Quotes: Barbara Hemphill

"Clutter is postponed decisions." 

–– Barbara Hemphill, American organizational expert 

Source: Elle Decoration UK, May 2016, p. 95. 

via: Sketchbook 26, 2022, p. 122.

Quotes: Elizabeth Bishop

"Why shouldn't we, so generally addicted to the gigantic, at last have some small works of art, some short poems, short pieces of music ... some intimate, low-voiced, and delicate things in our mostly huge and roaring, glaring world? 

–– Elizabeth Bishop (1911-1979), American poet and short-story writer 

via: Sketchbook 26, 2022, p. 112.

Quotes: Nora Ephron

"Above all, be the heroine of your life, not the victim." 

–– Nora Ephron (1941-2012), American journalist, writer, filmmaker 

via: Sketchbook 26, 2022, p. 106. 

Quotes: Marie Forleo

"Success doesn't come from what you do occasionally, it comes from what you do consistently." 

–– Marie Forleo (b. 1975), American entrepreneur 

via: Sketchbook 26, 2021, p. 101.

Quotes: Charlotte Brontë

"I need not sell my soul to buy bliss. I have an inward treasure born with me, which can keep me alive if all extraneous delights should be withheld, or offered only at a price I cannot afford to give." 

–– Charlotte Brontë (1816-1855), English writer 

Source: Charlotte Brontë. Jane Eyre, published 1847.

 

via: Sketchbook 26, 2015, p. 34. 

Quotes: Rūmī

"Respond to every call that excites your spirit." 

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

via: Sketchbook 26, 2015, p. 32.  

Quotes: Lee Child

"Zeno of Cittium ... believed in going with the flow. The unquestioned acceptance of destiny. He believed in basking in the sun and eating green figs, instead of spending time and effort trying to change nature with irrigation." 

–– Lee Child, pen name of James Dover Grant (b. 1954), English writer

via: Sketchbook 26, 2015, p. 20.

Quotes: Henry Miller

"The moment one gives close attention to anything, even a blade of grass, it becomes a mysterious, awesome, indescribably magnificent world in itself." 

–– Henry Miller (1891-1980), American writer 

via: Sketchbook 27, 2015, p. 96. 

Quotes: William Kentridge

"To say that making art is a conversation or dialogue between the maker and the paper is to oversimplify –– It is a series of attractions and repulsions that may begin with intention and end with analysis but the real meaning (the truth of the work) is arrived at in the processes and moments of making." 

–– William Kentridge (b. 1955), South African artist 

via: Sketchbook 27, 2015, p. 105.

Quotes: Edith Sitwell

"Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is the time for home." 

–– Edith Sitwell (1887-1964), British poet and critic 

via: Sketchbook 25, 2015, p. 52. 

Quotes: Agnes Martin

"A lot of good things don't get made because of too much thinking." 

–– Agnes Martin (1912-2004), Canadian-born American abstract painter 

via: Sketchbook 27, 2015, p. 104.

Quotes: Joseph Chilton Pearce

"To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong." 

–– Joseph Chilton Pearce (1926-2016), American author, lecturer 

via: Sketchbook 27, 2015, p. 116.

Quotes: Max Planck

"When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change." 

–– Max Planck (1858-1947), German theoretical physicist 

via: Sketchbook 27, 2015, p. 138. 

Quotes: Dorothy Parker

"The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity." 

–– Dorothy Parker (1893-1967), American writer, critic and satirist 

via: Sketchbook 27, 2015, p. 138.

Quotes: Judd Apatow

"It's almost impossible to keep success going because you have to stop at some point, to rest and learn something new. It's essential. People's interest in you goes away so quickly, but you have no choice but to step off the boat sometimes." 

–– Judd Apatow (b. 1967), American comedian, director, producer and screenwriter 

via: Sketchbook 27, 2015, p. 142. 

Quotes: Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

"Our concern must be to live while we're alive ... to release our inner selves from the spiritual death that comes with living behind a facade designed to conform to external definitions of who and what we are." 

–– Elisabeth Kübler-Ross (1926-2004), Swiss-born American psychiatrist 

via: Sketchbook 27, 2015, p. 142.

Quotes: Albert Einstein

"I lived in solitude in the country and noticed how the monotony of quiet life stimulates the creative mind." 

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

via: Sketchbook 27, 2015, p. 150.

Quotes: Maya Angelou

"The need for change bulldozed a road down the center of my mind." 

–– Maya Angelou (1928-2014), American poet, memoirist, and civil rights activist 

via: Sketchbook 27, 2015, p. 104. 

Quotes: Rūmī

"Respond to every call that excites your spirit." 

