Quotes: Anton Chekhov

"Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass."

–– Anton Chekhov (1860-1904), Russian writer 

Source: Beata Heuman. Every Room Should Sing. New York: Rizzoli, 2021; p. 167. 

via: Sketchbook 33, 2023, p. 57. 

Quotes: Charlie Munger

"The safest way to try to get what you want is to try and deserve what you want." 

–– Charlie Munger (1924-2023), American philanthropist, investor, and businessman 

Source: Ian McGugan. "Five investing lessons from the billionaire investor Charlie Munger. The Globe and Mail. Saturday December 2, 2023; p. B10.

Quotes: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

"We are shaped and fashioned by what we love."

–– Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832), German author, scientist, and statesman 

via 2020 Aboveground Art Supplies Knapsack Sketchbook, 2022 p. 13.  

Quotes: David Usher

"Become an observer of group dynamics. Ideas don't live in a vacuum. They are brought to life and championed by individuals. Start to analyze how ideas either bloom or are killed by the people around them, around you. How is your inner circle affecting the quality of the ideas that live or die?"

–– David Usher (b. 1966), British-born Canadian musician, author, and public speaker 

Source: David Usher. Let the Elephants Run., p. 108. 

via: Striped notebook, 2016, p. 6. 

Quotes: Robert Louis Stevenson

"To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive." 

–– Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894), Scottish novelist and poet

via 2020 Aboveground Art Supplies Knapsack Sketchbook, 2023 p. 24. 

Quotes: Bruce Lee

"It's not the daily increase but daily decrease. Hack away at the unessential."

–– Bruce Lee (1940-1973), Hong Kong-American martial artist and actor 

Source: Tina Seelig. Creativity Rules.; p. 116.

via 2020 Aboveground Art Supplies Knapsack Sketchbook, 2022 p. 21. 

Quotes: Grace Paley

"There is a long time in me between knowing and telling." 

–– Grace Paley (1922-2007), American writer, teacher, activist

Source: Jennifer Weiner. Mrs. Everything. 2019; unpaginated.

via 2020 Aboveground Art Supplies Knapsack Sketchbook, 2022 p. 21. 

Quotes: Mexican proverb

"They tried to bury us. They didn't know we were seeds." 

–– Mexican proverb 

Source: Jennifer Weiner. Mrs. Everything. 2019; unpaginated.

via 2020 Aboveground Art Supplies Knapsack Sketchbook, 2022 p. 22. 

Quotes: Charlie Munger

"A lot of success in life and business comes from knowing what you want to avoid."

–– Charlie Munger (1924-2023), American philanthropist, investor, and businessman 

Source: Ian McGugan. "Five investing lessons from the billionaire investor Charlie Munger. The Globe and Mail. Saturday December 2, 2023; p. B10.

Quotes: David Usher

"Our interests determine how we see the world. Those interests are pulled into tight focus while the rest of the scene is often blurred [...] The world each of us sees is just one possible level of sight. One lens. To be more creative we need to open up to other lenses and other ways of seeing. The more we can see, the more ideas we can use in our creative work."

–– David Usher (b. 1966), British-born Canadian musician, author, and public speaker 

Source: David Usher. Let the Elephants Run., p. 133. 

via: Striped notebook, 2016, p. 12. 

Quotes: Islamic proverb

"Beauty is goodness written in matter." 

–– 16th Century Islamic proverb 

Source: Karen McCartney. The Alchemy of Things.; p. 250.

via 2020 Aboveground Art Supplies Knapsack Sketchbook, 2022 p. 23. 

Quotes: Ali Smith

"Art is always an exchange, like love, whose giving and taking can be a complex and wounding matter; according to Michelangelo."

–– Ali Smith (b. 1962), Scottish academic, author, journalist, and playwright 

Source: Val McDermid. Still Life. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2020; unpaginated. (Ali Smith. Artful.)

via 2020 Aboveground Art Supplies Knapsack Sketchbook, 2022 p. 23. 

Quotes: Rainer Maria Rilke

"Surely all art is the result of one's having been in danger, of having gone through an experience all the way to the end, where no one can go any further."

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

via 2020 Aboveground Art Supplies Knapsack Sketchbook, 2022 p. 22. 

Quotes: Adam J. Kurtz

"Failure isn't the end. Failure is part of the process of accomplishing a task. In fact, the only time failure is truly final is if you don't use what you've learned through the experience to try again. Each attempt becomes an experiment, each failure provides valuable insight and pinpoints room for improvement, and then eventually (maybe soon, maybe not) you get it right." 

–– Adam J. Kurtz, American designer, artist, speaker and author 

Source: Adam J. Kurtz. You are Here *For Now. New York: TarcherPerigree, 2021; p. 69.

via 2020 Aboveground Art Supplies Knapsack Sketchbook, 2022 p. 19. 

Quotes: André Gide

"Everything that needs to be said has already been said. But, since no one was listening, everything must be said again." 

