Life is like topography, Hobbes. There are summits of happiness and success, flat stretches of boring routine and valleys of frustration and failure.
Bill WattersonRead
Why does man create? Is it man's purpose on earth to express himself, to bring form to thought, and to discover meaning in experience? Or is it just something to do when he's bored?
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote questions the intrinsic motivation behind human creativity and expression.
Bill Watterson's quote reflects on the fundamental reasons why humans engage in creation, suggesting that it may serve a deeper purpose such as self-expression and finding meaning in life, or it could simply be a pastime born out of boredom. It provokes thought about the value of creativity, challenging us to consider whether our creative endeavors are significant or merely a distraction.
Themes
CreationPurposeExpressionArtMeaning
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about creativity at a conference, one might quote Watterson to inspire artists about their inner motivations.
More from Bill Watterson
All quotes →Sometimes when I'm talking, my words can't keep up with my thoughts. I wonder why we think faster than we speak. Probably so we can think twice.
Bill WattersonRead
The secret to enjoying your job is to have a hobby that's even worse
Bill WattersonRead
Shutting off the thought process is not rejuvenating; the mind is like a car battery - it recharges by running.
Bill WattersonRead
Mothers are the necessity of invention.
Bill WattersonRead
Dad: Honey, have you seen my glasses? I can"t find them. Mom: I haven't seen them. Calvin: (with glasses, to Dad) Calvin, go do something you hate! Being miserable builds character!
Bill WattersonRead
Similar quotes
If a picture wasn't going very well, I'd put a puppy in it.
Norman RockwellRead
Geniuses can be scintillating and geniuses can be somber, but it's that inescapable sorrowful depth that shines through-originality.
Jack KerouacRead
I think it's insulting to an audience to make them sit and watch a film and then give them a message in one sentence.
Asghar FarhadiRead
The 3D world allows you to engage even more with a film because you're somehow drawn into the landscape or the universe of that scene. Even when it's two people talking at a table, you feel like you're a third party.
Ridley ScottRead
One should really use the camera as though tomorrow you'd be stricken blind.
Dorothea LangeRead
What am I in the eyes of most people - a nonentity, an eccentric, or an unpleasant person - somebody who has no position in society and will never have; in short, the lowest of the low. All right, then - even if that were absolutely true, then I should one day like to show by my work what such an eccentric, such a nobody, has in his heart.
Vincent Van GoghRead