Wit & Attitude Quote by Steve Martin

Steve Martin’s line is a comedian’s slapstick koan: it sounds like a drive-by insult, then quietly reveals a craft philosophy. The jab at “set out to make art” isn’t anti-art; it’s anti-posture. He’s puncturing the self-serious artist strut, the kind that treats “Art” like a credential you can apply for if you wear the right angst and talk about process. Calling that person an “idiot” is deliberate vulgarity: it keeps the statement in the realm of the working entertainer, not the museum docent.

The subtext is that art is often a byproduct, not a mission statement. Martin came up through stand-up, variety shows, and the hard math of getting laughs night after night. In that ecosystem, intention is judged immediately and brutally. “Entertainment” isn’t the cheap cousin of art; it’s the discipline that forces clarity. Make it land, make it move, make it live in the room. If something transcendent happens, it happens because the work was precise, not because you declared your project “important.”

There’s also a 1970s-into-Hollywood context here: Martin was navigating a culture where comedians were suddenly being treated as auteurs, and “serious” was becoming a brand. His quote resists that gravity. It argues for humility in the face of the audience and skepticism toward artistic grandstanding. The paradox is the point: the fastest way to miss making art is to aim at the label instead of the labor.