"Be a loner. That gives you time to wonder, to search for the truth. Have holy curiosity. Make your life worth living."
–– Albert Einstein (1879-1955), German-born American theoretical physicist
via: Sketchbook 26, 2022, p. 132.
"The voice of the intellect is a soft one, but it does not rest until it has gained a hearing."
–– Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), Austrian neurologist and founder of psychoanalysis
via: Sketchbook 29, 2016, p. 33.
"A home should always feel like a portrait of the person who lives there."
–– Giorgio Armani (b. 1943), Italian fashion designer
via: Sketchbook 29, 2016, p. 30.
"Place the fearful mind in the cradle of lovingkindness."
–– Pema Chödrön (b. 1936), American Buddhist nun and author
via: Sketchbook 28, 2016, p. 146.
"It is not simply the brightest who have the best ideas; it is those who are best at harvesting ideas from others. It is not only the most determined who drive change; it is those who most fully engage with like-minded people. And it is not wealth or prestige that best motivates people; it is respect and help from peers."
–– Alex Pentland (b. 1951), American computer scientist, author, serial entrepreneur
Source: Alex Pentland Social Physics. from Austin Kleon blog May 13, 2016.
via: Sketchbook 28, 2016, p. 134.
"The only difference between the mystic and the artist is that the artist has a craft that ties him to the world."
–– Joseph Campbell (1904-1987), American author and professor
via: Sketchbook 28, 2016, p. 123.
"[Ettore] Sottsass didn't care about copyright and neither do Nathalie [Du Pasquier] and I. People who copy designs aren't worth bothering about: they don't know what to do themselves and in that sense it is quite sad. They are using someone else's energy and diluting it. Creativity is a sacred thing, and if there's a copy of a copy of a copy, it doesn't produce anything except stupidity."
–– George Sowden (b. 1942), British designer and product developer
Source: Emma Love. 'Working in Memphis.' Elle Decoration UK, March 2016, p. 136-141. Quote is from page 141.
via: Sketchbook 28, 2016, p. 91.
"Everybody's a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it's stupid."
–– Albert Einstein (1879-1955), German-born American theoretical physicist
via: Sketchbook 28, 2016, p. 92.
"To do things differently, we must see things differently."
–– John Thackara (b. 1951), British writer, adviser, public speaker, & curator of Doors of Perception conference (re: design)
Source: Elle Decoration UK, March 2016, p. 19.
via: Sketchbook 28, 2016, p. 91.
"We have to take pleasure seriously."
–– Charles Eames (1907-1978), American designer, architect, and filmmaker
via: Sketchbook 28, 2016, p. 80.
"Watch your thoughts for they become words. Watch your words for they become actions. Watch your actions for they become habits. Watch your habits for they become your character. And watch your character for it becomes your destiny."
–– Margaret Thatcher (1925-2013), British stateswoman and former British Prime Minister (1979-1990)
via: Sketchbook 28, 2015, p. 45.
"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."
–– Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962), American author, activist, diplomat, political figure, and First Lady.
via: Sketchbook 28, 2015, p. 42.
"In the most successful spaces, you don't see everything at once. The more time you spend in them, the more you discover. They open up like flowers."
–– Vicente Wolfe (born in the 1950s), Cuban-born American interior designer
via: Sketchbook 28, 2015, p. 12.
"It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live."
–– Marcus Aurelius (121-180 AD), Roman Emperor and Stoic Philosopher
via Sketchbook 28, 2015, p. 9.
"What is the goal? A house that is like the life that goes with it; a house that gives us beauty as we understand it, and beauty of a nobler kind that we may grow to understand."
–– Elsie de Wolfe (1859-1950), American actress, author, and interior decorator
via: Sketchbook 28, 2015, p. 8.
"I'm making explorations. I don't know where they're going to take me. ... I want to map new terrain rather than chart old landmarks... As an investigator, I have no fixed point of view, no commitment to any theory – my own or anyone else's. As a matter of fact, I'm completely ready to junk any statement I've ever made about any subject if events don't bear me out, or if I discover it isn't contributing to an understanding of the problem. The better part of my work on media is actually somewhat like a safe-cracker's. I don't know what's inside; maybe it's nothing. I just sit down and start to work. I grope, I listen, I test, I accept and discard; I try out different sequences – until the tumblers fall and the doors swing open."
–– Marshall McLuhan (1911-1980), Canadian philosopher
Source: Austin Kleon tumblr August 26, 2015
via: Sketchbook 28, 2015, p. 2.
"Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer."
–– Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926), Bohemian-Austrian poet and novelist
via: Sketchbook 27, 2015, p. 76.
"Come to the edge," he said.
"We can't, we're afraid," they responded.
"Come to the edge," he said.
"We can't, we will fall," they responded.
"Come to the edge," he said.
And so they came.
And he pushed them.
And they flew."
–– Guillaume Apollinaire (1880-1918) French poet, playwright, short story writer, novelist, and art critic of Polish-Belarusian descent.
via: Sketchbook 27, 2015, p. 74.
"What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make."
–– Jane Goodall (b. 1934), English primatologist and anthropologist
via: Sketchbook 26, 2022, p. 147.
"Life begins on the other side of despair."
–– Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980), French philosopher and writer
via: Sketchbook 26, 2022, p. 145.
"He who jumps into the void owes no explanation to those who stand and watch."
–– Jean-Luc Godard (1930-2022), French-Swiss film director, screenwriter and film critic
via: Sketchbook 26, 2022, p. 133.
"Difficulties strengthen the mind as labour does the body."
–– Seneca (4 BC - AD 65), Roman Stoic philosopher, dramatist, statesman
via: Sketchbook 26, 2022, p. 133.
"Fight for the things you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you."
–– Ruth Bader Ginsberg (1933-2020), American lawyer & jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1993 to 2020 (her death).
via: Sketchbook 26, 2022, p. 131.
"Be brave enough to suck at something new."
–– Jon Acuff, American author and motivational speaker
via: Sketchbook 26, 2022, p. 130.
"If at first the idea is not absurd, then there is no hope for it."
–– Albert Einstein (1879-1955), German-born American theoretical physicist
via: Sketchbook 26, 2022, p. 129.
Colors
My skin is sort of brownish
Pinkish yellowish white.
My eyes are greyish blueish green,
But I'm told they look orange in the night.
My hair is reddish blondish brown,
But it's silver when it's wet.
And all the colours I am inside
have not been invented yet.
–– Shel Silverstein (1930-1999), American writer, poet, cartoonist, songwriter, playwright
Source: Shel Silverstein. Where the Sidewalk Ends. 1974, p. 24.
via: Sketchbook 25, 2015, p. 42.
