Quotes: Anton Chekhov

"Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass."

–– Anton Chekhov (1860-1904), Russian writer 

Source: Beata Heuman. Every Room Should Sing. New York: Rizzoli, 2021; p. 167. 

via: Sketchbook 33, 2023, p. 57. 

Quotes: Charlie Munger

"The safest way to try to get what you want is to try and deserve what you want." 

–– Charlie Munger (1924-2023), American philanthropist, investor, and businessman 

Source: Ian McGugan. "Five investing lessons from the billionaire investor Charlie Munger. The Globe and Mail. Saturday December 2, 2023; p. B10.

Quotes: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

"We are shaped and fashioned by what we love."

–– Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832), German author, scientist, and statesman 

via 2020 Aboveground Art Supplies Knapsack Sketchbook, 2022 p. 13.  

Quotes: David Usher

"Become an observer of group dynamics. Ideas don't live in a vacuum. They are brought to life and championed by individuals. Start to analyze how ideas either bloom or are killed by the people around them, around you. How is your inner circle affecting the quality of the ideas that live or die?"

–– David Usher (b. 1966), British-born Canadian musician, author, and public speaker 

Source: David Usher. Let the Elephants Run., p. 108. 

via: Striped notebook, 2016, p. 6. 

Quotes: Robert Louis Stevenson

"To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive." 

–– Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894), Scottish novelist and poet

via 2020 Aboveground Art Supplies Knapsack Sketchbook, 2023 p. 24. 

Quotes: Bruce Lee

"It's not the daily increase but daily decrease. Hack away at the unessential."

–– Bruce Lee (1940-1973), Hong Kong-American martial artist and actor 

Source: Tina Seelig. Creativity Rules.; p. 116.

via 2020 Aboveground Art Supplies Knapsack Sketchbook, 2022 p. 21. 

Quotes: Grace Paley

"There is a long time in me between knowing and telling." 

–– Grace Paley (1922-2007), American writer, teacher, activist

Source: Jennifer Weiner. Mrs. Everything. 2019; unpaginated.

via 2020 Aboveground Art Supplies Knapsack Sketchbook, 2022 p. 21. 

Quotes: Mexican proverb

"They tried to bury us. They didn't know we were seeds." 

–– Mexican proverb 

Source: Jennifer Weiner. Mrs. Everything. 2019; unpaginated.

via 2020 Aboveground Art Supplies Knapsack Sketchbook, 2022 p. 22. 

Quotes: Charlie Munger

"A lot of success in life and business comes from knowing what you want to avoid."

–– Charlie Munger (1924-2023), American philanthropist, investor, and businessman 

Source: Ian McGugan. "Five investing lessons from the billionaire investor Charlie Munger. The Globe and Mail. Saturday December 2, 2023; p. B10.

Quotes: David Usher

"Our interests determine how we see the world. Those interests are pulled into tight focus while the rest of the scene is often blurred [...] The world each of us sees is just one possible level of sight. One lens. To be more creative we need to open up to other lenses and other ways of seeing. The more we can see, the more ideas we can use in our creative work."

–– David Usher (b. 1966), British-born Canadian musician, author, and public speaker 

Source: David Usher. Let the Elephants Run., p. 133. 

via: Striped notebook, 2016, p. 12. 

Quotes: Islamic proverb

"Beauty is goodness written in matter." 

–– 16th Century Islamic proverb 

Source: Karen McCartney. The Alchemy of Things.; p. 250.

via 2020 Aboveground Art Supplies Knapsack Sketchbook, 2022 p. 23. 

Quotes: Ali Smith

"Art is always an exchange, like love, whose giving and taking can be a complex and wounding matter; according to Michelangelo."

–– Ali Smith (b. 1962), Scottish academic, author, journalist, and playwright 

Source: Val McDermid. Still Life. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2020; unpaginated. (Ali Smith. Artful.)

via 2020 Aboveground Art Supplies Knapsack Sketchbook, 2022 p. 23. 

Quotes: Rainer Maria Rilke

"Surely all art is the result of one's having been in danger, of having gone through an experience all the way to the end, where no one can go any further."

–– Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926), Bohemian-Austrian poet and novelist 

via 2020 Aboveground Art Supplies Knapsack Sketchbook, 2022 p. 22. 

Quotes: Adam J. Kurtz

"Failure isn't the end. Failure is part of the process of accomplishing a task. In fact, the only time failure is truly final is if you don't use what you've learned through the experience to try again. Each attempt becomes an experiment, each failure provides valuable insight and pinpoints room for improvement, and then eventually (maybe soon, maybe not) you get it right." 

–– Adam J. Kurtz, American designer, artist, speaker and author 

Source: Adam J. Kurtz. You are Here *For Now. New York: TarcherPerigree, 2021; p. 69.

via 2020 Aboveground Art Supplies Knapsack Sketchbook, 2022 p. 19. 

Quotes: André Gide

"Everything that needs to be said has already been said. But, since no one was listening, everything must be said again." 

–– André Gide (1869-1951), French writer 

via 2020 Aboveground Art Supplies Knapsack Sketchbook, 2022 p. 13. 

Quotes: Susan O'Malley

"The harder road is the one that makes you." 

