Quotes: W.H. Auden

"To ask the hard question is simple."

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

Quotes: W. Timothy Gallwey

"Once you learn how to learn, you have only to discover what is worth learning." 

–– W. Timothy Gallwey (b. 1938), American author 

Source: Austin Kleon newsletter December 20, 2024. 

via: Sketchbook N14, 2024, p. 41.

Quotes: Patti Smith

"We go through life. We shed our skins. We become ourselves."

–– Patti Smith (b. 1946), American writer, poet, singer-songwriter and musician 

via: Sketchbook N 14, 2024, p. 41.

Quotes: Philip Glass

"If you don't know what to do, there's actually a chance of doing something new. As long as you know what you're doing, nothing much of interest is going to happen." 

–– Philip Glass (b. 1937), American composer and musician 

via: Commonplace Book 2024, p. 29.

Quotes: Miles Davis

"Do not fear mistakes, there are none."

–– Miles Davis (1926-1991), American musician, bandleader, and composer 

via: Commonplace Book 2024, p. 28.

Quotes: Laurie Anderson

"When young artists ask, "How can I get past [creative blocks]? I respond: "For one thing, try doing your worst work. Do the worst song you can possibly think of. At the very least, you'll get some idea of what your rules are. At the most, you're going to get something that's better than anything you've every done because it has a lot of pure energy." Just make it bad. Just make it really bad. You know, so pure and bad."

–– Laurie Anderson (b. 1947), American musician and multidisciplinary artist 

Source: Laurie Anderson conversation with Brandon Stosuy, November 14, 2016, The Creative Independent (thecreativeindependent.com) 

via: Commonplace Book 2024, p. 25-26.

Quotes: Gail Bowen

"A colleague of mine in the political science department told me once that the priest who prepared her for her first communion said, 'Take whatever you want from life. Take it, but be prepared to pay for it.'" 

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

Source: Gail Bowen. The Legacy: A Joanne Kilbourn Mystery. Toronto: ECW Press, 2023; p. 213. 

via: Commonplace Book, 2024, p. 18.

Quotes: Krista Tippett

"You are not going to be perfect every day. It's about turning up the next day and doing it again."  

–– Krista Tippett (b. 1960), American journalist, author, and entrepreneur 

via: Commonplace Book 2024, p. 17.

Quotes: Miles Davis

"There is no shortcut. I'm no accident. People like to say it's natural. You have to practice and you have to study." 

–– Miles Davis (1926-1991), American musician, bandleader, and composer 

Source: Nitch.com

via: Sketchbook N 14, 2024, p. 39. 

Quotes: Paula Modersohn-Becker

"Intimacy is the soul of great art."

–– Paula Modersohn-Becker (1876-1907), German expressionist painter 

via: Sketchbook N 14, 2024, p. 39.

Quotes: Ernest Hemingway

"Today is only one day in all the days that will ever be. But what will happen in all the other days that ever come can depend on what you do today. It's been that way all this year. It's been that way so many times."

–– Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961), American writer and journalist 

Source: Nitch, Instagram, December 9, 2024

Quotes: Rebecca Solnit

"Darkness is generative, and generation, biological and artistic both, requires this amorous engagement with the unknown, this entry into the realm where you do not quite know what you are doing and what will happen next. Creation is always in the dark because you can only do the work of making by not quite knowing what you're doing, by walking into darkness, not staying in the light. Ideas emerge from edges and shadows to arrive in the light, and though that's where they may be seen by others, that's not where they're born." 

–– Rebecca Solnit (b. 1961), American author 

Source: Rebecca Solnit. The Faraway Nearby. New York: Viking, 2013; p. 185. 

via: Commonplace Book 2013-2014, 2014, p 81-2. 

Quotes: Val McDermid

"Would everyone simply return to their old habits once the pandemic was over, or would they have learned what Karen already knew –– that walking the city was its own reward? Time for thought, time to spy on the lives of others, time to discover new routes and expand the mental map."

–– Val McDermid (b. 1955), Scottish author 

Source: Val McDermid. Past Lying: A Karen Pirie novel. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2023; p. 442. 

via: Commonplace Book 2024, p. 16.

Quotes: William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin

"When you are face to face with a difficulty, you are up against a discovery." 

–– William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin (Lord Kelvin) (1824-1907), British mathematician, mathematical physicist, and engineer 

Source: Ann-Marie MacDonald. Fayne. Toronto: Alfred A. Knopf Canada, 2022; p. 589.

via: Sketchbook M 13, 2024, p. 6. 

Quotes: Krista Tippett

"The things that go wrong for you have a lot of potential to become part of your gift to the world."

–– Krista Tippett (b. 1960), American journalist, author, and entrepreneur 

via: Commonplace Book 2024, p. 17.

Quotes: Lynne Twist

"We have to be willing to let go of "that's just the way it is," even if just for a moment, to consider the possibility that there isn't a way it is or a way it isn't. There is the way we choose to act and what we choose to make of circumstances." 

–– Lynne Twist, American writer and public speaker 

Source: Jeff Karp. LIT: Use Nature's Playbook to Energize Your Brain, Spark Ideas, and Ignite Action. New York: William Morrow, 2024; p. 1. 

