A work is never completed except by some accident such as weariness, satisfaction, the need to deliver, or death: for, in relation to who or what is making it, it can only be one stage in a series of inner transformations.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Valery claims that a work is only completed by external factors like fatigue or death, not internal perfection.
- In plain terms
- Art is finished due to circumstances, not because it is perfect.
- What can you take from it?
- External factors force completion rather than perfection.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- What forces you to finish a project?
- Is perfection achievable?
Another view
Some creators do finish work because it feels complete internally.
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