Quotes: Graham Greene

"When we are not sure, we are alive." 

–– Graham Greene (1904-1991), British writer, playwright, literary critic

via: Sketchbook M 13, 2024, 2025, p. 19.

Quotes: Eleanor Roosevelt

"And the purpose of life, after all, is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience. You can do that only if you have curiosity, and unquenchable spirit of adventure." 

–– Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962), American author, activist, diplomat, political figure, and First Lady. Quote from: You Learn by Living. 1960. 

via: Commonplace Book 2024, 2025, p. 48.

Quotes: Samuel Johnson

"It is better to live rich than die rich."

–– Samuel Johnson (1709-1784), English author 

via: Commonplace Book 2024, 2025, p. 48.

Quotes: Mark Rothko

"A painting is not about an experience. It is an experience." 

–– Mark Rothko (1903-1970), Latvian-born American painter 

via: Commonplace Book 2024, 2025, p. 48.

Quotes: Pablo Picasso

"Art is theft."

–– Pablo Picasso (1881-1973), Spanish artist 

via: Sketchbook M 13, 2024, 2025, p. 19.

Quotes: Walter Benjamin

"All great works of literature either dissolve a genre or invent one." 

–– Walter Benjamin (1892-1940), German cultural critic 

via: Sketchbook M 13, 2024, 2025, p. 19.

Quotes: Paul Krugman

"[I]t takes some sophistication to realize that simplicity may be the result of years of hard thinking." 

–– Paul Krugman (b. 1953) American economist and author 

Source: Paul Krugman. Arguing with Zombies: Economics, Politics, and the Fight for a Better Future. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2020; p. 403.

via: Sketchbook M 13, 2024, 2025, p. 18.

Quotes: John Foster Dulles

"A man's accomplishments in life are the cumulative effect of his attention to detail." 

–– John Foster Dulles (1888-1959) American politician, lawyer, and diplomat 

via: Sketchbook M 13, 2024, 2025, p. 18.

Quotes: David Lynch

"The old is dead, and I don't know what the new is. The only way to find the new is to start different things and see if there's something that can come out of experimentation. It's somewhat unsettling, but it's a hopeful thing in a way. I've been here before, lots of times." 

–– David Lynch (1946-2025), American filmmaker, visual artist, musician and actor 

Source: Austin Kleon newsletter, January 24, 2025 

via: Sketchbook K 11, 2025, p. 45.

Quotes: Publilius Syrus

"Practice is the best of all instructors." 

–– Publilius Syrus (85 BC – 43 BC), Syrian-born Latin writer

via: Commonplace Book 2006-2009, 2007, p. 97.

Quotes: Martin Luther King Jr.

"Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase. Just take the first step."

–– Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968), American Baptist minister and civil rights activist 

via: Commonplace Book 2006-2009, 2007, p. 98.

Quotes: Buddha

"All that we are is a result of what we have thought."

–– Buddha, formerly known as Siddhartha Gautama (623 or 563 BCE to 543 or 483 BCE), Indian philosopher and founder of Buddhism 

via: Commonplace Book 2006-2009, 2007, p. 98.

Quotes: Eric Booth

"We are shaped by what we extend ourselves into; our attending and our participation inform our lives. We must be very careful with the objects and actions we present to ourselves and to our children because we are changed by them."

–– Eric Booth, American actor, teacher, and author 

Source: Eric Booth. The Everyday Work of Art. Naperville, Illinois: Sourcebooks, 1997; p. 24.

via: Commonplace Book 2006-2009, 2009, p. 186.  

Quotes: Ralph Waldo Emerson

"The good news is that the moment you decide what you know is more important than what you have been taught to believe, you will have shifted gears in your quest for abundance. Success comes from within, not from without." 

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

via: Commonplace Book 2006-2009, 2007, p. 100.

Quotes: Dwight D. Eisenhower

"Plans are worthless, but planning is everything." 

–– Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890-1969), American politician (former President of the USA) and military General

Quotes: Leanne Ford

"How can I use what I love to do, what I am good at doing, to show love to those around me? To show examples of love who don't often see it? And can that snowball for them to start sharing more love too?"

–– Leanne Ford (b. 1981), American interior designer 

Source: Leanne Ford. The Slow Down. New York: Abrams, 2024; p. 173. 

via: Sketchbook M 13, 2024, p. 9.

Quotes: Paul Valéry

"A man is a poet if difficulties inherent in his art provide him with ideas; he is not a poet if they deprive him of ideas."

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

Quotes: Don Grayson

"Anything that slows us down is a spiritual practice." 

–– Don Grayson (1939-2017), Canadian Anglican priest 

Source: Lois Huey-Heck and Jim Kalnin. The Spirituality of Art. Kelowna, B.C.: Northstone Publishing, 2006.

via: Commonplace Book 2006-2009, 2008, p. 158.  