Quotes: Elsa Dutton

"Out here, you turn toward the pain as it tears into you, and you let it. When you do, the devil gets bored. He seeks another soul to eat. And you get to live again." 

–– Character Elsa Dutton, on 1883, episode 1.6, an American TV series,  2021.

via: Sketchbook M 13, 2024, p. 5. 

Quotes: Tess McLeod

"Sometimes you need to let go of the bad things so that you can hold on to the good things." 

–– Character Tess McLeod on McLeod's Daughters 5.18, an Australian TV show, 2005.

via: Sketchbook M 13, 2024, p. 5. 

Quotes: Charlie Munger

"The first rule of a happy life is low expectations. If you have unrealistic expectations you're going to be miserable your whole life. You want to have reasonable expectations and take life's results, good and bad, as they happen with a certain amount of stoicism." 

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

Source: Morgan Housel. Same as Ever: A Guide to What Never Changes. New York: Portfolio/Penguin, 2023; p. 34.

via: Sketchbook M 13, 2024, p. 4.

Quotes: Mark Twain

"Humour is a way to show you're smart without bragging." 

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

via: Sketchbook M 13, 2024, p. 4.

Quotes: Charles Duhigg

"Small wins are exactly what they sound like, and are part of how keystone habits create widespread changes. A huge body of research has shown that small wins have enormous power, an influence disproportionate to the accomplishments of the victories themselves. "Small wins are a steady application of a small advantage, one Cornell professor [Karl E. Weick] wrote in 1984. "Once a small win has been accomplished, forces are set in motion that favour another small win." Small wins fuel transformative changes by leveraging tiny advantages into patterns that convince people that bigger achievements are within reach." 

–– Charles Duhigg (b. 1974), American journalist and non-fiction author

Source: Charles Duhigg. The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business. Toronto: Doubleday Canada, 2012; p. 112.

via Commonplace Book 2013-2014, 2013, p. 18. 

Quotes: Teresa Amabile and Steven J. Kramer

"Progress and inner work life feed each other. Mathematician Norbert Wiener called this sort of interaction a positive feedback loop or "cumulative causation." Progress enhances inner work life ... and positive inner work life leads to further progress ..., creating a virtuous cycle. The loop can operate as a vicious cycle, as well. Just as inner work life and progress improve in tandem, when one goes downhill, so does the other. ...

"Like any feedback loop, the progress loop is self-reinforcing. ... [A] vicious cycle can be broken by ... removing obstacles to progress and providing the supports necessary for success." 

–– Teresa Amabile (b. 1950), American academic and author; and Steven J. Kramer, American independent researcher, writer, and consultant

Source: Teresa Amabile and Steven Kramer. The Progress Principle: Using Small Wins to Ignite Joy, Engagement, and Creativity at Work. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Review Press, 2011; p. 98-99. 

via Commonplace Book 2013-2014, 2013, p. 29-30.

Quotes: Rebecca Solnit

"Zen teacher Shunryu Suzuki-Roshi said the same thing, more or less about spiritual endeavours: "After you have practiced for a while, you will realize that it is not possible to make rapid, extraordinary progress. Even though you try very hard, the progress you make is always little by little."

–– Rebecca Solnit (b. 1961), American author 

Source: Rebecca Solnit. The Faraway Nearby. New York: Viking, 2013; p. 176-177. 

via: Commonplace Book 2013-2014, 2014, p.81. 

Quotes: Amanda Lang

"You need the discipline to alter and perhaps even abandon cherished theories and plans based on new information, rather than trying to twist the new information to fit the traditional mould." 

–– Amanda Lang (b. 1970), Canadian journalist and author 

Source: Amanda Lang. The Power of Why. Toronto: HarperCollins, 2012; p. 52.

 via: Commonplace Book 2013-2014, 2014, p. 155. 

Quotes: Gerhard Richter

 "It is a danger to wait around for an idea to occur to you. You have to find the idea."

–– Gerhard Richter (b. 1932) German visual artist 

via: Commonplace Book 2013-2014, 2014, p. 121.

Quotes: David Lynch

"We're like lightbulbs. If bliss starts growing inside you, it's like a light; it affects the environment.

"If you go into a room where someone's been having a big argument, it's not so pleasant. You can feel it. Even if the argument's over, you can feel it. But if you go into a room where someone has just finished meditating, you can feel that bliss. It's very nice to feel that.

"We all affect our environments. You enjoy that light inside, and if you ramp it up brighter and brighter, you enjoy more and more of it. And that light will extend out farther and farther."

Source: David Lynch. Catching the Big Fish: Meditation, Consciousness, and Creativity. New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin, 2006; p. 105. 

via: Commonplace Book 2013-2014, 2013, p. 40.

Quotes: Juhani Pallasmaa

"The impact of art touches something buried deep in embodied memory. It is a mystery." 

–– Juhani Pallasmaa (b. 1936), Finnish architect 

Source: Judy's Journal, Monday November 25, 2024 

via: Sketchbook 7/10/1, 2024, p. 18.

Quotes: Marcus Aurelius

"Everything is born from change." 

–– Marcus Aurelius (121-180 AD), Roman Emperor and Stoic Philosopher 

Source: dailystoic, Instagram, November 21, 2024.

via: Sketchbook N 14, 2024, p. 39. 

