Quotes: unknown

"The person you will be in five years is based on the books you read and the people you surround yourself with. 

–– unknown 

Source: Flo and Frank, Instagram 

via: Striped notebook, 2016, p. 19. 

Quotes: Jacqueline Woodson

"A book has to leave you a little bit different than how you were when you started reading it." 

–– Jacqueline Woodson (b. 1963), American writer 

Source: The Globe and Mail. "Books." The Book Report, Saturday August 27, 2016, p. R14. 

via: Sketchbook 29, 2016, p. 86.

Quotes 315: John Ashbery

"misunderstanding is a creative process, another word for metaphor." 

–– John Ashbery (1927-2017), American poet and art critic; quote from Jane Hammond: Paper Work 

via Sketchbook 8, 2009, p. 13

Quotes 314: Hazel Henderson

"We are all making the future every minute that we live, by way of our collective and individual decisions. If we think like that, everybody is a futurist." 

–– Hazel Henderson (b. 1933), British writer, futurist, and economic iconoclast; quote from Massive Change by Bruce Mau. 

via Sketchbook 7, 2009, p. 104

Quotes 213: Agnes Martin

"Say to yourselves: I am going to work in order to see myself and free myself. While working and in the work I must be on the alert to see myself. When I see myself in the work I will know that that is the work I am supposed to do. I will not have much time for other people's problems. I will have time to be by myself almost all the time and it will be a quiet life." 

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

Source: Agnes Martin. Writings Schriften. Edited by Dieter Schwartz, Kunstmuseum Winterthur Edition Cantz 1991; p. 73.

Quotes 211: Nick Bantock

"Ideas are ten-a-penny. Everyone gets them. It's just that we tend to edit them out or throw them away; we dismiss them as irrelevant and unworthy, or we start to develop them but become riddled with self-doubt and lose our energy. Ideas have to be fostered, made friends with, and then encouraged through their various stages until they're strong enough to stand on their own. When they're ready, they'll make their own demands and direct their own completion." 

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

Source: Nick Bantock. The Artful Dodger. San Francisco, California: Chronicle Books, 2000; p. 103

Quotes 209: Joyce Rupp

"In her book, On the Wings of Self-Esteem, Louise Hart warns: "Comparison sets us up for unhealthy competition. It drives wedges between people, creates separation, and enforces conformity." When we consistently compare ourselves with others we can end up rejecting our self ... and we follow someone else's dream instead of our own." 

–– Joyce Rupp (b. 1943), American Catholic writer and speaker 

Source: Joyce Rupp. The Cup of Our Life: A Guide for Spiritual Growth. Notre Dame, Indiana: Ave Maria Press, 1997, p. 81. 

via Commonplace Book 2006, p. 125

Quotes 207: Thomas King

"Did you ever wonder how it is we imagine the world in the way we do, how it is we imagine ourselves, if not through our stories. And in the English-speaking world, nothing could be easier, for we are surrounded by stories, and we can trace these stories back to other stories and from there back to the beginnings of language. For these are our stories, the cornerstones of our culture."

–– Thomas King (b. 1943), American-born Canadian Cherokee author 

Source: Thomas King. The Truth About Stories: A Native Narrative. Toronto, Ontario: House of Anansi Press, 2003; p. 95. This was a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) Massey lecture. Thomas King is the first Massey lecturer of Indigenous descent in its then 42 year history. What took so long???

via Commonplace Book 2020-2021, p. 116.

Quotes 201: Gill Edwards

"Our outer world is a mirror of our inner world –– so clutter is a symbol of unfinished business, clinging to the past, stagnant energy, unwillingness to change and a belief in scarcity. According to the Huna wisdom, everything we own is connected to us by strands of energy, known as aka threads. Every single object either lifts our energy or depletes it –– and clutter depletes it. Clutter is tiring. It scatters our thoughts, stops our own energy flowing and keeps our lives stuck. It also prevents the subtle energy (Ch'i) of our home from flowing freely, which affects how we feel at home and what we attract into our lives."

 –– Gill Edwards (1955-2011), British writer and psychologist

Source: Gill Edwards. Pure Bliss: The Art of Living in Soft Time. London: Piatkus, 1999; p.282-283).

via Commonplace Book, 2006, p. 117

Quotes 186: Alan Watts

"A thing is a think." 