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

via: Sketchbook 26, 2015, p. 10.

Quotes: A. A. Milne

"The third-rate mind is only happy when it is thinking with the majority. The second-rate mind is only happy when it is thinking with the minority. The first-rate mind is only happy when it is thinking." 

–– A. A. Milne (1882-1956), English writer 

via: Sketchbook 25, 2015, p. 116. 

Quotes: Yves Klein

"Blue has no dimensions. It is beyond dimensions, whereas the other colours are not. All colours arouse specific associative ideas, psychologically material or tangible, while blue suggests at most the sea and sky, and they, after all, are in actual, visible nature what is most abstract." 

–– Yves Klein (1928-1962), French artist 

via: Sketchbook 25, 2015, p. 60.

Quotes: Shel Silverstein

Magic

Sandra's seen a leprechaun, 

Eddie touched a troll, 

Laurie danced with witches once, 

Charlie found some goblin's gold. 

Donald heard a mermaid sing, 

Susy spied an elf, 

But all the magic I have known 

I've had to make myself. 

–– Shel Silverstein (1930-1999), American writer, poet, cartoonist, songwriter, playwright 

Source: Shel Silverstein. Where the Sidewalk Ends. 1974, p. 11.

via: Sketchbook 25, 2015, p. 42.

Quotes: Benjamin Franklin

"Those things that hurt, instruct." 

–– Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790), American writer, scientist, diplomat, publisher, inventor 

via: Sketchbook 25, 2014, p. 24.

Quotes: Jacque Fresco

"Whatever happens in the world is real, what one thinks should have happened is projection. We suffer more from our fictitious illusion and expectations of reality." 

–– Jacque Fresco (1916-2017), American futurist 

via: Sketchbook 25, 2014, p. 3.

Quotes: Susan Howe

"The relational space is the thing that's alive with something from somewhere else." 

–– Susan Howe (b. 1937), American poet and literary critic 

Source: Susan Howe. The Midnight.

via: Sketchbook 25, 2014, p. 20.

Quotes: Lyn Hejinian

"A fragment is not a fraction but a whole piece." 

–– Lyn Hejinian (b. 1941), American poet, essayist, translator, publisher 

via: Sketchbook 25, 2014, p. 21. 

Quotes: George Moore

"A man travels the world in search of what he needs and returns home to find it." 

–– George Moore (1873-1958), English philosopher 

via: Sketchbook 24, 2014, p. 137.

Quotes: David Bromley

"To me, working is not just physically painting; I believe creativity is nurtured in a place where imagination soars." 

–– David Bromley (b. 1960), British-born Australian painter 

via: Sketchbook 24, 2014, p. 77.

Quotes: Bruce Mau

"Real growth often happens outside of where we intend it to, in the interstitial spaces – what Dr. Seuss calls "the waiting place." 

––  Bruce Mau (b. 1959), Canadian designer and educator 

via: Sketchbook 25, 2015, p. 94.

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: Gail Bowen

"Taylor once told me that making art allows her to see what she's been thinking all along." 

–– Gail Bowen (b. 1942), Canadian author and playwright 

Source: Gail Bowen. The Gifted. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 2013, p. 89. 

via: Sketchbook A, 2018, p. 72.

Quotes: Sue Monk Kidd

"The soul often speaks through longing. It manifests like a restlessness. And when the soul longs, it's trying to tell you something. And I think the soul speaks through what pulls us. That allure. The longing. The restlessness."

–– Sue Monk Kidd (b. 1948), American writer 

via: Sketchbook A, 2018, p. 61.

Quotes: Charles Dickens

"Home is a name, a word, it is a strong one; stronger than magician ever spoke, or spirit ever answered to, in the strongest conjuration." 

–– Charles Dickens (1812-1870), British writer and social critic

via: Sketchbook 23, 2014, p. 18. 

Quotes: Rabbi David Zeller

"Often it takes a system to break down for something totally new to break forth." 

–– Rabbi David Zeller (1936-2007), American author, teacher, counsellor, singer songwriter 

Source: Scared Sacred documentary 

via: Sketchbook 23, 2014, p. 121. 

Quotes: Kenneth Goldsmith

"If you work on something a little bit every day, you end up with something that is massive." 

–– Kenneth Goldsmith (b. 1961), American poet and critic 

via: Sketchbook 23, 2014, p. 120.

Quotes: Diane Arbus

"My favourite thing is to go where I've never been." 

–– Diane Arbus (1923-1971), American photographer 

via: Sketchbook 23, 2014, p. 111.

Quotes: Sir Terence Conran

"Be ruthless with your possessions – you cannot afford to waste any space on redundant clutter. Take everything out of your home and only put back in the things you need or love. You will be surprised at how much space you save and how good you feel." 