Quotes: Voltaire

"Every person is a creature of the age in which he lives and few are able to raise themselves above the ideas of the time." 

–– Voltaire, nom de plume of François-Marie Arouet (1694-1778), French writer, historian and philosopher 

Source: dailyphilosopher, Instagram, November 21, 2024.

via: Sketchbook N 14, 2024, p. 38. 

Quotes: Arabic proverb

"Whoever has no notebook in their sleeve will not establish wisdom in their heart." 

–– Arabic proverb 

Source: Roland Allen. The Notebook: A History of Thinking on Paper. Windsor, Ontario: Biblioasis, 2024 (2023); p. 217.

via: Sketchbook N 14, 2024, p. 38. 

Quotes: Milton Glaser

"Fail more often in order to find out what you're capable of learning." 

–– Milton Glaser (1929-2020), American graphic designer

Source: quiltscornerstone, Instagram, October 14, 2024.

via: Sketchbook P 16, 2024, p. 6. 

Quotes: unknown

"Progress isn't about being perfect. It's about being better than you were yesterday." 

–– unknown 

Source: The Brain Coach, Instagram Stories, Tuesday November 12, 2024.

via: Sketchbook N 14, 2024, p. 35. 

Quotes: Santosh Kalwar

"We are addicted to our thoughts. We cannot change anything if we cannot change our thinking." 

–– Santosh Kalwar (b. 1982), Nepalese poet, writer, researcher 

via: Sketchbook N 14, 2024, p. 35.

Quotes: W. Somerset Maugham

"Excess on occasion is exhilarating. It prevents moderation from acquiring the deadening effect of habit." 

–– W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965), English writer

via: Commonplace Book 2013-2014, 2014, p. 69. 

Quotes: Sir John Lubbock

"What we see depends mainly on what we look for." 

–– Sir John Lubbock (1834-1913), English banker, philanthropist, politician, scientist 

via: Commonplace Book 2013-2014, 2014, p. 69.

Quotes: Winston Churchill

"You'll never reach your destination if you stop to throw stones at every dog that barks." 

–– Winston Churchill (1874-1965) British Prime Minister 1940-1945; 1951-1955 

via: Commonplace Book 2013-2014, 2014, p. 69.

Quotes: Milan Kundera

"Chance and chance alone has a message for us. Everything that occurs out of necessity, everything expected, repeated day in and day out, is mute. Only chance can speak to us. We read its messages much as gypsies read the images made by coffee grounds at the bottom of a cup." 

–– Milan Kundera (1929-2023), Czech-born French writer 

Source: Milan Kundera. The Unbearable Lightness of Being. Translation by Michael Henry Heim. New York: HarperCollins, 1984; p. 48-49. 

via: Commonplace Book, 2013-2014, 2014, p. 92.

Quotes: Rachel Joyce

"They had offered him comfort and shelter, even when he was afraid of taking them, and in accepting he had learned something new. It was as much a gift to receive as it was to give, requiring as it did both courage and humility."

–– Rachel Joyce (b. 1962), British writer

Source: Rachel Joyce. The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. Canada: Bond Street Books (Random House Canada), 2012; p. 201.

via: Commonplace Book, 2013-2014, 2014, p. 96. 

Quotes: Alex Soojung-Kim Pang

"Your ability to focus on what's important is absolutely fundamental to the life you want to live." 

–– Alex Soojung-Kim Pang, American speaker, author, and consultant 

Source: Erin Anderssen. "Crushed." The Globe and Mail, Saturday March 29, 2014, p. F1, F6-7; p. F6. 

via: Commonplace Book, 2013-2014, 2014, p. 97.

Quotes: Iain Reid

"There has to be a known end to the solitude. You have to know it's temporary for it to be enjoyed." 

–– Iain Reid (b. 1981), Canadian writer

Source: Iain Reid. The Truth About Luck: What I learned on my road trip with grandma. Toronto: House of Anansi Press, 2013; p. 84. 

via: Commonplace Book, 2013-2014, 2014, p. 100.

Quotes: Rebecca Solnit

"All stories are really fragments of one story."

–– Rebecca Solnit (b. 1961), American author 

Source: Rebecca Solnit. The Faraway Nearby. New York: Viking, 2013; p. 79. 

via: Commonplace Book 2013-2014, 2014, p. 77. 

Quotes: Martin Buber

"The only way to learn is through encounter." 

–– Martin Buber (1878-1965), Austrian-Israeli philosopher

via: Commonplace Book 2013-2014, 2014, p. 128.

Quotes: Wendell Berry

"To know the dark, go dark. Go without sight, and find that the dark, too, blooms and sings."

–– Wendell Berry (b. 1934), American author, farmer, and activist 

via: Commonplace Book 2013-2014, 2014, p. 128.

Quotes: Linus Pauling

"If you want a good idea, start with a lot of ideas." 

–– Linus Pauling (1901-1994), American biochemist, chemical engineer, peace activist, author, and educator 

Source: Commonplace Book 2013- 2014, 2014, p. 141.

Quotes: Hilary Mantel

"When you begin a project you don't want to see your whole purpose in one clear glance. You need shadows in the landscape, to keep you alert and expectant. If you know too much about a story, the work is already done, and writing it down becomes a chore." 

