Quotes: Mark Twain

"Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear."

–– Mark Twain (1835-1910), pen name of Samuel Clemens, American writer 

via Commonplace Book 2006-2009, 2007, p. 132.

Quotes: Gareth Brookes

"I've heard people say that it takes 10,000 hours to master your style or your line or something, but I think it takes 10,000 hours to become boring and mediocre. The moment you master something is the moment you stop being creative." 

–– Gareth Brookes, British artist 

Source: Austin Kleon, Instagram Stories, January 2, 2025 

via: Sketchbook N 14, 2024, 2025, p. 45.

Quotes: Nicholas Jennings re: Neil Peart

"Mastering his instrument was always Mr. Peart's mission. He continued studying, taking drum lessons late in life from percussion legends such as Freddie Gruber, wanting to learn more improvisational playing. He never stopped practicing. "My worst fear is not having a heart attack," he said in the 2016 documentary Time Stand Still, "but that I'm going to have one on stage and wreck the show. That's what makes you a professional. You don't go on stage with your frailties. Or your regrets or your resentments. Every night, you have to bring that commitment." 

–– Nicholas Jennings, Canadian music journalist & Neil Peart (1952-2020), Canadian drummer in the band Rush. 

Source: Jennings, Nicholas. Neil Peart, Musician, 67: "Rush's Drummer was one of the World's Best," The Globe and Mail, Saturday, January 18, 2020, p. B24. 

via: Day In and Day Out Notebook, 2020, p. 40-41.