life. I don't like it, either, but you want to tell the fans where I'm growing up,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-ovechkin/some-people-don-t-like-telling-about-personal-life-i-don-t-like-it/) [Alexander Ovechkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-ovechkin/) > [I think this is pretty clear, but maybe not to everybody: Despite the fact that the work is personal or taken from life, it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-stark/i-think-this-is-pretty-clear-but-maybe-not-to-everybody-despite-the/) [Frances Stark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-stark/) > [“our own worth is measured by what we devote our energy to.  4.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/our-own-worth-is-measured-by-what-we-devote-our-energy-to-4/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [Let me make a solemn pledge before all of you, before the whole world and before God, that I will devote all my energy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olusegun-obasanjo/let-me-make-a-solemn-pledge-before-all-of-you-before-the-whole-world/) [Olusegun Obasanjo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olusegun-obasanjo/) > [My joy knows no bounds... I will devote all my energy and all the powers available to me to the service of Nigeria and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olusegun-obasanjo/my-joy-knows-no-bounds-i-will-devote-all-my-energy-and-all-the-powers/) [Olusegun Obasanjo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olusegun-obasanjo/) > [Obsess over your weaknesses and devote all your energy into fixing them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/senoraroy/obsess-over-your-weaknesses-and-devote-all-your-energy-into-fixing/) Senoraroy > [A person should set his goals as early as he can and devote all his energy and talent to getting there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-disney/a-person-should-set-his-goals-as-early-as-he-can-and-devote-all-his-2/) [Walt Disney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-disney/) > [Why not have your first baby at sixty, when your husband is already dead and your career is over? Then you can really devote…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fran-lebowitz/why-not-have-your-first-baby-at-sixty-when-your-husband-is-already/) [Fran Lebowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fran-lebowitz/) ## More by Yayoi Kusama > [My life is a dot lost among thousands of other dots.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yayoi-kusama/my-life-is-a-dot-lost-among-thousands-of-other-dots/) [Yayoi Kusama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yayoi-kusama/) > [I want to create a thousand paintings, maybe two thousand paintings, as many as I can draw.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yayoi-kusama/i-want-to-create-a-thousand-paintings-maybe-two-thousand-paintings-as/) [Yayoi Kusama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yayoi-kusama/) > [I was in the U.S. about 15 years. Especially in New York. And then I came back to Japan.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yayoi-kusama/i-was-in-the-u-s-about-15-years-especially-in-new-york-and-then-i/) [Yayoi Kusama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yayoi-kusama/) > [I have done all the work myself, not assistants. That's why I'm in a wheelchair: I've been doing it physically - it's hard labour…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yayoi-kusama/i-have-done-all-the-work-myself-not-assistants-that-s-why-i-m-in-a/) [Yayoi Kusama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yayoi-kusama/) > [The reason I collaborate with Louis Vuitton is that Louis Vuitton is number one in the world, and I am honored to work with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yayoi-kusama/the-reason-i-collaborate-with-louis-vuitton-is-that-louis-vuitton-is/) [Yayoi Kusama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yayoi-kusama/) > [I hope royalty continues forever. This is the thing that can contribute to peace throughout the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yayoi-kusama/i-hope-royalty-continues-forever-this-is-the-thing-that-can/) [Yayoi Kusama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yayoi-kusama/) > [I, Kusama, am the modern Alice in Wonderland.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yayoi-kusama/i-kusama-am-the-modern-alice-in-wonderland/) [Yayoi Kusama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yayoi-kusama/) > [While producing art works, illusions appear from time to time due to my mental illness. Every day is a struggle for me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yayoi-kusama/while-producing-art-works-illusions-appear-from-time-to-time-due-to/) [Yayoi Kusama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yayoi-kusama/) > [It is my wish to leave a message to the whole world from the universe, a message of love and peace to the people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yayoi-kusama/it-is-my-wish-to-leave-a-message-to-the-whole-world-from-the-universe/) [Yayoi Kusama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yayoi-kusama/) > [I would like to dedicate to the whole world a great message. It is a message from Kusama who has struggled to survive as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yayoi-kusama/i-would-like-to-dedicate-to-the-whole-world-a-great-message-it-is-a/) [Yayoi Kusama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yayoi-kusama/) > [The thought of continually eating something like macaroni, spat out by machinery, fills me with fear and revulsion, so I make macaroni sculptures. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yayoi-kusama/the-thought-of-continually-eating-something-like-macaroni-spat-out-by/) [Yayoi Kusama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yayoi-kusama/) > [Suppose I put polka dots all over my body and then cover my background completely with polka dots. The polka dots on my body,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yayoi-kusama/suppose-i-put-polka-dots-all-over-my-body-and-then-cover-my/) [Yayoi Kusama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yayoi-kusama/) > [Become one with eternity. Become part of your environment. Take off your clothes. Forget yourself. Make love. Self-destruction is the only way to peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yayoi-kusama/become-one-with-eternity-become-part-of-your-environment-take-off/) [Yayoi Kusama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yayoi-kusama/) > [I have a large number of enthusiastic admirers of my art. And they all sing a hymn in praise from the bottom of their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yayoi-kusama/i-have-a-large-number-of-enthusiastic-admirers-of-my-art-and-they-all/) [Yayoi Kusama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yayoi-kusama/) > [I always see these landscapes in my dreams, and feel happy. I desperately try to transform these dreams into artwork, so that even while…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yayoi-kusama/i-always-see-these-landscapes-in-my-dreams-and-feel-happy-i/) [Yayoi Kusama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yayoi-kusama/) [Explore all 66 Yayoi Kusama quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yayoi-kusama/) ## 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. 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": "Certainly, I devote my energy to both telling my personal life story and seeking self- obliteration. 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