–– Hilary Mantel (1952-2022), British writer and critic 

Source: Alice Vincent Writes, Instagram, October 8, 2024. 

via: Sketchbook N 14, 2024, p. 48.

Quotes: Leo Tolstoy

"Once we're thrown off our habitual paths, we think all is lost, but it's only here that the new and the good begins." 

–– Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910), Russian writer 

Source: Nitch, Instagram, October 14, 2024 

via: Sketchbook N 14, 2024, p. 33.

Quotes: Grace Lee Boggs

"To make a revolution, people must not only struggle against existing institutions. They must make a philosophical/spiritual leap and become more "human" human beings. In order to change/transform the world, they must change/transform themselves."

–– Grace Lee Boggs (1915-2015), American writer, philosopher, social activist and feminist 

via: Sketchbook N 14, 2024, p. 30. 

Quotes: Nick Bantock

"Of all the reasons for being an artist, there is one that outweighs all others: Art offers a path to our souls.

"But the path isn't direct. There are no shortcuts. The road is confusing, and seemingly getting lost along the way is inevitable.

"However, perhaps that is the point. After all, if it were simply a matter of going from A to B as the crow flies, how much would we learn along the way? In order to gather wisdom, we are obliged to stumblebum, our search careening us against the periphery of our comfort and comprehension."

–– Nick Bantock (b. 1949), British author and artist based in Canada 

Source: Nick Bantock. The Trickster's Hat: A Mischievous Apprenticeship in Creativity. New York: A Perigree Book (Penguin Group), 2014; p. 4. 

via: Commonplace Book, 2013-2014, 2014, p. 101.

Quotes: Morton Feldman

"When he did find the time to compose, Feldman employed a strategy that John Cage taught him – it was "the most important advice anybody ever gave me," Feldman told a lecture audience in 1984. "He said that it's a very good idea that after you write a bit, stop and then copy it. Because while you're copying it, you're thinking about it, and it's giving you other ideas. And that's the way I work. And it's marvellous, just wonderful, the relationship between working and copying." 

–– Morton Feldman (1926-1987), American composer 

Source: Mason Currey. Daily Rituals: How Artists Work. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2013; p. 15. 

via Commonplace Book 2013-2014, 2014, p. 107.

Quotes: Bruce Lee

"Do not pray for an easy life, pray for the strength to endure a difficult one."

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

via: Sketchbook O 15, 2024, p. 12.

Quotes: William Carlos Williams

"A new world is only a new mind." 

–– William Carlos Williams (1883-1963), American writer and physician 

Source: Daily Philosopher, Instagram, May 2, 2024.

via: Sketchbook O 15, 2024, p. 16. 

Quotes: Edith Wharton

"In spite of illness, in spite even of the arch-enemy sorrow, one can remain alive long past the usual date of disintegration if one is unafraid of change, insatiable in intellectual curiosity, interested in big things, and happy in small ways." 

–– Edith Wharton (1862-1937), American writer and designer 

Source: Austin Kleon newsletter October 25, 2024.

via: Sketchbook O 15, 2024, p. 18.

Quotes: Deborah Levy

"The seeds of the future are always planted in the past." 

–– Deborah Levy (b. 1959), South African-born, British novelist, playwright, and poet. 

Source: Deborah Levy. The Cost of Living: A Living Autobiography. Toronto, ON: Hamish Hamilton Canada, 2018; p. 145.

via: Commonplace Book 2022, 2022, p. 95.

Quotes: Marcus Aurelius

"The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way." 

–– Marcus Aurelius (121-180 AD), Roman Emperor and Stoic Philosopher 

via: Sketchbook O 15, 2024, p. 21.

Quotes: Marcel Duchamp

"Art is either plagiarism or revolution."

–– Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968), French conceptual artist 

via: Sketchbook O 15, 2024, p. 38.

Quotes: George Bernard Shaw

"Think of the fierce energy concentrated in an acorn. You bury it in the ground, and it explodes into an oak." 

–– George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950), Irish playwright, critic, and social activist 

via: Sketchbook  O 15, 2024, p. 43.

Quotes: Meister Eckhart

"The soul does not grow by addition but by subtraction."  

–– Meister Eckhart (1260-1328), German Catholic theologian, philosopher, and mystic 

via: Commonplace Book 2013-2014, 2014, p. 133.

Quotes: Thomas Merton

"We cannot achieve greatness unless we lose all interest in being great." 

–– Thomas Merton (1915-1968), American Trappist monk, writer, scholar, and social activist 

via: Commonplace Book 2013-2014, 2014, p. 166.

Quotes: Louise Penny

"His life had never had a rhythm. Each day had been unpredictable and he seemed to thrive on that. He'd thought that was part of his nature. He'd never known routine. Until now. 

"Gamache had to admit to a small fear that what was now a comforting routine would crumble into the banal, would become boring. But instead, it had gone in the other direction. 

"He seemed to thrive on the repetition. The stronger he got, the more he valued the structure. Far from being limiting, imprisoning, he found his daily rituals liberating."

–– Louise Penny (b. 1958), Canadian author 

Source: Louise Penny. The Long Way Home. New York: Minotaur Books, 2014; p. 4. 

via: Commonplace Book, 2013-2014, 2014, p. 173.

Quotes: Japanese proverb

"When you have completed 95 percent of your journey, you are only halfway there." 

