Quotes: M. Scott Peck

"As I have said, the purpose of emptying ourselves is to make room for the new. The only reason to give up something is to gain something better. Peace is undeniably better than war. Thus we must ask, "Of what do we have to empty ourselves in order to gain peace?" What traditional attitudes and styles of behaviour must we lay aside? What outmoded viewpoints, policies, understandings, and resentments are we still carrying around? To what hidden opportunities must we be open and empty?"

–– M. Scott Peck (1936-2005), American psychiatrist and author 

Source: M. Scott Peck. The Different Drum: Community Making and Peace. New York: Touchstone, 1987; p. 225. 

via: Commonplace Book 2006-2009, 2007, 57.

Quotes: Mignon McLaughlin

"For the happiest life, days should be rigorously planned, nights left open to chance." 

–– Mignon McLaughlin (1913-1983), American journalist and author 

via: Commonplace Book, 2006-2009, 2007, p. 41. 

Quotes: Elsa Dutton

"Out here, you turn toward the pain as it tears into you, and you let it. When you do, the devil gets bored. He seeks another soul to eat. And you get to live again." 

–– Character Elsa Dutton, on 1883, episode 1.6, an American TV series,  2021.

via: Sketchbook M 13, 2024, p. 5. 

Quotes: Agnes Varda

"If you keep your eyes open and your mind open, everything can be interesting." 

–– Agnes Varda (1928-2019), French artist, film director, photographer and screenwriter 

Source: Nitch, Instagram, April 23, 2023 

via: Sketchbook 33, 2023, p. 23.

Quotes: Pico Iyer

"If travel is like love, it is, in the end, mostly because it's a heightened state of awareness, in which we are mindful, receptive, undimmed by familiarity and ready to be transformed. That is why the best trips, like the best love affairs, never really end." 

–– Pico Iyer (b. 1957) British-born novelist and essayist 

Source: Alexander Bisely. 'How far do we need to go to find paradise?' The Globe and Mail, Saturday April 29, 2023, p. P4. Quote is from Pico Iyer's 1998 essay, Why We Travel.

Women's quotes: Ann Patchett

"Influence is a combination of circumstance and luck: What we are shown and what we stumble upon in those brief years when our hearts and minds are fully open." 

–– Ann Patchett (b. 1963), American writer 

Source: Ann Patchett. These Precious Days: Essays. New York: HarperCollins, 2021; p. 78.

via: Commonplace Book, 2022, p. 18.

Women's quotes: Martha Graham

"It is not your business to determine how good it is, nor how valuable it is, nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open." 

–– Martha Graham (1894-1991), American modern dancer and choreographer 

via: Sketchbook 30, 2017, p. 69.

Quotes: Marshall McLuhan

"I'm making explorations. I don't know where they're going to take me. ... I want to map new terrain rather than chart old landmarks... As an investigator, I have no fixed point of view, no commitment to any theory – my own or anyone else's. As a matter of fact, I'm completely ready to junk any statement I've ever made about any subject if events don't bear me out, or if I discover it isn't contributing to an understanding of the problem. The better part of my work on media is actually somewhat like a safe-cracker's. I don't know what's inside; maybe it's nothing. I just sit down and start to work. I grope, I listen, I test, I accept and discard; I try out different sequences – until the tumblers fall and the doors swing open." 

–– Marshall McLuhan (1911-1980), Canadian philosopher 

Source: Austin Kleon tumblr August 26, 2015 

via: Sketchbook 28, 2015, p. 2.

Quotes: Earl Gray Stevens

"Confidence, like art, never comes from having all the answers; it comes from being open to all the questions." 

–– Earl Gray Stevens 

via: Sketchbook 23, 2014, p. 134. 

Quotes: Lao Tzu

"Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don't resist them –– that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like."  

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

via: Sketchbook A, 2018, p. 57.

Quotes: Henry Moore

"One never knows what each day is going to bring. The important thing is to be open and ready for it." 

–– Henry Moore (1898-1986), British artist 

via: Sketchbook A, 2018, p. 55.

Quotes: Monica Förster

"The computer is a tool; I can't do without it. But the nice thing about making models is that in the process of doing, I'm more open to mistakes – maybe I put the tape in a way that I don't intend, but it shows a new possibility. In a computer everything is perfect. When I make models, it's intuitive and rough: I take a flat piece of paper, I cut it, I tape it. It's very quick. I find it very refreshing." 
–– Monica Förster (b. 1966), Stockholm furniture designer

Source: May 2011 Dwell magazine, page 52. http://monicaforster.se/ 

via: Sketchbook 15, 2011, p. 28

Quotes 362: Hafiz

"God breaks the heart again and again until it stays open."

–– Hafiz (1315-1390), Persian poet 

via Sketchbook 11, 2010,  p. 2

Quotes 340: Keri Smith

"Never limit your playtime. Even if your brain is telling you otherwise.

All your best stuff comes from it if you allow yourself to remain open to the unknown." 

–– Keri Smith (b. 1975) Canadian writer, illustrator, and conceptual artist

Quote from Keri Smith blogpost on December 16, 2009

via Sketchbook 9, 2009, p. 66

Quotes 272: Joanna Macy

"The heart that breaks open can contain the whole universe." 

–– Joanna Macy (b. 1929), American environmental activist, scholar & author 

via Sketchbook 4, 2008, p. 108

Quotes: Sheldon Kopp

"Transformations require that we let go of familiar ways of doing things, without yet knowing what we will do next." 

–– Sheldon Kopp (1929-1999), American psychotherapist and author 

via: ArtPropelled July 8, 2014