–– Sir Terence Conran (1931-2020), English designer, restauranteur, retailer, and writer 

via: Sketchbook 23, 2014, p. 91. 

Quotes: Roy Azdak

"Good art is not what it looks like, but what it does."

–– Roy Azdak (1927-1987), British contemporary sculptor and photographer 

via: Sketchbook 23, 2014, p. 82.

Quotes: Ralph Waldo Emerson

"The reward of a thing well done, is to have done it." 

–– Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), American philosopher and writer 

via: Sketchbook 23, 2014, p. 80. 

Quotes: Sandra Brownlee

"You have to be comfortable with uncertainty. You keep going and it becomes clear." 

–– Sandra Brownlee (b. 1948), Canadian visual artist, educator, and winner of the Governor General's Award in Visual and Media Arts, 2014

via: Sketchbook 23, 2014, p. 44.

Quotes: Corita Kent

"Art does not come from thinking but from responding." 

–– Corita Kent (1918-1986), American artist, designer, educator & former Roman Catholic nun 

via: Sketchbook 23, 2014, p. 40.

Quotes: André Gide

"One doesn't discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time." 

–– André Gide (1869-1951), French writer 

via: Sketchbook 23, 2014, p. 38. 

Quotes: Garth Brooks

"Too much credit is given to the end result. The true lesson is in the struggle that takes place between the dream and reality. That struggle is a thing called life." 

–– Garth Brooks (b. 1962), American country music singer and songwriter

via: Sketchbook 23, 2014, p. 15. 

Quotes: George Eliot

"It's never too late to be what you might have been." 

–– George Eliot, pen name of Mary Ann Evans (1819-1880), British novelist, poet, journalist, translator 

via: Sketchbook 23, 2014, p. 14.

Quotes: Meredith Grey from Grey's Anatomy

"Sometimes, the key to making progress is to recognize how to take that very first step. Then you start your journey. You hope for the best and you stick with it, day in and day out. Even if you're tired, even if you want to walk away. You don't. Because you are a pioneer. But nobody ever said it'd be easy." 

–– Meredith Grey, character from the TV series Grey's Anatomy, Episode 10.11 "Man on the Moon." 

via: Sketchbook 23, 2014, p. 13. 

Quotes: Anna Kamieńska

Small Things

It usually starts taking shape

from one word

reveals itself in one smile

sometimes in the blue glint of eyeglasses

in a trampled daisy

in a splash of light on a path

in quivering carrot leaves

in a bunch of parsley

It comes from laundry hung on a balcony

from hands thrust into dough

It seeps through closed eyelids

as through the prison wall of things of objects

of faces of landscapes

It's when you slice bread

when you pour out some tea

It comes from a broom from a shopping bag

from peeling new potatoes

from a drop of blood from the prick of a needle

when making panties for a child

or sewing a button on a husband's burial shirt

It comes of toil out of care

out of the immense fatigue in the evening

out of a tear wiped away

out of a prayer broken off in mid-word by sleep

It's not from the grand

but from the tiny thing

that it grows enormous

as if Someone was building Eternity

as a swallow its nest

out of clumps of moments

–– Anna Kamieńska (1920-1986), Polish poet, writer, translator, literary critic 

via: Sketchbook 22, 2014, p. 98.

Quotes: D.W. Winnicott

"Artists are people driven by the tension between the desire to communicate and the desire to hide." 

–– Donald Woods Winnicott (1896-1971) British paediatrician and psychoanalyst 

via Sketchbook 22, 2014, p. 93.

Quotes: Rūmī

 "Let silence take you to the core of life."

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

via: Sketchbook 22, 2014, p. 93.

Meraki

meraki [may-ray-kee] (Greek) n. the soul, creativity or love put into something, the essence of yourself that is put into your work. 

via: Sketchbook 22, 2013, p. 51.

Quotes: William Hazlitt

"I would like to spend my whole life travelling, if I could borrow another life to spend at home." 

–– William Hazlitt (1778-1830), British writer, literary critic and philosopher 

via: Sketchbook 22, 2013, p. 50. 

Quotes: Jun'ichirō Tanizaki

"Beauty lies not in objects, but in the interaction between the shadow and the light created by objects." 

– Jun'ichirō Tanizaki (1886-1965), Japanese Author

Source: In Praise of Shadows, 1933. 

via: Sketchbook 22, 2013, p. 46.

Quotes: Elizabeth Catlett

"I have always wanted my art to service my people –– to reflect us, to relate to us, to stimulate us, to make us aware of our potential." 

