Quotes: Anne Lamott

"The best way to change the world is to change your mind, which often requires feeding yourself. It makes for biochemical peace. It's almost like a prayer: to be needy, to eat, to taste, to be filled, building up instead of tearing down. You find energy to do something you hadn't expected to do, maybe even one of the holiest things: to go outside and stand under the stars, or to go for a walk in the morning, or in such hard times, both."

–– Anne Lamott (b. 1954), American writer 

Source: Anne Lamott. Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith. New York: Riverhead Books (Penguin Group), 2007; p. 252-253. 

via: Commonplace Book 2006-2009, 2007, p. 93.

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: Benjamin Disraeli

"Nurture your mind with great thoughts, for you will never go any higher than you think." 

–– Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881), British statesman

via: Commonplace Book 2006-2009, 2007, p. 89. 

Quotes: Zadie Smith

"Don't let your mind set limits that aren't really there." 

–– Zadie Smith (b. 1975), English writer

Quotes: Marcus Aurelius

"You have power over your mind –– not outside events." 

–– Marcus Aurelius (121-180 AD), Roman Emperor and Stoic Philosopher 

Quotes: Joel Haran

Joel and Helena [Haran] "dreamed up the idea for their first furniture collection while on holiday in Greece ("because you get the best ideas when your mind is free," Joel says)."

"That's where being perfectionist comes in – and the need to balance it with the more relaxed pace of outdoor life and the Cornish landscape. They work on one farm, live on another, and spend as much time on the beach as they can. "You need time and space," Joel says, "because when you're stressed, you can't be creative. You stick with the first idea rather than exploring other options." 

–– Joel Haran, UK designer

Source: Modern Rustic UK 06, p. 81.

via: Art Alternatives Knapsack Sketchbook J 2020-2023, 2021, p. 20-21. 

Quotes: Lynda Barry

"There are two working languages in human life. One is sort of top of the mind, what we're conscious of. The other is the unconscious stuff that we might not know about or have access to. The way we access it is usually through this thing we call 'the arts.' Unfortunately, that has gotten removed from the daily experience of human life. What I'm trying to do is to show that there is a way that they can come together, and that you can make things in a way that makes you actually feel alive and present. That's what I'm after: feeling alive in the world." 

–– Lynda Barry (b. 1956), American cartoonist, author, educator

Source: Austin Kleon, September 18, 2019

via: Art Alternatives Knapsack Sketchbook 2019 i, 2019, p. 17. 

Quotes: Eugène Delacroix

"It is often we come the closest to the essence of an artist in his or her pocket notebooks and travel sketchbooks where written comments and personal notes provide an intimate insight into the magical mind of a working artist." 

–– Eugène Delacroix (1798-1863), French artist 

Source: Art Propelled, October 31, 2019

 via: Art Alternatives Knapsack Sketchbook 2019 h, 2019, p. 38. 

Quotes: Seneca

"Difficulties strengthen the mind as labour does the body."

–– Seneca (4 BC - AD 65), Roman Stoic philosopher, dramatist, statesman 

via: Sketchbook 26, 2022, p. 133.

Quotes: Plutarch

"The mind is not a vessel that needs filling, but wood that needs igniting." 

–– Plutarch (c. AD 46-after AD119), Greek philosopher, priest, historian, biographer, & essayist 

From Ian Kidd's translation of Essays by Plutarch

Quotes 329: Frank McCourt

"Stock your mind, stock your mind. You might be poor, your shoes might be broken, but your mind is a palace." 

–– Frank McCourt (1930-2009), American writer and teacher

Quote from Angela's Ashes. 

via Sketchbook 8, 2009, p. 155