–– Alan Watts (1915-1973), British philosopher and writer

via Sarah Urist Green. You Are an Artist. p. 426 e-book

Quotes 171: Diana Whitney & Amanda Trosten-Bloom

"Questions can stimulate ideas, innovation, and invention. New knowledge, theories, and inventions have frequently evolved from unusual questions –– questions that require persistent reflection, consideration of paradoxical possibilities, and synthesis across diverse disciplines. Many scientists and inventors tell of the question that "haunted" them, begging for resolution until the answer emerged and along with it a new idea, or invention." 

–– Diana Whitney (b. 1948), American writer & Amanda Trosten-Bloom, American writer

Source: Diana Whitney & Amanda Trosten-Bloom. The Power of Appreciative Inquiry: A Practical Guide to Positive Change. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2003; p. 59.

via Commonplace Book 2006, p. 57.

Quotes 152: Alan Fletcher

"Every discovery by definition is unpredictable. If it were predictable it would not be a discovery. Creativity exposes unpredictable things to be discovered." 

–– Alan Fletcher (1931-2006), British graphic designer and writer

Source: Alan Fletcher. The Art of Looking Sideways. London: Phaidon Press, 2001; p.31.

via Book of Commonplace 2005-2006, p. 171.

Quotes 151: Lynne Twist

"The life you live is the legacy you leave." 

–– Lynne Twist, American writer and public speaker

Source: Lynne Twist. The Soul of Money: Transforming Your Relationship with Money and Life. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 2003; p. 225.

via Book of Commonplace 2005-2006, p. 154.

Quotes 134: Louise Penny

"Stephen put his hand on the boy's arm and said, "Patience. Patience. With patience comes choice, and with choice comes power." 

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

Source: Louise Penny. All the Devils are Here. New York: Minotaur Books, 2020; p. 4.

via Book of Commonplace 2020-2021, p. 104.

Quotes 130: Helen Humphreys

"A climate is a language you learn through your skin." 

–– Helen Humphreys (b. 1961), British-born Canadian writer

Source: Helen Humphreys. 'Climatology.' Anthem. London, Ontario: Brick Books, 1999; p. 28.

Quotes 104: Natalie Goldberg

"Even miracles are mundane happenings that an awakened mind can see in a fantastic way." 

–– Natalie Goldberg (b. 1948), American writer 

Source: Natalie Goldberg. Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within. Boston: Shambala, 1986; p. 74.

via Book of Commonplace 2005-2006, p. 67. 

Quotes 85: Eric Booth

"Where we invest our attention, that is what we become. We want to be emerging more and more into openness and creative freedom. This means that we need to be investing unnecessarily in creating, investing in unnecessary creating." 

–– Eric Booth, American author of The Everyday Work of Art 

Source: Accidental Creative podcast, December 16, 2007

via Book of Commonplace 2000-present, p. 99 

Quotes 73: Yann Martel

"If we, citizens, do not support our artists, then we sacrifice our imagination on the altar of crude reality and we end up believing in nothing and having worthless dreams." 

–– Yann Martel (b. 1963), Spanish-born Canadian writer 

Source: Yann Martel. Life of Pi. New York: Harcourt, 2001, p. xii.

via Book of Commonplace 2004-2005, p. 41.

Quotes 67: Thomas Hobbs

"A total lack of inspiration is a sign of laziness. There is simply too much available to deny anybody access. Laziness smothers inspiration and deprives its victims any sense of wonder by administering a self-defeating dose of itself. Lazy people should not garden because they end up demonstrating their nature publicly." 

–– Thomas Hobbs, Canadian gardener and author 

Source: Thomas Hobbs. Shocking Beauty. Boston: Periplus Editions, 1999, p. 4. 

via Book of Commonplace 2003-2004, p. 80. 

Quotes 64: Elaine Aron

"Appreciate yourself for being, not doing." 

–– Elaine Aron (b. 1944), American psychologist and author 

Source: Elaine N. Aron. The Highly Sensitive Person: How to Thrive When the World Overwhelms You. New York: Broadway Books, 1996, p. 83. 

via Book of Commonplace 2003-2004, p. 65.