Skip to content
quotesby

About this quote

What does it mean?
The world is small, but painting it would be difficult or undesirable.
In plain terms
I don't want to paint the world.
What can you take from it?
Small things can be overwhelming.

Where it applies

  • philosophical jokes
  • art discussions

Putting it to work

  • writing jokes
  • reflecting on life

Questions to consider

  • What is too big to do?
  • Why avoid big tasks?

Another view

It doesn't explain why painting is bad.

More from Steven Wright

  1. I've been getting into astronomy, so I installed a skylight. The people that live above me are furious.

    Permalink to quote #112
  2. Last year I went fishing with Salvador Dali. He was using a dotted line. He caught every other fish.

    Permalink to quote #114
  3. I've been doing a lot of abstract painting lately, extremely abstract. No brush, no paint, no canvas. I just think about it.

    Permalink to quote #111

Related quotes

  1. The good thing about reinventing the wheel is that you can get a round one.

    Douglas CrockfordDouglas Crockford quote #1
  2. Such a proud moment of professionalism. You work for years crafting cogent satirical essays and the thing that everybody remembers is me making love to a Chiqu…

    Stephen ColbertStephen Colbert quote #1
  3. I remember one day I was coming home from kindergarten I--well, I thought it was kindergarten, it turned out later I'd been working in a factory for two years.…

    Ellen DeGeneresEllen DeGeneres quote #1