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

via 2020 Aboveground Art Supplies Knapsack Sketchbook, 2022 p. 13. 

Quotes: Susan O'Malley

"The harder road is the one that makes you." 

–– Susan O'Malley (1976-2015), American artist and curator

Source: Susan O'Malley. Advice from my 80 Year Old Self. 2016.

via: Striped notebook, 2016, p. 20. 

Quotes: David Usher

"Sometimes you lead the ideas and sometimes the ideas lead you. They always take you to places you didn't expect." 

–– David Usher (b. 1966), British-born Canadian musician, author, and public speaker 

Source: David Usher. Let the Elephants Run., p. 95. 

via: Striped notebook, 2016, p. 5. 

Quotes: Richard Osman

"You are simply a little lost, Donna. And if one is never lost in life, then clearly one has never traveled anywhere interesting." 

–– Richard Osman (b. 1970), English writer, TV presenter and producer, and comedian.

Source: Richard Osman. The Man Who Died Twice. London: Viking (Penguin Random House), 2021; p. 254. (Ibrahim Arif to Donna)

via 2020 Aboveground Art Supplies Knapsack Sketchbook, 2022, p. 18. 

Quotes: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

"The person born with a talent they are meant to use will find their greatest happiness in using it."

–– Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832), German author, scientist, and statesman 

via 2020 Aboveground Art Supplies Knapsack Sketchbook, 2022, p. 12. 

Quotes: Anaïs Nin

"Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born."

–– Anaïs Nin (1903-1977), French-Cuban American writer 

Source: Anaïs Nin, The Diary of Anaïs Nin. 

via 2020 Aboveground Art Supplies Knapsack Sketchbook, 2022, p. 11. 

Quotes: Anonymous

"The work will teach you how to do it." 

–– Anonymous (quoted in a fortune cookie) 

Source: Frank Wilczek. Fundamentals: Ten Keys to Reality. New York: Penguin Press, 2021; p. 146.

via 2020 Aboveground Art Supplies Knapsack Sketchbook, 2022, p. 7. 

Quotes: Charlie Munger

Advice about how to achieve success: "You spend less than you earn, invest shrewdly and avoid toxic people and toxic activities, and try to keep learning all your life." 

–– Charlie Munger (1924-2023), American philanthropist, investor, and businessman 

Source: Ian McGugan. "Five investing lessons from the billionaire investor Charlie Munger. The Globe and Mail. Saturday December 2, 2023; p. B10.

Quotes: Patricia Lockwood

"Part of what you have to figure out in this life is, who would I be if I hadn't been frightened. What hurt me, and what would I be if it hadn't?" 

–– Patricia Lockwood (b. 1982), American poet, essayist, and novelist 

Source: Patricia Lockwood. Priestdaddy. New York: Riverhead Books, 2017; p. 326.

Quotes: Albert Einstein

"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius – and a lot of courage – to move in the opposite direction."

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

via 2020 Aboveground Art Supplies Knapsack Sketchbook, 2021, p. 6. 

Quotes: Lizzie Farey

"We work to find out who we are." 

–– Lizzie Farey (b. 1962), Singaporean-born Scottish basket weaver and sculptor 

Source: Country Living UK Modern Rustic 14, 2019, p. 185.

via 2020 Aboveground Art Supplies Knapsack Sketchbook, 2021, p. 6.

Quotes: Matt Haig

"Crying releases stress hormones. Swearing increases pain tolerance. Fury can motivate us into action."

 –– Matt Haig (b. 1975), English author and journalist 

Source: Matt Haig. The Comfort Book. Toronto: HarperCollins, 2021, p. 136.

via 2020 Aboveground Art Supplies Knapsack Sketchbook, 2021, p. 5.

Quotes: Emily Dickinson

"Forever is composed of nows."

–– Emily Dickinson (1830-1886), American poet 

via 2020 Aboveground Art Supplies Knapsack Sketchbook, 2021, p. 5.

Quotes: Clarissa Pinkola Estés

"Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world all at once, but of stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach." 

–– Clarissa Pinkola Estés (b. 1943), American writer and Jungian psychoanalyst 

Source: Katrina Rodabaugh. Make Thrift Mend. New York: Abrams, 2021; p. 30. 

via 2020 Aboveground Art Supplies Knapsack Sketchbook, 2021, p. 4.

Quotes: Jim Carrey

"I challenge anybody in their darkest moment to write what they are grateful for – even stupid things like green grass or a friendly conversation with somebody on the elevator. You start to realize how rich you are." 

–– Jim Carrey (b. 1962), Canadian-American actor and comedian 

Source: USA Today

Quotes: Cynthia Occelli

"For a seed to achieve its greatest expression, it must come completely undone. The shell cracks, its insides come out and everything changes. To someone who doesn't understand growth, it would look like complete destruction." 

–– Cynthia Occelli, American author and life coach 

Quotes: Neale Donald Walsch

"The struggle ends when gratitude begins." 

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