"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.
"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.
"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.
"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.
"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.
"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.
"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.
"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.
"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.
"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.
"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.
"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.
"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.
"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.
"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.