–– Elizabeth Catlett (1915-2012), African American artist 

Source: Lilly Wei. "Her Target was Injustice." ARTnews, June 2012: pp. 40. 

via: Sketchbook 22, 2013, p. 29.

Quotes: unknown

"Fate leads the willing and drags along the reluctant." 

–– unknown 

via: Sketchbook A, 2018, p. 72. 

Quotes: Sue Bender

"It's the enjoyment of every step in the process of doing; everything, not only the isolated piece we label art. If accomplishing it is the only goal, all that it takes to reach that goal is too slow, too fatiguing an obstacle to what you want to achieve. If you want to rush the accomplishment, it is an inevitable disappointment. Then you rush to something. The disappointment is reaped over and over again. But if every step is pleasant, then the accomplishment becomes even more because it is nourished by what is going on." 

–– Sue Bender (b. 1933), American writer, family therapist and ceramic artist 

Source: Sue Bender. Plain and Simple.

via: Sketchbook A, 2018, p. 71. 

Quotes: Gail Bowen

"Robertson Davies wrote that when fate sends a message, it is spiritual suicide to resist." 

–– Gail Bowen (b. 1942), Canadian author and playwright 

Source: Gail Bowen. The Gifted. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 2013, p. 30.

via: Sketchbook A, 2018, p. 69.

Quotes: unknown

"We don't know how strong we are until being strong is the only option." –– unknown 

Source: Gail Bowen. Kaleidoscope. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 2012; p. 289. 

via: Sketchbook A, 2018, p. 68.

Quotes: Bashō

"Every day is a journey, and the journey itself is home." 

–– Bashō (1644-1694), Japanese poet 

via: Sketchbook A, 2018, p. 65.

Quotes: Sandra Day O'Connor

"We don't accomplish anything in this world alone, and whatever happens is the result of the whole tapestry of one's life and all the weavings of individual threads from one to another that creates something." 

–– Sandra Day O'Connor (b. 1930), American retired politician and attorney 

via: Sketchbook A, 2018, p. 64.

Quotes: Louise Bourgeois

"The act of sewing is a process of emotional repair." 

–– Louise Bourgeois (1911-2010), French-American artist 

via: Sketchbook A, 2018, p. 63. 

Quotes: Virginia Woolf

"Happiness is in the quiet, ordinary things. A table, a chair, a book with a paper-knife stuck in between the pages. And the petal falling from the rose, and the light flickering as we sit silent." 

–– Virginia Woolf (1882-1941), English writer, critic, & publisher 

via: Sketchbook A, 2018, p. 62.

Quotes: Mark Strand

"When I read poetry, I want to feel myself suddenly larger ... in touch with – or at least close to – what I deem magical, astonishing. I want to experience a kind of wonderment. And when you report back to your own daily world after experiencing the strangeness of a world sort of recombined and reordered in the depths of a poet's soul, the world looks fresher somehow. Your daily world has been taken out of context. It has the voice of the poet written all over it, for one thing, but it also seems suddenly more alive – not as routinely there." 

–– Mark Strand (1934-2014), Canadian-born American poet, essayist, translator 

Source: The Art of Poetry No. 77

via: Sketchbook A, 2018, p. 62.

Quotes: Henri Nouwen

"Somewhere we know that without silence words lose their meaning, that without listening speaking no longer heals." 

–– Henri Nouwen (1932-1996), Dutch Catholic priest, writer, theologian 

via: Sketchbook A, 2018, p. 61. 

Quotes: Sue Monk Kidd

"There is no place so awake and alive as the edge of becoming." 

–– Sue Monk Kidd (b. 1948), American writer 

via: Sketchbook A, 2018, p. 59.

Quotes: David Allen

"Patience is the calm acceptance that things can happen in a different order than the one you have in mind." 

–– David Allen (b. 1945), American management consultant and author 

via: Sketchbook A, 2018, p. 58. 

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: unknown

"Be stubborn about your goals but flexible about your methods." 

–– unknown 

via: Sketchbook A, 2018, p. 56.

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: May Sarton

"I have written every poem, every novel, for the same purpose –– to find out what I think, to know where I stand."

–– May Sarton (1912-1995), Belgian-born American writer

Source: May Sarton. Journal of a Solitude. 

via: Sketchbook A, 2018, p. 54.

Quotes: Rainer Maria Rilke

"If you will stay close to nature, to its simplicity, to the small things hardly noticeable, those things can unexpectedly become great and immeasurable."

–– Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926), Bohemian-Austrian poet and novelist 

via: Sketchbook A, 2018, p. 54. 

Quotes: Alexander Graham Bell

"When one door closes, another opens. But we often look so long and regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened." 

–– Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922), Scottish-born (with ties to Canada and the United States), inventor, scientist and engineer 

via: Sketchbook A, 2018, p. 52.

Quotes: Pablo Neruda

"If each day falls

inside each night,

there exists a well

where clarity is imprisoned.

We need to sit on the rim

of the well of darkness

and fish for fallen light

with patience."

–– Pablo Neruda (1904-1973), Chilean poet, diplomat, politician 

via: Sketchbook A, 2018, p. 48.

Quotes: Neale Donald Walsch

"It is okay to be at a place of struggle. Struggle is just another word for growth. Even the most evolved beings find themselves in a place of struggle now and then. In fact, struggle is a sure sign to them that they are expanding; it is their indication of real and important progress. The only one who doesn't struggle is the one who doesn't grow. So if you are struggling right now, see it as a terrific sign –– celebrate your struggle." 

–– Neale Donald Walsch (b. 1943), American writer, actor, speaker 

via: Sketchbook A, 2017, p. 47.

Quotes: Ernest Hemingway

"The best people possess a feeling for beauty, the courage to take risks, the discipline to tell the truth, the capacity for sacrifice. Ironically their virtues make them vulnerable; they are often wounded, sometimes destroyed."  

–– Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961), American writer and journalist 

via: Sketchbook A, 2017, p. 47.

Quotes: Chris Brogan

"Don't settle. Don't finish crappy books. If you don't like the menu, leave the restaurant. If you're not on the right path, get off it." 

–– Chris Brogan (b. 1970), American author, speaker, marketing consultant 

via: Sketchbook A, 2017, p. 43.

Quotes: unknown

"I've never met a strong person with an easy past." 

–– unknown 

via: Sketchbook A, 2017, p. 42.

Quotes: Chris Ware

"Drawing is simply another way of seeing, which we don't really do as adults. Children see all the time. Children are always drawing with their eyes. I think that's part of what becoming an artist is, is getting back in touch with that sense of experience and wonder that you have as a kid... [T]he act of drawing is seeing, it's trying to see something, and it puts you into a completely different mental state. It puts you into a state of being in that moment for that specific moment and understanding reality in a way that adults are very, very good at not doing. We spend most of our lives kind of getting out of the way of things, trying to remember stuff, trying to get through the day, certain regrets and problems, mistakes that we made, either an hour before or years before, come back to us. So, we spend much of our time just in this sort of cloud of remembrance and anxiety, but trying to live in that moment is a very difficult accomplishment. I think drawing encourages that more than anything." 

–– Chris Ware (b. 1967), American cartoonist 

Source: Austin Kleon tumblr 

via: Sketchbook A, 2017, p. 41.

Quotes: Bryan Adams

"I'm not someone that reflects backwards, I always look forwards so these right now are the best days, by far. And I think the best days are also still to come." 

–– Bryan Adams (b. 1959), Canadian musician and photographer 

via: Sketchbook A, 2017, p. 40.

Quotes: Leonard Cohen

"You kind of keep your tools sharp by working all the time. We are professionals. You can't wait for inspiration. I try to do it every day." 

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

via: Sketchbook A, 2017, p. 39.

Quotes: Heinrich Heine

"Like a great poet, Nature knows how to produce the greatest effect with the most limited means." 

–– Heinrich Heine (1797-1856), German poet, essayist, journalist, and literary critic 

via: Sketchbook A, 2017, p. 37. 

Quotes: Sarah McLachlan

"And when times are tough and you're struggling and you come out on the other side, that's when you discover what you're made of and that's when the most growth happens." 

––Sarah McLachlan (b. 1968), Canadian singer-songwriter 

via: Sketchbook A, 2017, p. 37.  

Quotes: Tom Jackson

"You don't have to change the whole world –– you only have to change yours. The rest will follow." 

–– Tom Jackson (b. 1948), Canadian Cree actor and singer 

via: Sketchbook A, 2017, p. 35. 

Quotes: Joni Mitchell

"I always look for the driving wheel of the feel of a piece of music. Sometimes that wheel finds me."

–– Joni Mitchell (b. 1943), Canadian singer-songwriter and painter.

via: Sketchbook A, 2017, p. 33. 

Quotes: Sibella Court

"Sometimes not finding what you're looking for when you're traveling means you stumble on something better. Keep an open mind." 

–– Sibella Court, Australian interior stylist 

Source: Sibella Court. Nomad: A Global Approach to Interior Style. San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books, 2011; p. 66.

Quotes: Adam Zagajewski

"Human life and objects and trees vibrate with mysterious meanings, which can be deciphered like cuneiform writing. There exists a meaning, hidden from day to day, but accessible in moments of greatest attentiveness, in those moments when consciousness loves the world." 

