Quotes: Michael Kimmelman

"Contrary to the myth that artists are eccentrics, leaping from one peak of inspiration to another, [Philip] Pearlstein exemplifies the greater truth that most artists live as they work: incrementally, day by day, in the same way that they build up a canvas or chisel a sculpture. They are creatures of habit. The dancer Twyla Tharp wakes up every morning at five-thirty and takes a cab to the gym –– a trite ritual, but as she has written, "a lot of habitually creative people have preparation rituals linked to the setting in which they choose to start their day. By putting themselves into that environment, they begin their creative day." ... Novelty in creative endeavours usually arises from routine –– you have to be familiar with something before you know what is  novel." 

–– Michael Kimmelman (b. 1958), American critic and journalist 

Source: Michael Kimmelman. The Accidental Masterpiece: On the Art of Life and Vice Versa. New York: Penguin Press, 2005; p. 150-151.

via Commonplace Book 2006-2009, 2007, p. 116. 

Quotes: Buddhist saying

"The road to life is not wide and straight; it is steep and tricky, and those who only travel on sunny days will never reach their destination." 

– Old Buddhist saying

Quotes: Eric Booth

"Learning theorists now argue for the importance of non-productive play as a critical component of productive advancement. Play is one of the few universal ways in which we test what we know."

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

Source: Eric Booth. The Everyday Work of Art. Naperville, Illinois: Sourcebooks, 1997; p. 143.

via: Commonplace Book 2006-2009, 2009, p. 190. 

For the past three years, I have maintained a daily sketchbook practice. It's a durational art practice and the purpose of it is for creative self-care and to see how I and the practice develop over time. In these dedicated sketchbooks (I have now filled 13), I go through phases of collage, drawing, painting, printmaking. Each day I play. Each day I "see and respond."

Quotes: John Wilson

"Being in between projects is interesting. I've had a really bad work ethic over the past year or two, but now when I look back at all the stuff I shot, even though I thought I was doing a really lazy job of it, like even if you just do like a little tiny bit every single day just by the sheer momentum of committing to an idea, even if it's just a sentence, a title of something –– that ends up turning into something." 

–– John Wilson (b. 1986), American documentary filmmaker 

Source: Why John Wilson can't stop filming YouTube

Quotes: Claire McMillan

"Dailyness is the most important thing. Creating that time every day for the muse to come through." 

–– Claire McMillan, American author 

Source: Claire McMillan. Alchemy of a Blackbird. Toronto: Atria Books (Simon and Schuster), 2023; p. 3-4. 

via: Commonplace Book 2024, 2025, p. 34.

Quotes: Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching

"Work is done, then forgotten. Therefore it lasts forever." 

–– Lao Tzu (c. 500 BCE), Chinese philosopher and writer 

Source: Tao Te Ching

via: Commonplace Book 2024, 2025, p. 34. 

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: Darren Hardy

"You will never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret of your success is found in your daily routine."

–– Darren Hardy (b. 1971), American author and publisher 

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: 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

"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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: Russell Brand

"One day at a time. It sounds so simple. It actually is simple but it isn't easy: It requires incredible support and fastidious structuring." 

–– Russell Brand (b. 1975), English comedian, actor, activist

Source: Austin Kleon. Show Your Work! New York: Workman Publishing Company, 2014; p. 55. 

Quotes: Kyo Maclear

"To what do we commit ourselves and for how long? Monet painted the Nymphéas two hundred and forty-seven times. "It took me some time to understand my waterlilies," he wrote. The older I get the more I understand this impulse toward reduction and repetition; the more I understand there is infinitude in a spartan focus, in Agnes Martin's geometries, in Giorgio Morandi's vases. Focalizing can be regenerative even for those of us who believe the sprawling clamour of the world demands our promiscuous attention.

–– Kyo Maclear (b. 1970), British-born, Canadian writer and artist 

Source: Kyo Maclear. Unearthing: A Story of Tangled Love and Family Secrets. Toronto: Alfred A. Knopf Canada, 2023; pp. 193. 

via: Commonplace Book 2022, 2023, p.108. 

Quotes: Japanese proverb

"Beginning is easy, continuing is hard."

–– Japanese proverb 

Source: Sarah Harvey. Kaizen: The Japanese Secret of Lasting Change. Small Steps to Big Goals. New York: The Experiment, LLC, 2019, 2020; p. 250.

via: Commonplace book 2022, 2022, p. 3.

Quotes: Oliver Burkeman

"The psychology professor Robert Boice spent his career studying the writing habits of his fellow academics, reaching the conclusion that the most productive and successful among them generally made writing a smaller part of their daily routine than the others, so that it was much more feasible to keep going with it day after day. They cultivated the patience to tolerate the fact that they probably wouldn't be producing very much on any individual day, with the result that they produced much more over the long term. They wrote in daily sessions –– sometimes as short as ten minutes, and never longer than four hours –– and they religiously took weekends off." 

–– Oliver Burkeman (b. 1975), British author and journalist 

Source: Oliver Burkeman. Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals. New York: Allen Lane/Penguin Random House, 2021, p.181. 

via: Commonplace Book, 2022, 2024, p. 140.