–– Japanese proverb 

via: Commonplace Book, 2013-2014, 2014, p. 189. 

Quotes: Jostein Gaarder

"The most subversive people are those who ask questions." 

–– Jostein Gaarder (b. 1952), Norwegian author 

via: Commonplace Book 2013-2014, 2014, p. 188.

Quotes: Paul Tillich

"Doubt is not the opposite of faith; it is one element of faith." 

–– Paul Tillich (1886-1965), German-born, American theologian and philosopher 

via: Commonplace Book 2013-2014, 2013, p. 49.

Quotes: Bill Moyers

"Creativity is piercing the mundane to find the marvellous." 

–– Bill Moyers (b. 1934), American journalist and political commentator 

Source: textile art site, Instagram, September 29, 2024.

via: Sketchbook  O #15, 2024, p. 10. 

Quotes: Edgar Allan Poe

"There is no beauty without some strangeness." 

–– Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) American writer, poet, editor, and critic 

Source: J Demsey, Instagram, October 11, 2024.  

via: Sketchbook  O #15, 2024, p. 9. 

Quotes: Dainin Katagiri

"The important point of spiritual practice is not to try to escape your life, but to face it –– exactly and completely." 

–– Dainin Katagiri (1928-1990), Japanese Buddhist monk and writer 

Source: Daily Philosopher, Instagram, October 7, 2024.

via: Sketchbook  O #15, 2024, p. 6. 

Quotes: Anatole France

"All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another."

–– Anatole France (1844-1924), French novelist, poet, and journalist 

Source: Nathan James Ward, Instagram, October 2, 2024.

via: Sketchbook  O #15, 2024, p. 7. 

Quotes: Frida Kahlo

"Nothing is absolute. Everything changes, everything moves, everything revolves, everything flies and goes away."

–– Frida Kahlo (1907-1954), Mexican painter 

Source: Nitch, Instagram, October 5, 2024. 

via: Sketchbook  O #15, 2024, p. 7.

Quotes: Nan Goldin

"My work changes as I change. I feel an artist's work has to change, otherwise you become a replication of yourself." 

–– Nan Goldin (b. 1953), American photographer and activist 

Source: Female Poets Society, Instagram, October 7, 2024. 

via: Sketchbook 0 15, 2024, p. 7. 

Quotes: Herman Melville

"There are some enterprises in which a careful disorderliness is the true method." 

–– Herman Melville (1819-1891) American novelist, best known for his novel Moby-Dick 

via: Commonplace Book 2013-2014, 2013, p. 60. 

Quotes: Rebecca Solnit

"A major illness or injury is a rupture that invites you to rethink, to restart, to review what matters. It's a reminder that your time is finite and not to be wasted, and in breaking you from the past it offers the possibility of starting fresh."

–– Rebecca Solnit (b. 1961), American author 

Source: Rebecca Solnit. The Faraway Nearby. New York: Viking, 2013; p. 137-8. 

via: Commonplace Book 2013-2014, 2014, p. 79. 

Quotes: Leo Tolstoy

"I must write each day without fail, not so much for the success of the work, as in order not to get out of my routine." 

–– Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910), Russian writer 

via: Commonplace Book 2013-2014, 2014, p. 112. 

Quotes: Rahm Emanuel

"You never want a serious crisis to go to waste. This crisis provides the opportunity for us to do things that you could not do before." 

–– Rahm Emanuel (b. 1959), American politician and diplomat, President Obama's chief of staff

via: Commonplace Book 2013-2014, 2013, p. 21. 

Quotes: William James

"All our life, so far as it has definite form, is but a mass of habits."

–– William James (1842-1910), American psychologist and philosopher 

via: Commonplace Book 2013-2014, 2013, p. 11. 

Quotes: Gary Marcus

"A lot of learning is about breaking bad habits." 

–– Gary Marcus (b. 1970), American psychologist, cognitive scientist, author 

Source: Gary Marcus. Guitar Zero: The New Musician and the Science of Learning. New York: Penguin Press, 2012; p. 74. 

via: Commonplace Book 2013-2014, 2013, p. 3.

Quotes: Richard Florida

"Creativity involves the ability to synthesize. Einstein captured it nicely when he called his own work "combinatory play." It is a matter of sifting through data, perceptions and materials to come up with combinations that are new and useful."

–– Richard Florida (b. 1957), American urban studies theorist, author, and professor 

Source: Richard Florida. The Rise of the Creative Class: and how it's transforming work, leisure, community and everyday life. New York: Basic Books, 2002; p. 31. 

via Commonplace Book 2003-2004, 2003, p.45.  

Quotes: Deborah Levy

    "When I was a teenager, most arguments with my mother were about clothes. She was baffled by what it was inside myself that I was expressing outside of myself. She could no longer reach or recognize me. And that was the whole point. I was creating a persona that was braver than I actually felt. I took the risk of being mocked on buses and in the streets of the suburbs in which I lived. The secret message that lurked in the zips of my silver platform boots was that I did not want to be like the people doing the mocking. Sometimes we want to unbelong as much as we want to belong. On a bad day, my mother would ask me, 'Who do you think you are?' I had no idea how to answer that question when I was fifteen, but I was reaching for the kind of freedom that a young woman in the 1970s did not socially possess. What else was there to do? To become the person someone else had imagined for us is not freedom –– it is to mortgage our life to someone else's fear.

