"Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present."
–– Marcus Aurelius (121-180 AD), Roman Emperor and Stoic Philosopher
via: Commonplace Book 2024, 2025, p. 34.
"[Georges] Dupin could feel the feverishness he experienced whenever he was caught up in a complicated case. It was an odd state. In a way, he stepped away from the world every time. He forgot everyday life. So there was nothing but the case and all of his questions, which was a sore point in his relationship with Claire. But at the same time, this was when he was absolutely in the real world, more precisely and clearly than at any other time. Doing just one thing: solving the case."
–– Jean-Luc Bannalec, pseudonym of Jörg Bong, (b. 1966) a German author.
Source: Jean-Luc Bannalec. The Fleur de Sel Murders. New York: Minotaur Books, 2012 (Translation copyright 2017 by Sorcha McDonagh), p. 98.
via: Commonplace Book 2022, 2023, p.119-120.
"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.
Wellbeing is ...
"If I'm on an expedition, it can be as simple as a cup of lukewarm water – something you'd throw into the sink back at home. But, in a tent, when it is -40 degrees outside, it is the most wonderful thing. There is no wellbeing without a degree of suffering. Yet, wellbeing is also the ability to be present in your own life and to enjoy it. For me, that's the great thing about being an explorer. You are forced to be present in the moment; to focus on the the weather, the route or the terrain. On a good day, when the terrain isn't too dangerous, I will lift my head, take a good look around, and appreciate how privileged I am."
–– Børge Ousland (b. 1962), Norwegian Polar explorer, writer and photographer
Source: Elle Decoration UK, July 2017, p. 133.
via: Sketchbook 31, 2021, p. 93.
"Look closely at the present you are constructing: it should look like the future you are dreaming."
–– Alice Walker (b. 1944), American writer and activist
"the past should be altered by the present as much as the present is directed by the past."
–– T.S. Eliot (1888-1965), American-born British author
Source: T.S. Eliot. "Tradition and the Individual Talent." The Sacred Wood: Essays on Poetry and Criticism.
via Sketchbook 17, 2011, p. 9
"... collage is all about recycling, reinterpretation and reprocessing of our collective past, present, and future."
–– James Gallagher, American collage artist, editor, publisher, and creative director
Source: Cutting Edges: Contemporary Collage, Preface, unpaginated.
via Sketchbook 16, 2011, p. 125