–– Susan O'Malley (1976-2015), American artist and curator

Source: Susan O'Malley. Advice from my 80 Year Old Self. 2016.

via: Striped notebook, 2016, p. 20. 

Quotes: David Usher

"Sometimes you lead the ideas and sometimes the ideas lead you. They always take you to places you didn't expect." 

–– David Usher (b. 1966), British-born Canadian musician, author, and public speaker 

Source: David Usher. Let the Elephants Run., p. 95. 

via: Striped notebook, 2016, p. 5. 

Quotes: Richard Osman

"You are simply a little lost, Donna. And if one is never lost in life, then clearly one has never traveled anywhere interesting." 

–– Richard Osman (b. 1970), English writer, TV presenter and producer, and comedian.

Source: Richard Osman. The Man Who Died Twice. London: Viking (Penguin Random House), 2021; p. 254. (Ibrahim Arif to Donna)

via 2020 Aboveground Art Supplies Knapsack Sketchbook, 2022, p. 18. 

Quotes: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

"The person born with a talent they are meant to use will find their greatest happiness in using it."

–– Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832), German author, scientist, and statesman 

via 2020 Aboveground Art Supplies Knapsack Sketchbook, 2022, p. 12. 

Quotes: Anaïs Nin

"Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born."

–– Anaïs Nin (1903-1977), French-Cuban American writer 

Source: Anaïs Nin, The Diary of Anaïs Nin. 

via 2020 Aboveground Art Supplies Knapsack Sketchbook, 2022, p. 11. 

Quotes: Anonymous

"The work will teach you how to do it." 

–– Anonymous (quoted in a fortune cookie) 

Source: Frank Wilczek. Fundamentals: Ten Keys to Reality. New York: Penguin Press, 2021; p. 146.

via 2020 Aboveground Art Supplies Knapsack Sketchbook, 2022, p. 7. 

Quotes: Charlie Munger

Advice about how to achieve success: "You spend less than you earn, invest shrewdly and avoid toxic people and toxic activities, and try to keep learning all your life." 

–– Charlie Munger (1924-2023), American philanthropist, investor, and businessman 

Source: Ian McGugan. "Five investing lessons from the billionaire investor Charlie Munger. The Globe and Mail. Saturday December 2, 2023; p. B10.

Quotes: Patricia Lockwood

"Part of what you have to figure out in this life is, who would I be if I hadn't been frightened. What hurt me, and what would I be if it hadn't?" 

–– Patricia Lockwood (b. 1982), American poet, essayist, and novelist 

Source: Patricia Lockwood. Priestdaddy. New York: Riverhead Books, 2017; p. 326.

Quotes: Albert Einstein

"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius – and a lot of courage – to move in the opposite direction."

–– Albert Einstein (1879-1955), German-born American theoretical physicist 

via 2020 Aboveground Art Supplies Knapsack Sketchbook, 2021, p. 6. 

Quotes: Lizzie Farey

"We work to find out who we are." 

–– Lizzie Farey (b. 1962), Singaporean-born Scottish basket weaver and sculptor 

Source: Country Living UK Modern Rustic 14, 2019, p. 185.

via 2020 Aboveground Art Supplies Knapsack Sketchbook, 2021, p. 6.

Quotes: Matt Haig

"Crying releases stress hormones. Swearing increases pain tolerance. Fury can motivate us into action."

 –– Matt Haig (b. 1975), English author and journalist 

Source: Matt Haig. The Comfort Book. Toronto: HarperCollins, 2021, p. 136.

via 2020 Aboveground Art Supplies Knapsack Sketchbook, 2021, p. 5.

Quotes: Emily Dickinson

"Forever is composed of nows."

–– Emily Dickinson (1830-1886), American poet 

via 2020 Aboveground Art Supplies Knapsack Sketchbook, 2021, p. 5.

Quotes: Clarissa Pinkola Estés

"Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world all at once, but of stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach." 

–– Clarissa Pinkola Estés (b. 1943), American writer and Jungian psychoanalyst 

Source: Katrina Rodabaugh. Make Thrift Mend. New York: Abrams, 2021; p. 30. 

via 2020 Aboveground Art Supplies Knapsack Sketchbook, 2021, p. 4.

Quotes: Jim Carrey

"I challenge anybody in their darkest moment to write what they are grateful for – even stupid things like green grass or a friendly conversation with somebody on the elevator. You start to realize how rich you are." 

–– Jim Carrey (b. 1962), Canadian-American actor and comedian 

Source: USA Today

Quotes: Cynthia Occelli

"For a seed to achieve its greatest expression, it must come completely undone. The shell cracks, its insides come out and everything changes. To someone who doesn't understand growth, it would look like complete destruction." 

–– Cynthia Occelli, American author and life coach 

Quotes: Neale Donald Walsch

"The struggle ends when gratitude begins." 

–– Neale Donald Walsch (b. 1943), American writer, actor, speaker 

Quotes: Tove Jansson

"A person can find anything if he takes the time, that is, if he can afford to look. And while he's looking, he's free, and he finds things he's never expected." 

–– Tove Jansson (1914-2001), Finnish writer, artist, painter

Source: Beata Heuman. Every Room Should Sing. New York: Rizzoli, 2021; p. 55. 

via: Sketchbook 33, 2023, p. 56. 