    "If we cannot at least imagine we are free, we are living a life that is wrong for us."

–– Deborah Levy (b. 1959), South African-born, British novelist, playwright, and poet. 

Source: Deborah Levy. The Cost of Living: A Living Autobiography. Toronto, ON: Hamish Hamilton Canada, 2018; p. 121-122.

via: Commonplace Book 2022, 2022, p. 94.

Quotes: author unknown

"In theory, consistency sounds like discipline and determination –– strong and unwavering. But in practice, consistency is about being adaptable. When time is tight, shrink the task. When energy is low, do the simpler version. It's not about being rigid; it's about finding ways to keep showing up, no matter what. Your habits don't have to be fixed –– they should evolve with your day. The key is not in doing the same thing over and over again, but in never stopping, even when life gets in the way. Each step forward, no matter how small, keeps you on track. Adaptability isn't the opposite of consistency; it's the art of staying the course, no matter the obstacles." 

–– author unknown 

Source: Serene Stoics, Instagram, September 29, 2024. 

via: Sketchbook N 14, 2024, p. 28-29.

Quotes: Yoko Ono

"Art is a way of survival." 

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

Source: WomensArt1, Instagram, August 5, 2024. 

via: Sketchbook N 14, 2024, p. 29.

Quotes: Andrew Wyeth

"When you lose your simplicity, you lose your drama." 

–– Andrew Wyeth (1917-2009), American visual artist 

Source: Quiltscornerstone Instagram, August 25, 2024. 

via: Sketchbook N 14, 2024, p. 27.

Quotes: Pearl S. Buck

"Many people lose the small joys in the hope for the big happiness." 

–– Pearl S. Buck (1892-1973), American writer 

Source: Daily Philosopher Instagram, September 2, 2024. 

via: Sketchbook N 14, 2024, p. 27.

Quotes: Paulo Coelho

"If you are brave enough to say goodbye, life will reward you with a new hello." 

–– Paulo Coelho (b. 1947), Brazilian writer

Source: Daily Philosopher Instagram, September 29, 2024. 

via: Sketchbook N 14, 2024, p. 27.

Quotes: Haruki Murakami

"A certain type of perfection can only be realized through a limitless accumulation of the imperfect." 

–– Haruki Murakami (b.1949), Japanese writer 

Source: Daily Philosopher Instagram, September 10, 2024. 

via: Sketchbook N 14, 2024, p. 27.

Quotes: Gilles Deleuze

"The problem is no longer getting people to express themselves, but providing little gaps of solitude and silence in which they might eventually find something to say ... What a relief to have nothing to say, the right to say nothing, because only then is there a chance of framing ... the thing that might be worth saying." 

–– Gilles Deleuze (1925-1995), French philosopher 

Source: Nitch, Instagram, September 20, 2024. 

via: Sketchbook N 14, 2024, p. 26.

Quotes: Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail."

–– Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), American philosopher and writer 

Source: Daily Philosopher, Instagram, September 25, 2024.

via: Sketchbook N 14, 2024, p. 25.

Quotes: Susan Griffin

"Because we think in a fragmentary way, we see fragments. And this way of seeing leads us to make actual fragments of the world." 

–– Susan Griffin (b. 1943), American radical feminist philosopher, essayist and playwright 

Source: Gabor Maté. The Myth of Normal. Toronto: Alfred A. Knopf, 2022; p. 13.

via: Sketchbook N 14, 2004, p. 25.

Quotes: Dorothea Lange

"Art is a by-product of an act of total attention."

–– Dorothea Lange (1895-1965), American documentary photographer and photojournalist 

Source: Women's Art 1, Instagram, Monday September 23, 2024.

via: Sketchbook N 14, 2004, p. 24. 

Quotes: Hasidic saying

"Everyone should carefully observe which way his heart draws him, and then choose that way with all his strength." 

–– Hasidic saying 

Source: Austin Kleon Instagram stories, Monday September 23, 2024.

via: Sketchbook N 14, 2004, p. 24. 

Quotes: Ralph Waldo Emerson

"The invariable mark of wisdom is to see the miraculous in the common."

–– Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), American philosopher and writer 

via: Sketchbook N 14, 2004, p. 24.

Quotes: Christopher Alexander

"A collection of less than five to seven objects can be grasped as one thing, and the objects in it can be grasped as individuals. A collection of more than five to seven things is perceived as "many things." It may be true that the impression of a "sea of cars" first comes into being with about seven cars."

–– Christopher Alexander (1936-2022), Austrian-born British-American architect, author, and design theorist 

Source: Christopher Alexander et. al. A Pattern Language. New York: Oxford University Press, 1977; p. 505.

via: Commonplace Book, 2024, p.11-12.

Quotes: Anne Lamott

"I heard someone once say that grief is love that is homeless."

–– Anne Lamott (b. 1954), American writer 

Source: Anne Lamott. Somehow: Thoughts on Love. New York: Random House, 2024; p. 170. 

via: Commonplace Book 2024, p. 11.

Quotes: Jon Fosse

"The act of writing is to me to listen. When I write, I never prepare, I don't plan anything, I proceed by listening. ... At a certain point I always get a feeling that the text has already been written, is out there somewhere, not inside me, and that I just need to write it down before the text disappears." 