–– Adam Zagajewski (1945-2021), Polish poet, essayist and translator 

Quotes: Andrew Wyeth

"I prefer winter and fall, when you feel the bone structure of the landscape –– the loneliness of it, the dead feel of winter. Something waits beneath it, the whole story doesn't show." 

–– Andrew Wyeth (1917-2009), American visual artist 

Quotes: Auguste Rodin

"The artist must create a spark before he can make a fire, and before art is born, the artist must be ready to be consumed by the fire of his own creation." 

–– Auguste Rodin (1840-1917), French sculptor 

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: Viktor Frankl

"What is to give light must endure burning." 

–– Viktor Frankl (1905-1997), Austrian psychiatrist and writer 

Quotes: Carson McCullers

"We are torn between nostalgia for the familiar and an urge for the foreign and strange." 

–– Carson McCullers (1917-1967), American writer 

via: Sketchbook A, 2017, p. 31

Quotes: Pablo Picasso

"What you do is what counts and not what you had the intention of doing."

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

via: Sketchbook A, 2016, p. 29 

Quotes: John Dewey

"The deepest urge in human nature is the desire to be important." 

–– John Dewey (1859-1952), American philosopher, psychologist, and educational reformer 

via: Sketchbook A, 2015, p. 23 

Quotes: Voltaire

"The secret of being a bore is to tell everything."

–– Voltaire, nom de plume of François-Marie Arouet (1694-1778), French writer, historian and philosopher

via: Sketchbook A, 2015, p. 23

Quotes: Louise Erdrich

"To sew is to pray. Men don't understand this. They see the whole but they don't see the stitches. They don't see the speech of the creator in the work of the needle. We mend. We women turn things inside out and set things right. We salvage what we can of human garments and piece the rest into blankets. Sometimes our stitches stutter and slow. Only a woman's eye can tell. Other times, the tension in the stitches might be too tight because of tears, but only we know what emotion went into the making. Only women can hear the prayer. 

–– Louise Erdrich (b. 1954), American Ojibwe writer and enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians 

Source: Louise Erdrich. Four Souls. 2017.

Quotes: Rainer Maria Rilke

"God speaks to each of us as he makes us, 

then walks with us silently out of the night. 

These are the words we dimly hear: 

You, sent out, beyond your recall,

go to the limits of your longing. 

Embody me. 

Flare up like flame 

and make big shadows that I can move in. 

Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror. 

Just keep going. No feeling is final. 

Don't let yourself lose me. 

Nearby is the country they call life. 

You will know it by its seriousness. 

Give me your hand."

Book of Hours I 59

–– Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926), Bohemian-Austrian poet and novelist 

via: Sketchbook A, 2015, p. 23

Quotes: Alexis de Tocqueville

"The desire of acquiring the comforts of the world haunts the imagination of the poor, and the dread of losing them that of the rich." 

–– Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-1859), French historian, diplomat, political scientist, political philosopher, and aristocrat 

via: Sketchbook A, 2015, p. 20

Quotes: Sydney Harris

"The good person loves people and uses things, while the bad person loves things and uses people." 

–– Sydney Harris (b. 1917-1986), American writer

via Sketchbook A, 2015, p. 20.

Quotes: Helen Macdonald

"Being a novice is safe. When you are learning how to do something, you do not have to worry about whether or not you are good at it. But when you have done something, have learned how to do it, you are not safe any more. Being an expert opens you up to judgement." 

–– Helen Macdonald (b. 1970), British writer, naturalist, and scholar

Source: Helen Macdonald. H is for Hawk. via Austin Kleon tumblr July 22, 2015 

via Sketchbook A, 2015, p. 20. 

Quotes: Elbert Hubbard

"A failure is a person who has blundered but is not able to cash in on the experience." 

–– Elbert Hubbard (1856-1915), American writer, publisher, artist, philosopher and founder of the Roycroft artisan community in East Aurora, New York

via Sketchbook A, 2015, p. 17 

Quotes: Suhaib Rumi

"Most of life is a play of energy. Of transmuting all that could drown you, into fuel to reach heights one can only dream of."

–– Suhaib Rumi (b. 1988), United Arab Emirates-born Canadian poet and entrepreneur 

via: Farah M. Siddiq on Instagram, August 26, 2022

Quotes: Albert Einstein

"I think 99 times and find nothing. I stop thinking, swim in silence, and the truth comes to me." 

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

via: Artwork Archive on Instagram September 16, 2022

Quotes: James Baldwin

"Throw everything out of your mind...read a little, sleep. The world will still be here when you wake up, and there'll still be everything left to do."