Quotes: Tom Waits

"We are buried underneath the weight of information, which is being confused with knowledge; quantity is being confused with abundance and wealth with happiness." 

–– Tom Waits (b. 1949), American musician, composer, singer-songwriter, actor 

Source: Tom Waits. True Confessions. 2008.

Quotes: Christiana Figueres

"Any experience, any interaction, anything can be mundane. And anything can be spiritual. The very same interaction, the very same experience can be either mundane or spiritual. The only difference between the two is how I live it. What quality of presence do I bring to it? Mindsets lead to narratives, lead to action, and above all, that every single action of ours carries our signature." 

–– Christiana Figueres (b. 1956), Costa Rican diplomat 

Source: The Marginalian, November 13, 2023.

Quotes: Alice Munro

"To be a femme fatale you don't have to be slinky and sensuous and disastrously beautiful, you just have to have the will to disturb." 

–– Alice Munro (1931-2024), Canadian short-story writer

Quotes: James Bridle

"Intelligence is not something which exists but something one does..." 

–– James Bridle (b. 1980), British artist, writer and publisher 

Source: Austin Kleon newsletter

Quotes: David Usher

"You have to risk a little crazy if you ever hope to escape the gravitational pull of the ordinary."

–– David Usher (b. 1966), British-born Canadian musician, author, and public speaker 

Source: David Usher. Let the Elephants Run., p. 83. 

via: Striped notebook, 2016, p. 4. 

Quotes: Augustine of Hippo

"To many, total abstinence is easier than perfect moderation." 

–– Augustine of Hippo (354-430), North African Roman Catholic theologian, philosopher and saint 

Source: Thomas King. Double Eagle. 2023. p. 32

Quotes: unknown

"The person you will be in five years is based on the books you read and the people you surround yourself with. 

–– unknown 

Source: Flo and Frank, Instagram 

via: Striped notebook, 2016, p. 19. 

Quotes: George Santayana

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." 

–– George Santayana (1863-1962), Spanish-American poet, essayist, novelist, and philosopher 

via: Striped notebook, 2016, p. 16.

Quotes: Thomas Jefferson

"I am a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it."

–– Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), American politician, U.S. president, architect, philosopher and lawyer 

via: Striped notebook, 2016, p. 13.

Quotes: David Usher

"Developing a routine and a ritual is the key to keeping your creativity alive." 

–– David Usher (b. 1966), British-born Canadian musician, author, and public speaker 

Source: David Usher. Let the Elephants Run., p. 73. 

via: Striped notebook, 2016, p. 3.

Quotes: Mary Shelley

"Nothing is so painful to the human mind as a great and sudden change." 

–– Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (1797-1851), British writer 

Source: Mary Shelley. Frankenstein. 

via: Striped notebook, 2016, p. 3.

Quotes: Billy Baldwin

"What we remember about rooms is the atmosphere, the mood. Unless rooms are personal, they have none of this."

–– Billy Baldwin (1903-1983), American Interior Designer 

Source: Beata Heuman. Every Room Should Sing. New York: Rizzoli, 2021; p. 156. 

via: Sketchbook 33, 2023, p. 56.

Quotes: Doris Lessing

"Words. Words. I play with words, hoping that some combination, even a chance combination, will say what I want." 

–– Doris Lessing (1919-2013), British-Zimbabwean novelist 

via: Striped notebook, 2016, p.1.

Quotes: Boris Pasternak

"In the fields, she stopped and took a deep breath of the flower-scented air. It was dearer to her than her kin, better than a lover, wiser than a book. And for a moment she rediscovered the purpose of her life. She was here on earth to absorb its wild enchantment." 

–– Boris Pasternak (1890-1960), Russian poet and writer 

Source: Boris Pasternak. Doctor Zhivago quoted in Art Propelled 2016. 

via: Striped notebook 2016–present, p. 1.

Quotes: N. Scott Momaday

"We are what we imagine. Our very existence consists in our imagination of ourselves. Our best destiny is to imagine who and what we are. The greatest tragedy that can befall us it to go unimagined." 

–– N. Scott Momaday (b. 1934), Kiowa American writer. 

Quotes: Tyler Knott Gregson

"I find no coincidence in the fact that some of the grandest revelations in my entire life have come during periods of total isolation surrounded only by the mountains, the trees, the sea, and the light." 

–– Tyler Knott Gregson (b. 1981), American writer 

Source: Art Propelled, 2017.

Quotes: Cher

"All of us invent ourselves. Some of us just have more imagination than others." 

–– Cher (b. 1946), American singer and actress

Quotes: Anonymous

"There are two types of tired, I suppose. One is a dire need of sleep, the other is a dire need of peace." 

–– Anonymous

Quotes: Marina Abramović

 "If we go for the easy way, we never change." 

–– Marina Abramović (b. 1946), Serbian conceptual and performance artist

Quotes: Yoko Ono

"Transform jealousy to admiration, and what you admire will become part of your life." 

–– Yoko Ono (b.1933), Japanese peace activist, performance artist, multimedia artist, singer and songwriter 

Quotes: Tracee Ellis Ross

"I am learning every day to allow the space between where I am and where I want to be to inspire me and not terrify me." 

