It's a big enough umbrella, but it's always me that ends up getting wet.
StingRead
I don't need to manufacture trauma in my life to be creative. I have a big enough reservoir of sadness or emotional trauma to last me.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Creativity can arise from genuine experiences rather than forced negativity.
In this quote, Sting emphasizes that true creativity does not require the artificial inflating of emotional struggles or trauma. Instead, he suggests that authentic experiences of sadness or emotional distress can provide ample inspiration for artistic expression, highlighting the importance of genuine feelings over manufactured hardship.
Themes
CreativityEmotional TraumaAuthenticitySadnessArt
In practice
Example use cases
A speaker at an art workshop may use this quote to encourage participants to embrace their true feelings.
More from Sting
All quotes βSuccess always necessitates a degree of ruthlessness. Given the choice of friendship or success, I'd probably choose success.
StingRead
If you make your living writing, and you can't write anything, it's over. It's very frightening.
StingRead
It's never easy to write a song. It's the most difficult thing I do.
StingRead
I see music as one language. If one musical form eats its own tail, it dies. So it needs to be a mongrel, it needs to be hybridised.
StingRead
There's no religion but sex and music.
StingRead
Similar quotes
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Singing has always seemed to me the most perfect means of expression. It is so spontaneous. And after singing, I think the violin. Since I cannot sing, I paint.
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In art, one does not aim for simplicity; one achieves it unintentionally as one gets closer to the real meaning of things.
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It's rare in Hollywood to get the chance to work on something that you actually care about. The tragedy of the place is all these talented people trying to get excited about stuff they themselves would only view at gunpoint.
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Second hand books are wild books, homeless books; they have come together in vast flocks of variegated feather, and have a charm which the domesticated volumes of the library lack.
Virginia WoolfRead
An original artist is unable to copy. So he has only to copy in order to be original.
Jean CocteauRead