–– James Baldwin (1924-1987), American writer and activist 

via: Nitch on Instagram, September 19, 2022

Quotes: Helen Frankenthaler

"Let mistakes lead to invention."

–– Helen Frankenthaler (1928-2011), American abstract expressionist painter 

via: Jayne Emerson Textiles on Instagram, September 20, 2022

Quotes: Andy Warhol

"Sometimes people let the same problem make them miserable for years, when they could just say 'So what.' That's one of my favourite things to say. 'So what.'"

–– Andy Warhol (1928-1987), American artist 

via: Sketchbook A (oatmeal), 2015, p.13

Quotes: John Cage

"I am trying to be unfamiliar with what I am doing."

–– John Cage (1912-1992), American composer, writer and artist 

via: Sketchbook A (oatmeal), 2015, p. 13 

Quotes: T. S. Eliot

"Old men ought to be explorers

Here or there does not matter

We must be still and still moving

Into another intensity

For a further union, a deeper communion

Through the dark cold and empty desolation,

The wave cry, the wind cry, the vast waters

Of the petrel and the porpoise. In my end is my beginning." 

                            T.S. Eliot. Four Quartets: East Coker V excerpt

 –– T.S. Eliot (1888-1965), American-born British author 

via: Sketchbook A (oatmeal), 2015, p. 10

Quotes: Paul Auster

"I think if we didn't contradict ourselves, it would be awfully boring. It would be tedious to be alive. Changing your mind is probably one of the most beautiful things people can do." 

–– Paul Auster (b. 1947), American writer, filmmaker, and translator 

Source: Rob Breszny. Free Will Astrology. Gemini. June 25, 2015. Quote originally from NPR interview August 23, 2012.

via: Sketchbook A (oatmeal), 2014, p. 10. 

Quotes: Rob Breszny

"Cut away any last residues of trivial desires and frivolous ambitions. Hone your focus and streamline your self-discipline. Once and for all, withdraw your precious energy from activities that waste your time and resist your full engagement."

–– Rob Breszny, American astrologer, writer, and musician 

Source: Rob Breszny. Free Will Astrology. Scorpio. June 25, 2015. 

via: Sketchbook A (oatmeal), 2015, p. 9

Quotes: Steven Dale

"I always hear students talk about how they want to 'change the system from within.' If you want to change things, you have to do it from outside the system. That's scary and hard, but that's just the way it is." 

–– Steven Dale, founder of Creative Urban Projects, Toronto, Ontario, Canada 

via: Sketchbook 21, 2013, p. 123

Quotes: Samuel Johnson

"To be happy at home is the ultimate result of all ambition." 

–– Samuel Johnson (1709-1784), English author 

via: Sketchbook 21, 2013, p. 121

Quotes: Doug Suisman

"Travel, experience, observe, draw. Creative urban design doesn't emerge from books or from the mind." 

–– Doug Suisman (b. 1955), American urban designer and architect 

via: Sketchbook 21, 2013, p. 120

Quotes: Mania Bedikan

"Sketch, sketch, sketch as much as possible, to observe the world and objects around you." 

–– Mania Bedikan, Canadian architect 

via: Sketchbook 21, 2013, p. 121

Quotes: Diana Vreeland

"The energy of imagination, deliberation and invention – these are the ingredients of style and all who have it share one thing: originality." 

– Diana Vreeland (1903-1989), French-American magazine editor and fashion journalist 

via: Sketchbook 21, 2013, p. 88 

Quotes: Robert Hughes

"What we need more of is slow art: art that holds time as a vase holds water: art that grows out of modes of perception and making whose skill and doggedness make you think and feel; art that isn't merely sensational, that doesn't get its message across in ten seconds, that isn't falsely iconic, that hooks into something deep-running in our natures. In a word, art that is the very opposite of mass media." 

–– Robert Hughes (1938-2012), Australian writer and art critic 

via: Sketchbook 21, 2013, p. 81

Quotes: Shaker motto

"Whatever is fashioned, let it be plain and simple and for the good." 

–– Shaker motto 

via: Sketchbook 21, 2013, p. 99

Quotes: Philip Lopate

"The prospect of a long day at the beach makes me panic. There is no harder work I can think of  than taking myself off somewhere pleasant, where I am forced to stay for hours and 'have fun.' 

–– Philip Lopate (b. 1943), American film critic, essayist, poet, and teacher 

via: Sketchbook 21, 2013, p. 69

Quotes: Jane Jacobs

"By its nature, the metropolis provides what otherwise could be given only by travelling; namely the strange." 

