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