50 A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words Quotes

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words Quotes give you a deeper appreciation for your photographs.

The saying “A picture is worth a thousand words” is used when a simple picture can convey meaning more effectively than words.

The first known use of this phrase was in 1911 when the Syracuse Advertising Men’s Club put on a banquet where author Arthur Brisbane or some say speaker Tess Flanders said, “Use a picture. It’s worth a thousand words.”

In essence, the phrase’s purpose is to convey that simply showing somebody something can show them what you mean and get them engaged in your idea instead of wasting a lot of unnecessary words.

Take a few minutes to read these A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words Quotes!

Best A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words Quotes

Here are some of the best quotes about the saying.

1. “Every picture tells a story.” — Rod Stewart

2. “A picture is a poem without words.” — Horace

3. “A picture is worth a thousand words.” — Napoleon Bonaparte

4. “One picture is worth ten thousand words.” — Japanese Proverb

5. “A good snapshot keeps a moment from running away.” — Eudora Welty

6. “If a picture is worth a thousand words, please paint me the Gettysburg Address.” — Leo Rosten

7. “If a picture is worth a thousand words, photographers are worth a million.”  — Tupac Shakur

8. “A picture is worth a thousand words, but conversations with them generally end in disappointment.” — Dov Davidoff

9. “If a picture is worth a thousand words, then the imagination is worth a thousand pictures.” — J.E.B. Spredemann

10. “Whoever came up first with that saying ’a picture is worth a thousand words’ didn’t understand the first thing about either one.” — Wim Wenders

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Word Quotes About Art

If you love art, these quotes are for you.

11. “Art is the signature of civilizations.” — Beverly Sills

12. “The purpose of art is to make the invisible visible.” — Paul Klee

13. “While drawing, I discover what I really want to say.” — Dario Fo

14. “Art is the lie that enables us to realize the truth.” — Pablo Picasso

15. “Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.” — Edgar Degas

16. “A work of art which did not begin in emotion is not art.” — Paul Cezanne

17. “Art is the bridge between what we see and what we feel.” – Natasha Wescoat

18. “Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.” — Thomas Merton

19. “Art is not a handicraft; it is the transmission of feeling the artist has experienced.” — Leo Tolstoy

20. “Anything I can not transform into something marvelous, I let go. Reality doesn’t impress me.” — Anais Nin

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Word Quotes About Photography

Photography is an industry that often uses the line, “A picture is worth a thousand words.”

22. “A photograph is the pause button of life.” — Ty Holland

21. “Photography is the story I fail to put into words.” — Destin Sparks

23. “A photograph is a secret about a secret. The more it tells you, the less you know.” — Diane Arbus

24. “The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera.” — Dorothea Lange

25. “Photography is the only language that can be understood anywhere in the world.” — Bruno Barbey

26. “The best thing about a picture is that it never changes, even when the people in it do.” — Andy Warhol

27. “The whole point of taking pictures is so that you don’t have to explain things with words.” — Elliott Erwitt

28. “Photography is an art of observation. It’s about finding something interesting in an ordinary place… I’ve found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them.” — Elliott Erwitt

29. “A great photograph is one that fully expresses what one feels, in the deepest sense, about what is being photographed.” — Ansel Adams

30. “Photography is a way of feeling, of touching, of loving. What you have caught on film is captured forever… It remembers little things long after you have forgotten everything.” — Aaron Siskind

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words Quotes About Nature and Beauty

Pictures of nature can often convey more than a written description.

31. “Nature always wears the colors of the spirit.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

32. “I want to interpret the natural world and our links to it.” — Frans Lanting

33. “Beauty is, after all, in the mind (and heart and soul…) of the beholder.” — Michael Kena

34. “My mission is to document endangered species and landscapes in order to show a world worth saving.” — Joel Sartore

35. “Nature is pure spirit; it is the biggest artist. If you want to document its art, you have to see art in nature.” — Orsolya Haarberg

36. “I like to shoot peaceful and minimalistic pictures with respect for nature, pictures that get your attention a bit longer.” — Piet Haaksma

37. “We see in color all the time. Black and white is, therefore, immediately an interpretation of the world, rather than a copy.” — Michael Kena

38. “Memory selects single important images, just as the camera does. In that manner, both are able to isolate the highest moments of living.” — Galen Rowell

39. “Photographs are believed more than words; thus, they can be used persuasively to show people who have never taken the trouble to look what is there.” — Eliot Porter

40. “Every photograph that is made, whether by one who considers himself a professional or by the tourist who points his snapshot camera and pushes a button, is a response to the exterior world.” — Eliot Porter

More A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words Quotes

There are different perspectives about how accurate this phrase is, as shown in the quotes below.

41. “In politics, a picture is worth a thousand words.” — Kathleen Troia McFarland

42. “Photography is the art of frozen time… the ability to store emotion and feelings within a frame.” — Meshack Otieno

43. “Ladies and gentlemen, a picture is not worth a thousand words. We found some pictures that are worth 500 billion words.” — Erez Lieberman Aiden

44. “When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs. When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence.” — Ansel Adams

45. “A picture is worth 10k words—but only those to describe the picture. Hardly any sets of 10k words can be adequately described with pictures.” — Alan Perlis

46. “Whoever wants to know something about me, they should look attentively at my pictures, and there seek to recognize what I am and what I want.” — Gustav Klimt

47. “To my mind, a picture should be something pleasant, cheerful, and pretty. There are too many unpleasant things in life as it is without creating still more of them.” — Pierre-Auguste Renoir

48. “Photography is a way of feeling, of touching, of loving. What you have caught on film is captured forever… It remembers little things long after you have forgotten everything.” — Aaron Siskind

49. “Sometimes people say that a picture is worth a thousand words, so if you look at my tattoos and you know what you’re reading, you can draw a lot from them.” — Montel Vontavious Porter

50. “I’ve always put a lot of stock in aesthetics and visuals. I truly believe a picture is worth a thousand words and that fashion and glamour have the power to transport and transform someone.” — Violet Chachki

When To Use the Phrase “A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words”

The phrase “a picture is worth a thousand words” can be used in many situations.

Like when explaining how you want something built, what you want your car to look like, or even what hairstyle you want.

This phrase is beneficial, especially when you learn to use the wisdom in the words and start using pictures to convey complex ideas to others.

Please share these A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words quotes with your family and friends and post any comments about this phrase in the comment section below.