“Every child is an artist until he's told he's not an artist.”

—  John Lennon

Last update Oct. 1, 2023. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Every child is an artist until he's told he's not an artist." by John Lennon?
John Lennon photo
John Lennon 228
English singer and songwriter 1940–1980

Related quotes

Pablo Picasso photo

“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.”

Pablo Picasso (1881–1973) Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stage designer

Quote attributed to Picasso in TIME, October 4, 1976, Modern Living: Ozmosis in Central Park http://quoteinvestigator.com/2015/03/07/child-art/ http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,918412,00.html
Disputed
Variant: All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.

Jackson Pollock photo
Eminem photo

“With every artist comes the image he portrays and the picture that he paints”

Eminem (1972) American rapper and actor

"One Day at a Time" (featured on Tupac: Resurrection, 2003)
2000s

George Carlin photo
Henry Miller photo
Friedrich Schiller photo
Gertrude Stein photo
Oscar Wilde photo
Philip K. Dick photo

“The concentration of a small child at play is analogous to the concentration of the artist of any discipline. In real play, which is real concentration, the child is not only outside time, he is outside himself.”

Madeleine L'Engle (1918–2007) American writer

Section 1.3 <!-- p. 10 -->
The Crosswicks Journal, A Circle of Quiet (1972)
Context: The concentration of a small child at play is analogous to the concentration of the artist of any discipline. In real play, which is real concentration, the child is not only outside time, he is outside himself. He has thrown himself completely into whatever it is he is doing. A child playing a game, building a sand castle, painting a picture, is completely in what he is doing. His self-consciousness is gone; his consciousness is wholly focused outside himself.

Related topics