–– Tracee Ellis Ross (b. 1972), American actress, singer, producer, and television host

Quotes: Joel Haran

Joel and Helena [Haran] "dreamed up the idea for their first furniture collection while on holiday in Greece ("because you get the best ideas when your mind is free," Joel says)."

"That's where being perfectionist comes in – and the need to balance it with the more relaxed pace of outdoor life and the Cornish landscape. They work on one farm, live on another, and spend as much time on the beach as they can. "You need time and space," Joel says, "because when you're stressed, you can't be creative. You stick with the first idea rather than exploring other options." 

–– Joel Haran, UK designer

Source: Modern Rustic UK 06, p. 81.

via: Art Alternatives Knapsack Sketchbook J 2020-2023, 2021, p. 20-21. 

Quotes: Daniel Clowes

"I always think of style as something that's the difference between what you want something to look like, and what your hand and brain make it look like unintentionally. And there's quite a gap there, and there's some interesting stuff in that gap." 

–– Daniel Clowes (b. 1961), American cartoonist, illustrator, and screenwriter 

Source: Austin Kleon, January 15, 2020.

via: Art Alternatives Knapsack Sketchbook J 2020-2023, 2022, p. 27.

Quotes: Neil Gaiman

"I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You're doing things you've never done before, and more importantly, you're doing something. So that's my wish... Don't freeze, don't stop, don't worry that it isn't good enough, or it isn't perfect, whatever it is: art or love, or work or family or live. Whatever it is you're scared of doing, do it. Make your mistakes, next year and forever."

–– Neil Gaiman (b. 1960), British author and screenwriter 

Source: Nitch, December 24, 2019.

via: Art Alternatives Knapsack Sketchbook J 2020-2023, 2022, p. 26.

Quotes: Vladimir Nabokov

"Imagination  – the muscle of the soul." 

–– Vladimir Nabokov (1899-1977), Russian, Russian-American novelist, poet, translator, and entomologist

 via: Art Alternatives Knapsack Sketchbook J 2020-2023, 2022, p. 25.

Quotes: Oscar de la Renta

"Fashion is about dressing according to what's fashionable. Style is more about being yourself."

–– Oscar de la Renta (1932-2014), Dominican-born American fashion designer 

via: Art Alternatives Knapsack Sketchbook J 2020-2023, 2021, p. 24.

Quotes: Joni Mitchell

"Freedom to me is a luxury of being able to follow the path of the heart, to keep the magic in your life. Freedom is necessary for me in order to create, and if I don't create I don't feel alive." 

–– Joni Mitchell (b. 1943), Canadian singer-songwriter and painter. 

Source: Elizabeth Renzetti. 'Britney Spears finally gets to sing a song of freedom, if she wants to.' The Globe and Mail, Saturday November 20, 2021, p. O2. 

via: Art Alternatives Knapsack Sketchbook J 2020-2023, 2021, p. 24.

Quotes: We're Not Really Strangers

"Finding your people makes you realize there was nothing wrong with you." 

–– We're Not Really Strangers 

Source: Instagram April 10, 2023 

via: Sketchbook 33, 2023, p. 25.

Quotes: James Baldwin

"The place in which I'll fit will not exist until I make it."

–– James Baldwin (1924-1987), American writer and activist 

Source: Nitch, Instagram, April 15, 2023 

via: Sketchbook 33, 2023, p. 25.

Quotes: Diana Vreeland

"A little bad taste is like a nice splash of paprika. We all need a splash of bad taste – it's hearty, it's healthy, it's physical. I think we could use more of it. No taste is what I'm against." 

– Diana Vreeland (1903-1989), French-American magazine editor and fashion journalist 

Source: Beata Heuman. Every Room Should Sing. New York: Rizzoli, 2021; p. 38. 

via: Sketchbook 33, 2023, p. 56.

Quotes: Werner Herzog

"Our inability and lack of desire to seek fresh imagery means we are surrounded by worn out, banal, useless and exhausted images, limping and dragging themselves behind the rest of our cultural evolution. I sense that something dangerous is emerging. Just as a person without memory will struggle to survive in this world, so will someone who lacks images that reflect his inner state." 

–– Werner Herzog (b. 1942), German film director, screenwriter, author, and actor 

via: Sketchbook 33, 2023, p. 93. 

Quotes: Mark E. Smith

"It's not repetition, it's discipline." 

–– Mark E. Smith (1957-2018), English singer 

via: Sketchbook 33, 2023, p. 92. 

Quotes: William Kentridge

"What I sometimes find is that if a drawing is going badly, you are blessed. There is no anxiety about messing it up. It needs to be messed up to be rescued. One either tears it into four pieces and then rearranges them, or erases with a cloth. It is kind of relying on a thinking in the material."

–– William Kentridge (b. 1955), South African artist 

Source: Lisa Kokin, Instagram, March 23, 2023. 

via: Sketchbook 33, 2023, p. 92.

Quotes: Robert Greene

"Always stick to what makes you weird, odd, strange, different. That's your source of power." 

–– Robert Greene (b. 1959), American writer 

Source: Daily Philosopher, Instagram, August 17, 2023. 

via: Sketchbook 33, 2023, p. 91.

Quotes: Taylor Mac

"An artist's job is to dream the culture forward." 

–– Taylor Mac (b. 1973), American performer, singer-songwriter, playwright 

Source: Austin Kleon newsletter Friday August 25, 2023. 

via: Sketchbook 33, 2023, p. 88.

