All worthy work is open to interpretations the author did not intend. Art isn't your pet -- it's your kid. It grows up and talks back to you.
Joss WhedonRead
I'd rather make a show 100 people need to see, than a show that 1000 people want to see.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the importance of creating meaningful work rather than seeking mass appeal.
Joss Whedon suggests that true artistic value lies in producing content that resonates deeply with a smaller audience, rather than simply trying to please a larger group. He advocates for authenticity and personal expression in art, implying that the impact on a few is more significant than broad popularity.
Themes
ArtAuthenticityMeaningfulAudienceCreation
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech at an art conference, I shared this quote to inspire creators to focus on depth over breadth.
More from Joss Whedon
All quotes →Because it’s no longer enough to be a decent person. It’s no longer enough to shake our heads and make concerned grimaces at the news. True enlightened activism is the only thing that can save humanity from itself.
Joss WhedonRead
I designed 'Buffy' to be an icon, to be an emotional experience, to be loved in a way that other shows can't be loved. Because it's about adolescence, which is the most important thing people go through in their development, becoming an adult.
Joss WhedonRead
My dad would go to work every day and write in a room full of funny people. He enjoyed it. I know great writers who find the process agonising but to me, writing has always been sheer joy.
Joss WhedonRead
I loved the idea of a girl going into a dark alley, and a monster comes, and then she just aces him. It’s like, you want to see the tiny person suddenly take control. God, my whole career is basically about that!
Joss WhedonRead
Limitations are something that I latch onto - like working in genre, or if you're writing TV, there are act breaks, there's a length of time it's supposed to be. The restrictions of budget and sets can be really useful. When you can have everything, it's very hard to make things feel real and lived in.
Joss WhedonRead
Similar quotes
ELECTED Silence, sing to me And beat upon my whorlèd ear, Pipe me to pastures still and be The music that I care to hear.
Gerard Manley HopkinsRead
Don't write about Man; write about a man.
E. B. WhiteRead
Every government secretary of state or minister should jolly well go to the theatre, go to a concert, go to an art gallery, go to a museum, become somehow interested in these things. If they're not interested, they shouldn't be in government, full stop.
Philip PullmanRead
As for me, Poetry takes the place of love, because it is enamored of itself, and because this self-lust has a delightful dying fall in my soul.
Stephane MallarmeRead
Cinema is the culmination of the obsessive, mechanistic male drive in western culture. The movie projector is an Apollonian straight-shooter, demonstrating the link between aggression and art. Every pictorial framing is a ritual limitation, a barred precinct.
Camille PagliaRead
I suppose one of the challenges of writing the word-side of music these days is trying to decipher and communicate how this planet is very overwhelming at this point. The difficulties we face are overwhelming. It's very difficult to give yourself the time to breathe and appreciate the joy and beauty that might be just right around us.
Eddie VedderRead