–– Jon Fosse (b. 1959), author, translator, playwright 

Source: Austin Kleon blog July 26, 2024.

via: Commonplace Book 2024, p. 8.

Quotes: Lidia Yuknavitch

"If we tell our children anything, it must be that fitting in is not what's important. It's what's easy. It's what's expected and so the opposite is frowned upon. We should tell them that it hurts not to belong and, as hard as it might be to hear, that hurt may not go away. It may grow and settle into a different, deeper kind of hurt, a pain that seeps and spreads and becomes a part of them. It's not sadness, exactly. Misfits can, and often are, happy, joyful, blissful people. ... There is power in difference. There is beauty." 

–– Lidia Yuknavitch (b. 1963), American writer 

Source: Lidia Yuknavitch. The Misfit's Manifesto. New York: TED Books (Simon & Schuster), 2017; p. 53-4.

via: Commonplace Book 2022, 2023, p. 75.

Quotes: Anonymous

"You'll never get an A if you're always afraid of getting an F." 

–– Anonymous

via: Commonplace Book 2022, 2023, p. 124.

Quotes: Quincy Jones

"Big dreams don't come without big failures. Things will get tough and you will make mistakes. Repeatedly. We're human and we're going to flounder, but it's what you do to get back up that matters. If I allowed myself to stay in the downward swings, then I'd still be there. Similarly, if you miss the mark on your first try, don't give up. Success is a cumulative process; it's not a one-time event. When you're just starting out, it's one mess-up after another. Winning one, then losing the next. After a little while, the "mess-ups" turn into valuable experiences. The more opportunities you have to win, lose, or barely make, the more chances you'll have to convert those experiences into fuel. You don't learn as much just from winning or playing it safe."

–– Quincy Jones (b. 1933), American record producer, songwriter, composer, arranger, and film and television producer. 

Source: Quincy Jones. 12 Notes on Life and Creativity. New York: Abrams Image, 2022; p. 127-8. 

via: Commonplace Book 2022, 2023, p. 125.

Quotes: Steven Heighton

"Let failure be your workshop. See it for what it is: the world walking you through a tough but necessary semester, free of tuition."

–– Steven Heighton (1961-2022), Canadian novelist, poet, short-story writer 

Source: Steven Heighton. Work Book. Toronto, Ontario: ECW Press, 2011, p. 25.

via: Commonplace Book 2022, 2023, p.114.  

Quotes: Pep Carrió

"My sketchbooks are my warehouses of memory." 

–– Pep Carrió, Spanish book cover designer 

Source: Richard Brereton. Sketchbooks: The Hidden Art of Designers, Illustrators, and Creatives. London UK: Laurence King Publishing, 2009 (2012), p. 46. 

via: Sketchbook N 14, 2024, p. 12.

Quotes: Publius Syrus

 "Practice is the best of all instructors." 

–– Publius Syrus 1st century BC Syrian-born Latin writer

Source: Linda Trichler Metcalf and Tobin Simon. Writing the Mind Alive: The Proprioceptive Method for Finding Your Authentic Voice. New York: Ballantine Books, 2002, p. 156.

via: Sketchbook N 14, 2024, p. 22.

Quotes: Elias Canetti

"The self-explorer, whether he wants to or not, becomes the explorer of everything else." 

–– Elias Canetti (1905-1994), Bulgarian-born novelist

Source: Linda Trichler Metcalf and Tobin Simon. Writing the Mind Alive: The Proprioceptive Method for Finding Your Authentic Voice. New York: Ballantine Books, 2002, p. 1. 

via: Sketchbook N 14, 2024, p. 22.

Quotes: John Kander

"Being an artist is much more like being a carpenter than like being God... What we do is a craft. I mean you can have a great inner talent and a lot of people do, but without craft it's very hard for the talent to emerge." 

–– John Kander (b. 1927), American theatre composer

Source: Adam Moss. The Work of Art: How Something Comes From Nothing. New York: Penguin Press, 2024; p. 15.

via 2020 Aboveground Art Supplies Knapsack Sketchbook, 2024 p. 48.

Quotes: Rainer Maria Rilke

"To work is to live without dying."

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

Source: Deborah Levy. Real Estate: A Living Autobiography. Toronto, ON: Hamish Hamilton Canada, 2021; p. 169.

via: Commonplace Book 2022, 2022, p. 96.

Quotes: Deborah Levy

"All writing is about seeing new things and investigating them. Sometimes it's about seeing new things in old ways."

–– Deborah Levy (b. 1959), South African-born, British novelist, playwright, and poet. 

Source: Deborah Levy. Real Estate: A Living Autobiography. Toronto, ON: Hamish Hamilton Canada, 2021; p. 257.

via: Commonplace Book 2022, 2022, p. 96.

Quotes: Leo Tolstoy

"The greater your desire to speak, the greater the danger that you'll say something stupid."

–– Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910), Russian writer 

via: Sketchbook N 14, 2024, p. 15.

Quotes: Terry Allen

"It's necessity to confront your curiosity, confront the idea of mystery." 

–– Terry Allen (b. 1943), American musician and visual artist  

via: Sketchbook N 14, 2024, p. 21. 