Quotes: Albert Camus

"There is no greatness without a little stubbornness. Works of art are not born in flashes of inspiration but in a daily fidelity." 

–– Albert Camus (1913-1960), French writer and philosopher 

Source: Maria Popova Instagram, August 21, 2023. 

via: Sketchbook 33, 2023, p. 88.

Quotes: Ray Dalio

"Great is better than terrible, and terrible is better than mediocre, because terrible at least gives life flavour." 

–– Ray Dalio (b. 1949), American investor and manager 

Source: Feel Free Vol. 3, p. 4. 

via: Sketchbook 33, 2023, p. 75. 

Quotes: Bruce Cockburn

"Pay attention to the poet. You need him and you know it."

–– Bruce Cockburn (b. 1945), Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist  

Source: Globe and Mail Letter to the Editor, Saturday September 11, 2021, p. 010. 

via: Knapsack Art Alternatives Sketchbook J 2020-2023, p. 18.

Quotes: Henri Matisse

"Be simple. Be good technically, and if there is something in you, it will come out." 

–– Henri Matisse (1869-1954), French visual artist 

via: Sketchbook 33, 2023, p. 74.

Quotes: unknown theology student re: Johann Sebastian Bach

"This skillful man ... has to play some written music which is inferior to his own ideas. Nevertheless his superior ideas are the consequences of those inferior ones." 

–– unknown theology student, 1741 re: German composer and musician Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) 

* Bach played "lesser" music to get his brain going and to stimulate ideas he would use for his own improvisation and composition

Source: Range Widely, blog by David Epstein via: Austin Kleon newsletter, June 30, 2023 

via: Sketchbook 33, 2023, p. 68.

Quotes: Billy Baldwin

"Nothing, and I mean nothing, is interesting unless it is personal." 

–– Billy Baldwin (1903-1983), American Interior Designer 

Source: Beata Heuman. Every Room Should Sing. New York: Rizzoli, 2021; p. 13. 

via: Sketchbook 33, 2023, p. 56.

Quotes: Jerry Saltz

"Artists: It is only by working that your work can lead you to its own further shores." 

–– Jerry Saltz (b. 1951), American author, art critic, journalist  

Source: Jerry Saltz, Instagram, April 23, 2023 

via: Sketchbook 33, 2023, p. 24.

Quotes: Agnes Varda

"If you keep your eyes open and your mind open, everything can be interesting." 

–– Agnes Varda (1928-2019), French artist, film director, photographer and screenwriter 

Source: Nitch, Instagram, April 23, 2023 

via: Sketchbook 33, 2023, p. 23.

Quotes: Masud Khan

"Lying fallow ... allows for that larval inner experience which distinguishes true psychic creativity from obsessional productiveness." 

–– Masud Khan (1924-1989), Pakistani-British psychoanalyst 

Source: Maria Popova, The Marginalian, April 11, 2023, Instagram 

via: Sketchbook 33, 2023, p. 22. 

Quotes: Derek Jarman

"Blue is the universal love in which man bathes – it is the terrestrial paradise." 

–– Derek Jarman (1942-1994), English artist, film maker, gardener and artist 

via: Sketchbook 33, 2023, p. 12.

Quotes: Ann Gillen

"You have to do work that's meaningful to you, and then you have to keep on doing it." 

–– Ann Gillen (b. 1935), American sculptor 

via: Sketchbook 33, 2023, p. 13.

Quotes: James Baldwin

"Talent is insignificant. I know a lot of talented ruins. Beyond talent lie all the usual words: discipline, love, luck, but, most of all, endurance."

–– James Baldwin (1924-1987), American writer and activist 

Quotes: Mark Twain

"The secret of getting ahead is getting started."

–– Mark Twain (1835-1910), pen name of Samuel Clemens, American writer 

via: Sketchbook 33, 2023, p. 13.

Quotes: Charles Bukowski

"The less I needed, the better I felt." 

–– Charles Bukowski (1920-1994), German-born, American author

via: Sketchbook 33, 2023, p. 8.

Quotes: Norman Vincent Peale

"Live your life and forget your age." 

–– Norman Vincent Peale (1898-1993), American writer and minister

via: Sketchbook 33, 2023, p. 6.

Quotes: Renate Hiller

"When we are following someone else's pattern, she says, we are mostly stuck in our heads: thinking, counting, reading. When we are figuring out a design for ourselves, we are feeling, asking questions, observing, and making decisions, connecting to the process and the metamorphosis of the work on a deeper level." 

–– Renate Hiller, fibre artist and teacher

Source: Melanie Falick. Making a Life: Working by Hand and Discovering the Life You Are Meant to Live. New York: Artisan (a division of Workman Publishing Co., Inc.), 2019; p. 47. 

via: Art Alternatives Knapsack Sketchbook I 2019-2020, 2020, p. 29.

Quotes: David Berman

"Writing, for me, is not the act of a master. It is through stupidity; it's through writing 100 bad lines, you get to the one good line. The most important skill, the most important quality that I need to get through that is just to keep my ego together and my esteem together." 

–– David German (1967-2019) American musician, singer, poet, and cartoonist 

Source: Austin Kleon August 30, 2019. 

via: Art Alternatives Knapsack Sketchbook I 2019-2020, 2020, p. 47.