–– Jane Jacobs (1916-2006), American-Canadian journalist, author, activist, and theorist 

via: Sketchbook 21, 2013, p. 66

Quotes: Agnes Martin

"There is no way to describe the reward of absolute obedience. Any response to art is obedience. I wish I could point out how authoritative art work is dependent on the obedient state of mind.... When we see that all the authority there is, is within ourselves as a result of our obedience then we are free."

–– Agnes Martin (1912-2004), Canadian-born American abstract painter 

via: Sketchbook 21, 2013, p. 65

Quotes: Thomas Edison

"I make more mistakes than anyone else I know, and sooner or later, I patent most of them." 

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

via Sketchbook 21, 2013, p. 56

Quotes: Maya Angelou

"You can't use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have." 

–– Maya Angelou (1928-2014), American poet, memoirist, and civil rights activist 

via: Sketchbook 21, 2013, p. 34

Quotes: Leonardo da Vinci

"It should not be hard for you to stop sometimes and look into the stains of walls, or ashes of a fire, or clouds, or mud or like places, in which, if you really consider them well, you may find really marvellous ideas."

–– Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), Italian painter, engineer, inventor, and architect 

via: Sketchbook 21, 2013, p. 16

Quotes: Cennino Cennini

"Set yourself to practice drawing, drawing only a little each day, so that you may not come to lose your taste for it, or get tired of it. ... Do not fail, say you go on, to draw something every day, for no matter how little it is, it will be well worth while, and will do you a world of good." 

–– Cennino Cennini (c. 1360 – before 1427), Italian painter and writer 

Source: Il Libro Dell'Arte, c. 1435 in Betty Edwards. The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam, 1999 (first published in 1979); p. 249.

via: Sketchbook 21, 2013, p. 9 

Quotes: Louise Schouwenberg

"Potential appeals to the imagination of the viewer. Something happens with the mind that goes further than showing a cleverly made object, for which a viewer can only feel admiration, and in the meantime comes to feel like a small clumsy person. You could compare it with looking at good art. It doesn't consume energy, but it produces energy. If you see a clever trick it's usually very tiring. But if you see potential, you are elevated as a viewer." 

–– Louise Schouwenberg (b. 1954), Dutch art and design theorist, writer, educator and former visual artist 

Source: Hella Jongerius. Misfit. p. 37.

via: Sketchbook 21, 2013, p. 4

Quotes: Rūmī

"Don't think the garden loses its ecstasy in winter. It's quiet, but the roots are down there riotous."

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

via: Sketchbook 20, 2013, p. 134

Quotes: Lulu Guinness

"The key to longevity in terms of style is not U-turns, but subtle reinvention." 

–– Lulu Guinness (b. 1960), British accessories fashion designer 

Source: Living Etc.. October 2009, p. 46.

via: Sketchbook 20, 2013, p. 120

Quotes: Ralph Waldo Emerson

"To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment." 

–– Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), American philosopher and writer 

via: Sketchbook 20, 2013, p. 120

Quotes: Norbert Platt

"The act of putting pen to paper encourages pause for thought. This in turn makes us think more deeply about life, which helps us regain our equilibrium." 

–– Norbert Platt (b. 1951), senior executive in European luxury goods industry & former Montblanc CEO 

Source: Elle Decoration UK, January 2013, p. 15. 

via: Sketchbook 20, 2013, p. 118

Quotes: Rob Breszny

"Even when you know exactly what you want, it's sometimes crucial for you not to accomplish it too fast. It may be that you need to mature more before you're ready to handle your success. It could be that if you got all of your heart's desire too quickly and easily, you wouldn't develop the vigorous willpower that the quest was meant to help you forge. The importance of good timing can't be underestimated either: In order for you to take full advantage of your dream-come-true, many other factors in your life have to be in place and arranged just so." 

–– Rob Breszny, American astrologer, writer, and musician 

Source: Rob Breszney. Free Will Astrology, Virgo January 10, 2013. View Magazine. January 10-16, 2013, p. 25. 

via: Sketchbook 20, 2013, p. 92.

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

Quotes: Charles Kingsley

"We act as though comfort and luxury were the chief requirements of life, when all that we need to make us really happy is something to be enthusiastic about." 

–– Charles Kingsley (1819-1875), British clergyman, historian, and writer

via: Sketchbook 20, 2013, p. 89 

Quotes: Jeanette Winterson

 "Life has an inside as well as an outside. Consumer culture directs all resources and attention to life on the outside. What happens to the inner life? Art is never a luxury because it stimulates and responds to the inner life. We are badly out of balance. I don't think of art/creativity as a substitute for anything else. I see it as a powerful expression of our humanity –– and on the side of humanity under threat. If we say art is a luxury, we might as well say that being human is a luxury."

–– Jeanette Winterson (b. 1959), British author 

via: Sketchbook 20, 2012, p. 65