Quotes: Gita Sjahrir

"People always equate goals to results, when actually process is the goal." 

–– Gita Sjahrir, Indonesian entrepreneur 

Source: Sukka Citta Instagram 

via: Sketchbook N 14, 2024, p. 21. 

Quotes: Leo Buscaglia

"Change is the end result of all true learning." 

–– Leo Buscaglia (1924-1998), American writer, professor, and motivational speaker 

via: Sketchbook N 14, 2024, p. 21.

Quotes: W.H. Auden

"When a successful author analyzes the reasons for his success, he generally underestimates the talent he was born with, and overestimates his skill in employing it."

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

Source: Adam Moss. The Work of Art: How Something Comes From Nothing. New York: Penguin Press, 2024; p. 15.

via 2020 Aboveground Art Supplies Knapsack Sketchbook, 2024 p. 48.

Quotes: Christopher Alexander

"In a society which emphasizes teaching, children and students –– and adults –– become passive and unable to think or act for themselves. Creative, active individuals can only grow up in a society which emphasizes learning instead of teaching." 

–– Christopher Alexander (1936-2022), Austrian-born British-American architect, author, and design theorist 

Source: Christopher Alexander et. al. A Pattern Language. New York: Oxford University Press, 1977; p. 100.

via: Commonplace Book, 2024, p.11.

Quotes: Anne Lamott

"Curiosity leads to wonder and wonder is a cousin to love. Wonder is why we're here." 

–– Anne Lamott (b. 1954), American writer 

Source: Anne Lamott. Somehow: Thoughts on Love. New York: Random House, 2024; p. 171. 

via: Commonplace Book 2024, p. 11.

Quotes: Gloria Steinem

"The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off! 

–– Gloria Steinem (b. 1934), American writer and journalist

via: Sketchbook N 14, 2024, p. 15. 

Quotes: George Saunders

"What a story is "about" is to be found in the curiosity it creates in us, which is a form of caring." 

–– George Saunders (b. 1958), American writer 

Source: Mellisa Sweet illustration on Instagram, found Wednesday August 28, 2024.

via: Sketchbook N 14, 2024, p. 15.

Quotes: Eileen Myles

"I hope there's mystery and poetry in your life –– not even poems, but patterns. I hope you can see them. Often these patterns will wake you up, and you will know that you are alive, again and again." 

–– Eileen Myles (b. 1949), American writer, poet, performer 

Source: Valedictory words by Eileen Myles via Austin Kleon newsletter, August 23, 2024. 

via: Sketchbook N 14, 2024, p. 9.

Quotes: E. R. Frank

"Time is tricky. You have whole months, even years, when nothing changes a speck, when you don't go anywhere or do anything or think one new thought. And then you get hit with a day, or an hour, or half a second when so much happens it's almost like you got born all over again into some brand-new person you for damn sure never expected to meet." 

–– E. R. Frank, American fiction writer social worker, and psychotherapist 

Source: E.R. Frank, Life is Funny, 2000; via Words of Women August 19, 2024, Instagram 

via: Sketchbook N 14, 2024, p. 1.

Quotes: André Gide

"Art is a collaboration between God and the artist, and the less the artist does the better."

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

Source: Adam Moss. The Work of Art: How Something Comes From Nothing. New York: Penguin Press, 2024; p. 11.

via 2020 Aboveground Art Supplies Knapsack Sketchbook, 2024 p. 47.

Quotes: Steve Jobs

"Deciding what not to do is as important as deciding what to do." 

–– Steve Jobs (1955-2011), American industrial designer and entrepreneur 

via: Commonplace Book, 2022-2024, 2024, p. 180.

Quotes: Anthony Doerr

"Fiction writing is often an excuse for me to pursue various curiosities I have. And curiosity is really just a form of love: "Are you curious?" is another way of asking, "Are you in love with the world?" In my own work, projects always start with something I get really interested in, like whale standings or insects or venomous snails, or hibernating animals or snowflakes. The research is often the kernel, and I start writing around it; building it out into a spiral sort of, trying to find a character who I can use –– often I go for the most obvious thing, which is to infect the character with the same kind of interest I have (e.g., the shell collector). So when young writers ask for advice, not that I'm qualified to give any, I usually say that part of writing is finding the things in the world that you care the most about, that you care so deeply about you'd never get tired of reading or writing about them, and make those your subjects. For me it has been wonder –– what wonder is, where can we find it. For someone else it might be skateboards, or jazz, or bipolar disorder, or whatever. If you care deeply enough about something, some of that interest and passion will (hopefully) transfer through the page to the reader."

–– Anthony Doerr, American writer 

Source: Austin Kleon Tumblr, Friday July 26, 2024.

via: Commonplace Book, 2022-2024, 2024, p. 189-190.

Quotes: Jane Hirshfield

"In order to gain anything, you must first lose everything."

–– Jane Hirshfield (b. 1953), American poet, trained in Zen Buddhism 

via: Commonplace Book 2024, p. 8.

Quotes: Joanna Macy

"Falling apart is not such a bad thing. Indeed, it is as essential to evolutionary and psychological transformation as the cracking of outgrown shells." 

–– Joanna Macy (b. 1929), American environmental activist, scholar & author 

via: Commonplace Book 2024, p. 7.