Quotes: Lenore Tawney

"... to seek a barer life, closer to reality, without all the things that clutter and fill our lives. I left friends whose preoccupations of me held me to their image of me. ... The truest thing in my life is my work. I want my life to be true. Almost gave up my life for my work, seeking a life of the spirit." 

–– Lenore Tawney (1907-2007), American artist. 1967 Journal entry 

Source: Judy Martin Modernist Aesthetic blog 

via: Art Alternatives Knapsack Sketchbook I 2019-2020, 2020, p. 32. 

Quotes: Ellen Dissanayake

"My own opinion is that we are neglecting at our peril what neuroscience has revealed are "right hemisphere" functions (paying attention to our surroundings, empathy, intuition, metaphor, emotional expression, aesthetic decisions and appreciation, and so forth – aspects of the arts that we have no words for because the right hemisphere lacks "propositional" or "rational" language). We have made a world that requires "left hemisphere" skills (analysis, detachment, sequential argument) in order to survive."

 –– Ellen Dissanayake, American author, lecturer, independent scholar 

Source: Melanie Falick. Making a Life: Working by Hand and Discovering the Life You Are Meant to Live. New York: Artisan (a division of Workman Publishing Co., Inc.), 2019; p. 25. 

via: Art Alternatives Knapsack Sketchbook I 2019-2020, 2020, p. 28.

Quotes: Brian Gable

"The editorial cartoonist's task is to emerge from [a] blizzard of information with a coherent and (it is hoped) amusing idea, one that addresses some aspect of the day's events. That good idea requires coaxing, coddling, cajoling. ...

In my case, that coaxing process is based entirely on doodling, which I've done my entire life. ...

At the beginning of each workday, one scribble has led to another, when suddenly, out of the muddled swirl of pencil strokes, the artist's twisted subconscious recognizes the germ of a cartoon idea. It's much closer to alchemy than it is to science."

 –– Brian Gable (b. 1949), Canadian editorial cartoonist*

Source: Brian Gable. 'Adieu.' The Globe and Mail, Saturday September 9, 2023, p. O9.  *Brian Gable was The Globe and Mail's editorial cartoonist for 35 years. He retired in September 2023.

Quotes: Pico Iyer

"The Dalai Lama ... reminds us that the only way to live in a world of constant change is not to pretend that it might be otherwise. We may have little control over external circumstances, but we have a lot of control over how we respond to them, and how much we choose to take loss to be fresh opportunity. [...]

"But the ever-more-visible precariousness of our homes – and the places we love – is telling us, every hour, not to waste a moment or assume that everything will remain the same."

–– Pico Iyer (b. 1957) British-born novelist and essayist 

Source: Pico Iyer. 'The Vanishing.' The Globe and Mail, Saturday, August 26, 2023, p. O3; 

Quotes: Marina Endicott

"[The job of art is] to investigate your own experience unsparingly, and make that investigation public so that others can use the evidence in their own private investigations."

–– Marina Endicott (b. 1958), Canadian novelist and short story writer

Source: Marina Endicott. 'The job of art requires us to investigate our own experiences unsparingly.' The Globe and Mail, Saturday September 9, 2023, p. B7.

Quotes: Bob Proctor

"Thoughts become things. If you see it in your mind, you will hold it in your hand." 

–– Bob Proctor (1934-2022), Canadian self-help author and lecturer

Quotes: Naguib Mahfouz

"Home is not where you were born; home is where all your attempts to escape cease." 

–– Naguib Mahfouz (1911-2006), Egyptian writer and winner of the 1988 Nobel Prize in Literature.

Quotes: Iain McGilchrist

"Negation is creative ... By having less of something more comes into being." 

–– Iain McGilchrist (b. 1953), British psychiatrist, writer, lecturer 

Source: Austin Kleon September 23, 2023, Instagram

Quotes: Jim Rohn

"Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishments." 

–– Jim Rohn (1930-2009), American entrepreneur, author, and motivational speaker

Quotes: Carl Jung

"Often the hands will solve a mystery that the intellect has struggled with in vain."

–– Carl Jung (1875-1961), Swiss psychiatrist and psychologist 

Quotes: Emily Dickinson

"If you take care of the small things, the big things take care of themselves. You can gain more control over your life by paying closer attention to the little things."

–– Emily Dickinson (1830-1886), American poet 

Quotes: Epictetus

"Nothing important comes into being overnight; even grapes or figs need time to ripen."

–– Epictetus (50-135 A.D.), Greek stoic philosopher  

Quotes: James Baldwin

"You have to decide who you are and force the world to deal with you, and not with its idea of you."

–– James Baldwin (1924-1987), American writer and activist 

Quotes: Bertrand Russell

"The world is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper."

–– Bertrand Russell (1872-1970), British philosopher, logician, and social critic 

via: Art Alternatives Knapsack Sketchbook 2019 i, 2020, p. 48.

Quotes: Alan Watts

"A thing is a think."

–– Alan Watts (1915-1973), British philosopher and writer 

via: Art Alternatives Knapsack Sketchbook 2019 i, 2020, p. 37.

Quotes: John Cage

"There is no such thing as an empty space or an empty time. There is always something to see, something to hear. In fact, try as we may to make a silence, we cannot."

