Quotes: Thomas Edison

"I have not failed. I have successfully discovered twelve hundred ideas that do not work."

–– Thomas Edison (1847-1931), American inventor and businessman 

via: Commonplace Book 1999-2001, 2001. 

Quotes: Patrick Modiano

"Every day, you have the feeling you are on the wrong track. This creates a strong urge to go back and follow a different path. It is important not to give in to this urge, but to keep going. It is a little like driving a car at night, in winter, on ice, with zero visibility." 

–– Patrick Modiano (b. 1945), French novelist 

via: Anvil Knapsack Sketchbook 2017, p. 3.

Quotes: Georgia O'Keeffe

"I've been absolutely terrified every moment of my life, and I've never let it keep me from doing a single thing I wanted to do." 

–– Georgia O'Keeffe (1887-1986), American artist 

via: Sketchbook 20, 2013, p. 90

Women's quotes: Buffy Sainte-Marie

"You have to sniff out joy. Keep your nose to the joy trail." 

–– Buffy Sainte-Marie (b. 1941), American musician and social activist 

Quotes 301: Amor Towles

"But just as important, a careful accounting of days allows the isolated to note that another year of hardship has been endured; survived; bested. Whether they have found the strength to persevere through a tireless determination or some foolhardy optimism, those 365 hatch marks stand as proof of their indomitability. For after all, if attentiveness should be measured in minutes and discipline measured in hours, then indomitability must be measured in years. Or, if philosophical investigations are not to your taste, then let us simply agree that the wise man celebrates what he can." 

–– Amor Towles (b. 1964), American novelist

Amor Towles. A Gentleman in Moscow. New York: Viking (Penguin Random House), 2016; p. 109-110. 

via Commonplace Book 2020-2021, p. 138

P.S. Today is the 615th day of the pandemic.