"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.
"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.
"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.
"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.
"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.
"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.
"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.
"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.
"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.
"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.
"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.
"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.
"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.
"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.
"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.
"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.
"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.
"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.
"The only way to learn is through encounter."
–– Martin Buber (1878-1965), Austrian-Israeli philosopher
via: Commonplace Book 2013-2014, 2014, p. 128.
"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.
"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.
"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.
"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.
"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.
"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.
"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.
"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.
"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.