Quotes: James McNeill Whistler

"Art happens –– no hovel is safe from it; no prince may depend upon it; the vastest intelligence cannot bring it about."

–– James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903), American painter 

via: Commonplace Book 2006-2009, 2009, p. 186.

Quotes: Henri Matisse

"The role of art is not to isolate us in an artificial or neutral space but to help us participate in our life. Its goal is to be useful, not only beautiful. Its use is therapeutic as well as artistic. Art seeks to relieve, alleviate, heal." 

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

Source: Judy Martin My Process blog, Monday February 10, 2025. 

via: Sketchbook K 11, 2025, p. 47.

Quotes: Agnes Martin

"That which seems like a false step is just the next step."

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

Source: Oliver Burkeman. Meditations for Mortals. Toronto: Allen Lane/Penguin Random House Canada, 2024; p. 9. 

via: Sketchbook K 11, 2025, p. 45.

Quotes: David Lynch

"Harry, I'm going to let you in on a little secret. Every day, once a day, give yourself a present. Don't plan it, don't wait for it. Just let it happen. It could be a new shirt at the men's store. A cat nap in your office chair. Or two cups of good, hot black coffee." 

–– David Lynch (1946-2025), American filmmaker, visual artist, musician and actor 

Source: F.B.I Special Agent Dale Cooper (played by Kyle MacLachlan), Twin Peaks. 

via: Sketchbook K 11, 2024, p. 44.

Quotes: Yellowstone

"You know, I"ve come to believe perfection only lives in little moments. You know? Can't be sustained over hours. Just instances, you know? Little wisps of time. Then the world becomes imperfect again." 

–– Character John Dutton, played by Kevin Costner

Source: Yellowstone 5.6 episode: "Cigarettes, Whiskey, a Meadow and You."

Quotes: Thelonious Monk

"A genius is the one most like himself."

–– Thelonious Monk (1917-1982), American jazz pianist and composer 

via: Commonplace Book 2006-2009, 2009, p. 175. 

Quotes: Nate Berkus

"I've always believed you need space to disengage in order to be creative." 

–– Nate Berkus (b. 1971), American interior designer and TV host 

Source: Caitlin Flemming and Julie Grebel. Sense of Place: Design Inspired by Where We Live." New York: Abrams, 2023; p. 85. 

via: Sketchbook M 13, 2024, 2025, p. 13.

Quotes: Leanne Ford

"There is no single style.

"Those days are gone, though honestly I wonder if those days ever existed. Even historical styles were based on travels, cultures combining, practicality, needs. Maybe we were always meshing styles, and these new morphed visions aren't new at all!"

–– Leanne Ford (b. 1981), American interior designer 

Source: Leanne Ford. The Slow Down. New York: Abrams, 2024; p. 137. 

via: Sketchbook M 13, 2024, p. 8.

Quotes: Albert Einstein

"The intuitive mind is a sacred gift, and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honours the servant and has forgotten the gift."

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

Source: Betty Edwards. Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. New York: Tarcher Perigree, 2012, p. xv. 

via: Sketchbook M 13, 2024, 2025, p. 11.

Quotes: Samuel Johnson

"The diminutive chains of habit are seldom heavy enough to be felt, till they are too strong to be broken."

–– Samuel Johnson (1709-1784), English author 

Source: Wendy Wood. Good Habits, Bad Habits. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2019; p. 20. 

via: Sketchbook M 13, 2024, 2025, p. 13.

Quotes: Bruno Munari

"To keep the spirit of childhood within oneself for the whole of one's life means retaining

the curiosity of knowing

the pleasure of understanding

the desire to communicate."

–– Bruno Munari (1907-1998), Italian artist and designer 

via: Sketchbook M 13, 2024, 2025, p. 14.

Quotes: Christopher Morley

"Read, every day, something no one else is reading. Think, every day, something no one else is thinking. Do, every day, something no one else would be silly enough to do. It is bad for the mind to continually be part of unanimity."

–– Christopher Morley (1890-1957), American writer 

Source: Shigehiro Oishi. Life in Three Dimensions: How Curiosity, Exploration, and Experience Make a Fuller, Better Life. New York: Double Day, 2025; p. 43. 

via: Sketchbook M 13 2024, 2025, p. 16.

Quotes: Thelonious Monk

"Whatever you think can't be done, somebody will come along and do it."

–– Thelonious Monk (1917-1982), American jazz pianist and composer 

via: Commonplace Book 2006-2009, 2009, p. 175. 

Quotes: Oliver Wendell Holmes

"Every calling is great when greatly pursued." 

–– Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809-1894), American physician and poet

via: Commonplace Book 2006-2009, 2008, p. 140.