–– John Cage (1912-1992), American composer, writer and artist 

Source: John Cage, "Experimental Music," 1957 in Sarah Urist Green. You are an Artist, (e-book) p. 74

via: Art Alternatives Knapsack Sketchbook 2019 i, 2020, p. 35..

Quotes: Lao Tzu

"He who knows when he has enough is wealthy."

–– Lao Tzu (c. 500 BCE), Chinese philosopher and writer 

Source: Globe and Mail, Saturday November 14, 2020.

via: Art Alternatives Knapsack Sketchbook 2019 i, 2020, p. 34.

Quotes: Agnes Martin

"Art is the concrete representation of our most subtle feelings."

–– Agnes Martin (1912-2004), Canadian-born American abstract painter 

via: Art Alternatives Knapsack Sketchbook 2019 i, 2020, p. 26. 

Quotes: Ursula K. Le Guin

"I am going to be rather hard-nosed and say that if you have to find devices to coax yourself to stay focused on writing, perhaps you should not be writing what you're writing. And, if this lack of motivation is a constant problem, perhaps writing is not your forte. I mean, what is the problem? If writing bores you, that is pretty fatal. If that is not the case, but you find that it is hard going and it just doesn't flow, well, what did you expect? It is work; art is work. Nobody ever said it was easy. What they said is: "Life is short, art is long." 

–– Ursula K. Le Guin (1929-2018), American author 

Source: Austin Kleon, October 22, 2019.

via: Art Alternatives Knapsack Sketchbook 2019 i, 2020, p. 23. 

Quotes: Danish proverb

"God gives every bird its food, but does not throw it into the nest." 

–– Danish proverb

via: Art Alternatives Knapsack Sketchbook 2019 i, 2019, p. 18. 

Quotes: Lynda Barry

"There are two working languages in human life. One is sort of top of the mind, what we're conscious of. The other is the unconscious stuff that we might not know about or have access to. The way we access it is usually through this thing we call 'the arts.' Unfortunately, that has gotten removed from the daily experience of human life. What I'm trying to do is to show that there is a way that they can come together, and that you can make things in a way that makes you actually feel alive and present. That's what I'm after: feeling alive in the world." 

–– Lynda Barry (b. 1956), American cartoonist, author, educator

Source: Austin Kleon, September 18, 2019

via: Art Alternatives Knapsack Sketchbook 2019 i, 2019, p. 17. 

Quotes: Grant Cardone

"Every positive change – every jump to a higher level of energy and awareness – involves a rite of passage. Each time we ascend to a higher rung on the ladder of personal evolution, we must go through a period of discomfort, of initiation. I have never found an exception." 

–– Grant Cardone (b. 1958), American author and entrepreneur 

Source: Art Propelled, October 16, 2019

via: Art Alternatives Knapsack Sketchbook 2019 i, 2019, p. 15.  

Quotes: James Hillman

"We can't change anything until we get some fresh ideas, until we begin to see things differently." 

–– James Hillman (1926-2011), American Jungian psychologist 

via: Art Alternatives Knapsack Sketchbook 2019 i, 2019, p. 14.  

Quotes: Henry David Thoreau

"People are rich in proportion to the number of things they can afford to let alone."

–– Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862), American essayist, philosopher, and poet  

via: Art Alternatives Knapsack Sketchbook 2019 i, 2019, p. 13.  

Quotes: Socrates

"How many things there are in this world that I do not want." 

–– Socrates (470 - 399 B.C.), Greek philosopher  

via: Art Alternatives Knapsack Sketchbook 2019 i, 2019, p. 13.  

Quotes: Tilda Swinton

"Art is good for the soul precisely because it reminds me that we have souls in the first place." 

–– Tilda Swinton (b. 1960), British actress 

Source: Free Will Astrology, October 17, 2019.

 via: Art Alternatives Knapsack Sketchbook 2019 i, 2019, p. 7. 

Quotes: Paul Klee

"Everything passes, and what remains of former times, what remains of life, is the spiritual." 

–– Paul Klee (1879-1940), Swiss-born German artist 

Source: Art Propelled, October 16, 2019.

 via: Art Alternatives Knapsack Sketchbook 2019 h, 2019, p. 47. 

Quotes: Eugène Delacroix

"It is often we come the closest to the essence of an artist in his or her pocket notebooks and travel sketchbooks where written comments and personal notes provide an intimate insight into the magical mind of a working artist." 

–– Eugène Delacroix (1798-1863), French artist 

Source: Art Propelled, October 31, 2019

 via: Art Alternatives Knapsack Sketchbook 2019 h, 2019, p. 38. 

Quotes: Alexander Pope

"Some people never learn anything because they understand everything too soon." 

–– Alexander Pope (1688-1744), English poet, satirist, and translator

via: Art Alternatives Knapsack Sketchbook 2019 h, 2019, p. 35. 

Quotes: Barbara Hepworth

"I rarely draw what I see –– I draw what I feel in my body." 

–– Barbara Hepworth (1903- 1975), British sculptor 

via: Art Alternatives Knapsack Sketchbook 2019 h, 2019, p. 32. 

Quotes: Murrumu of Walubara

"It's just a truth that's unfamiliar to you." 

