Quotes 280: E. H. Gombrich

"Delight lies somewhere between boredom and confusion." 

–– Ernst Hans Josef Gombrich (1909-2001), Austrian-born British art historian 

via Sketchbook 5, 2008, p. 8

Quotes 279: Michaela Coel

"Write the tale that scares you. That makes you feel uncertain. That isn't comfortable. I dare you. In a world that entices us to browse through the lives of others, and to in turn feel the need to be constantly visible –– for visibility these days seems to somehow equate to success –– don't be afraid to disappear from it, from us, for a while and see what comes to you in the silence." 

–– Michaela Coel (b. 1987), Ghanaian-British actress, screenwriter, and director

via Austin Kleon

Quotes 278: Thomas Merton

"... one cannot truly know hope unless he [or she] has found out how like despair hope is."

–– Thomas Merton (1915-1968), American Trappist monk, writer, scholar, and social activist 

via Sketchbook 4, 2008, p. 143

Quotes 277: Albert Einstein

"Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new." 

–– Albert Einstein (1879-1955), German-born American theoretical physicist 

via Sketchbook 4, 2008, p. 139 

Quotes 276: Brenda Case Scheer

"Like the proliferation of economic poverty, aesthetic poverty affects us all. Our interaction with the impoverished environment of strip malls and burger joints coarsens us, limits our options, dismisses the subtleties of the natural world, and trains us to see nothing that is not loud, red, and obnoxious." 

–– Brenda Case Scheer (b. 1951), American urban designer, architect, and writer, from The Culture of Aesthetic Poverty (Titanium, 1999) 

via Sketchbook 4, 2008, p. 129

Quotes 275: Henry David Thoreau

"If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, one will meet with success unexpected in common hours." 

–– Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862), American essayist, philosopher, and poet 

via Sketchbook 4, 2008, p. 110 

Quotes 274: Pablo Picasso

"To be young, really young, takes a very long time."

–– Pablo Picasso (1881-1973), Spanish artist 

via Sketchbook 4, 2008, p. 108

Quotes 273: Italo Calvino

"The universe is the mirror in which we can contemplate only what we have learned to know in ourselves." 

–– Italo Calvino (1923-1985), Cuban-born Italian author and journalist. The quote is from the novel Mr. Palomar (1983) 

via Sketchbook 4, 2008, p. 108

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 271: Hella Jongerius

"My design philosophy is: form follows feeling." 

–– Hella Jongerius (b. 1963), Dutch industrial designer 

via Sketchbook 4, 2008, p. 103

Quotes 270: George Washington Carver

"Anything will give up its secrets if you love it enough." 

–– George Washington Carver (1864-1943), American agricultural scientist and inventor 

via Sketchbook 4, 2008, p. 98

Quotes 269: Robert F. Kennedy

"Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly." 

–– Robert F. Kennedy (1925-1968), American lawyer and politician 

via Sketchbook 4, 2007, p. 95

Quotes 268: Marianne Williamson

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others." 

–– Marianne Williamson (b, 1952), American writer (quote is from A Return to Love)

via Sketchbook 4, 2007, p. 81

Quotes 267: Andrée Putman

"To not dare is to have already lost. We should seek out ambitious, even unrealistic projects ... because things only happen when we dream." 

–– Andrée Putman (1925-2013), French interior and product designer 

via Sketchbook 4, 2007, p. 76

Quotes 266: Quaker saying

"Go inside and greet the light." 

–– Quaker saying 

via Sketchbook 4, 2007, p. 66

Quotes 265: Frederick Buechner

"God calls you to the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet." 

–– Frederick Buechner (b. 1926), American author and Presbyterian minister 

via Sketchbook 4, 2007, p. 34 

Quotes 264: Anonymous

"As a field must be plowed before being sown, so a mind must be troubled before being introduced to a new idea." 

–– Anonymous 

via Sketchbook 3, 2007, p. 139 

Quotes 263: George Bernard Shaw

"It's all that the young can do for the old, to shock them and keep them up to date." 

–– George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950), Irish playwright, critic, and social activist 

via Sketchbook 3, 2007, p.116

Quotes 262: Abraham Lincoln

"The best way to predict your future is to create it." 

–– Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), American lawyer, statesman, and the 16th president of the United States 

Quotes 261: Duane Michals

"Don't try to be an artist: try to be true. If your vision is honest, art will find you." 

–– Duane Michals (b. 1932), American photographer

Quotes 260: Logan Pearsall Smith

"How many of our daydreams would darken into nightmares were there any danger of their coming true." 

–– Logan Pearsall Smith (1865-1946), American-born British essayist and critic 

via Sketchbook 3, 2007, p. 112

Quotes 259: Carly Simon

The stuff that dreams are made of 

Take a look around now

Change the direction

Adjust the tuning

Try a new translation 

–– Carly Simon (b. 1945), American singer-songwriter

via Sketchbook 3, 2007, p. 111

Quotes 258: Winston Churchill

"To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often." 

–– Winston Churchill (1874-1965) British Prime Minister 1940-1945; 1951-1955 

via Sketchbook 3, 2007, p. 94

Quotes 257: Theodore Dreiser

"Art is the stored honey of the human soul." 

–– Theodore Dreiser (1871-1945), American journalist and novelist 

via Sketchbook 3, 2007, p. 47 

Quotes 256: Price Pritchett

"Change always comes bearing gifts." 

–– Price Pritchett (b. 1941), American author and management expert 

via Sketchbook 3, 2007, p. 6

Quotes 255: Leonard Cohen

Anthem

"Ring the bells that still can ring

Forget your perfect offering

There is a crack in everything

That's how the light gets in." 

–– Leonard Cohen (1934-2016), Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist

via Sketchbook 2, 2007, p. 118

Quotes 254: Anna Castelli Ferrieri

"It's not true that what is useful is beautiful. It is what is beautiful that is useful. Beauty can improve people's way of life and thinking." 

–– Anna Castelli Ferrieri (1918-2006), Italian architect and industrial designer 

via Sketchbook #2, p. 20

Quotes 253: Albert Einstein

"Games are the most elevated form of investigation."

–– Albert Einstein (1879-1955), German-born American theoretical physicist 

via Sketchbook #2, p. 21

Quotes 252: Marcel Proust

"Only through art can we emerge from ourselves and know what another person sees." 

–– Marcel Proust (1871-1922), French writer and critic 

via Sketchbook #2, p. 14

Quotes 251: Rumi

"This is now. Now is, 

all there is. Don't wait for Then,

strike the spark, light the fire. 

Sit at the Beloved's table, 

feast with gusto, drink your fill. 

then dance 

the way branches of jasmine and cypress 

dance in a spring wind. 

The green earth 

is your cloth; 

tailor your robe 

with dignity and grace.

–– Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī (1207-1273), Persian poet and Sufi mystic; interpretation by Coleman Barks (b. 1937), American poet 

via Sketchbook #2, p. 1

Quotes 250: Edgar Degas

"Only when he no longer knows what he is doing does the painter do good things." 

–– Edgar Degas (1834-1917), French artist 

via Sketchbook #2, p. 1

Quotes 249: Mickey Hart

"Adventures don't begin until you get into the forest. That first step is an act of faith." 

–– Mickey Hart (b. 1943), American percussionist and musicologist 

via Sketchbook #2, p. 1