–– Murrumu of Walubara, (b. 1974) Australian Indigenous Yidindji man formerly known as Jeremy Geia, former journalist, Australian Aboriginal activist, foreign affairs minister of the Sovereign Yidindji Government micronation

Source: The New York Times International Edition, World, Tuesday September 17, 2019, p. 3.

via: Art Alternatives Knapsack Sketchbook 2019 h, 2019, p. 30.

Quotes: Paul Valéry

"In small things delight is intense." 

–– Paul Valéry (1871-1945), French poet, philosopher, essayist

Source: John Berger and John Christie. I Send You This Cadmium Red.

via: Art Alternatives Knapsack Sketchbook 2019 g, 2019, p. 32.

Quotes: Dawna Markova

"I will not die an unlived life. 

I will not live in fear 

of falling or catching fire. 

I choose to inhabit my days, 

to allow my living to open me, 

to make me less afraid, 

more accessible; 

to loosen my heart 

until it becomes a wing, 

a torch, a promise. 

I choose to risk my significance, 

to live so that which came to me as seed 

goes to the next as blossom, 

and that which came to me as blossom, 

goes on as fruit." 

–– Dawna Markova, American author, teacher, psychotherapist 

via: Art Alternatives Knapsack Sketchbook 2019 g, 2019, p. 17.

Quotes: W.H. Auden

"Routine, in an intelligent man, is a sign of ambition."

–– W.H. Auden (1907-1973), British-born American poet 

via: Art Alternatives Knapsack Sketchbook 2019 g, 2019, p. 14. 

Quotes: Yoda the Jedi Warrior

"Try not. Do or do not. There is no try." 

–– Yoda the Jedi Warrior to Luke Skywalker. 

Source: Star Wars.

via: Art Alternatives Knapsack Sketchbook 2019 g, 2019, p. 6. 

Quotes: Pico Iyer

"Travel is, ultimately, about those words that begin in "trans." Transport, transcendence, and transformation. It's not the sights that send one home a different person; it's something around the sights, between the lines, a moment when one forgets oneself, that sudden serendipity not to be found on any postcard or secondhand image." 

–– Pico Iyer (b. 1957) British-born novelist and essayist 

Source: Pico Iyer. "Why we must see the world for ourselves, now more than ever." The Globe and Mail. Saturday August 11, 2018, p. O4.

via: Art Alternatives Knapsack Sketchbook 2018 f, 2018, p. 31. 

Quotes: Gail Bowen

"Ed nodded. "My father was killed in a car accident before I was born. He was a trumpet player. When I got old enough, I used to spend hours with his old trumpet. Holding something he had held was the only way I know to bring him close.""

–– Gail Bowen (b. 1942), Canadian author and playwright 

Source: Gail Bowen. A Killing Spring. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1994, p. 76. 

via: Art Alternatives Knapsack Sketchbook 2018 e, 2018, p. 6.

Quotes: Paulus Berensohn

"Do something. Start with pleasure. Make a list of all the things that are pleasurable in your life and then make an art form out of one of them. And if you're courageous, make a list of all the things that are difficult in your life and make an art form out of one of them."

–– Paulus Berensohn (1933-2017), American dancer and and craftsperson (ceramics, book arts, textiles)

Source: Paulus Berensohn speaking in the film To Spring from the Hand, 2013

via: Art Alternatives Knapsack Sketchbook 2017-2018 d, 2018, p. 36.

Quotes: Paul Klee

"Art does not reproduce the visible; rather it makes it visible."

–– Paul Klee (1879-1940), Swiss-born German artist

via: Art Alternatives Knapsack Sketchbook 2019 g, 2019, p. 2. 

Quotes: Matt Haig

"Reading isn't important because it helps you get a job. It's important because it gives you room to exist beyond the reality you're given. Reading makes the world better. It is how humans merge. How minds connect. Dreams. Empathy. Understanding. Escape. Reading is love in action."

–– Matt Haig (b. 1975), English author and journalist 

Source: Art Propelled December 18, 2018.

via: Art Alternatives Knapsack Sketchbook 2019 g, 2019, p. 2. 

Quotes: Robert Brault

"Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize that they were the big things." 

–– Robert Brault, American writer 

via: Art Alternatives Knapsack Sketchbook 2018 f, 2018, p. 12.

Quotes: Gail Bowen

""Know the truth about the teller and you'll know the truth about the tale."" 

–– Gail Bowen (b. 1942), Canadian author and playwright 

Source: Gail Bowen. A Colder Kind of Death. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1994, p. 86. 

via: Art Alternatives Knapsack Sketchbook 2018 e, 2018, p. 6.

Quotes: Malcolm S. Forbes

"Education's purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open one." 

–– Malcolm S. Forbes (1919-1990), American entrepreneur, publisher, and politician 

Source: Suzy Tanzer. 'Quote Unquote.' Surfacing Journal, Winter 2002, Volume 23, Issue 1. 

Quotes: Wayne Lesperance

"As citizens we have many rights, but we also have obligations. And when we don't fulfill our obligations, we often end up with results we don't like."

–– Wayne Lesperance, Puerto Rican-born American political-science professor at and President of New England College in Henniker, New Hampshire, USA 

Source: New York Times National. Sunday July 10, 2022, p. 13.