Quotes: Napoleon Bonaparte

"The reason most people fail instead of succeed is they trade what they want most for what they want at the moment."

–– Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821), French military officer and statesman 

via: Sketchbook Q 17, 2024, p. 40.

Quotes: David Lynch

"We think we understand the rules when we become adults but what we really experience is a narrowing of the imagination."

–– David Lynch (1946-2025), American filmmaker, visual artist, musician and actor 

via: Sketchbook N 14, 2025, p. 47. 

Quotes: Henry Miller

"One's destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things." 

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

Quotes: Martin Scorsese

"The things you do badly are as much part of your style as the things you do well." 

–– Martin Scorsese (b. 1942), American filmmaker

Quotes: Michael Jordan

"Focus like a laser, not a flashlight." 

–– Michael Jordan (b. 1963), American professional basketball player and businessman

Source: Jeff Karp. LIT: Use Nature's Playbook to Energize Your Brain, Spark Ideas, and Ignite Action. New York: William Morrow, 2024; p. 85. 

Quotes: Margaret Atwood

"Every time a gift is given it is enlivened and regenerated through the new spiritual life it engenders both in the giver and in the recipient." 

–– Margaret Atwood (b. 1939), Canadian writer, environmental activist and inventor 

Source: Robin Wall-Kimmerer. The Serviceberry. New York: Scribner, 2024; p. 50.

Quotes: Seneca

"Leisure without learning is death."

–– Seneca (4 BC - AD 65), Roman Stoic philosopher, dramatist, statesman 

Quotes: Charlotte Brontë

"Conventionality is not morality."

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

Quotes: Darren Hardy

"You will never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret of your success is found in your daily routine."

–– Darren Hardy (b. 1971), American author and publisher 

Quotes: John Baldessari

"Instead of looking at things, look between things."

–– John Baldessari (1931-2020), American painter and conceptual artist 

Quotes: Isak Dinesen

"There's no mystery in art. Do the things you can see, they will show you what you cannot see."

–– Isak Dinesen, pen name of Baroness Karen Christenze von Blixen-Finecke (1885-1962), Danish writer 

via: Sketchbook N 14, 2025, p. 46.

Quotes: David Lynch

"Just slow things down and it becomes more beautiful."

–– David Lynch (1946-2025), American filmmaker, visual artist, musician and actor 

via: Sketchbook N 14, 2025, p. 47.

Quotes: Gareth Brookes

"I've heard people say that it takes 10,000 hours to master your style or your line or something, but I think it takes 10,000 hours to become boring and mediocre. The moment you master something is the moment you stop being creative." 

–– Gareth Brookes, British artist 

Source: Austin Kleon, Instagram Stories, January 2, 2025 

via: Sketchbook N 14, 2024, 2025, p. 45.

Quotes: Napoleon Bonaparte

"The best cure for the body is a quiet mind."

–– Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821), French military officer and statesman 

via: Sketchbook Q 17, 2024, p. 9.

Quotes: David Hockney

"People tend to forget that play is serious." 

–– David Hockney (b. 1937), English painter and printmaker

Source: David Hockney. Independent.co.uk, Friday October 15, 1993

Quotes: Orhan Pamuk

"The formula for originality is very simple –– put together two things that were not together before." 

–– Orhan Pamuk (b. 1952), Turkish writer and academic

Quotes: Paulo Coelho

"If you think adventure is dangerous, try routine; it is lethal."

–– Paulo Coelho (b. 1947), Brazilian writer 

Quotes: Brené Brown

"I don't think people understand the physical toll that emotional labor takes." 

–– Brené Brown (b. 1965), American writer and professor

Quotes: Meister Eckhart

"And suddenly you know it's time to start something new and trust the magic of beginnings."

–– Meister Eckhart (1260-1328), German Catholic theologian, philosopher, and mystic 

Quotes: Anaïs Nin

"When I cannot bear outer pressures any more, I begin to put order in my belongings. I get satisfaction from perfect order in my papers, in my clothes, in the house. I carry this to excess. As if unable to organize and control my life, I seek to exert this on the world of objects. There is a mania for discarding the useless, uncluttering the house, beautifying, tidying, a mania for super efficiency. I spend hours on this. It gives me peace."

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

Quotes: Søren Kierkegaard

"The most common form of despair is not being who you are." 

–– Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855), Danish theologian, philosopher, poet, and social critic 

Quotes: Zadie Smith

"Don't let your mind set limits that aren't really there." 

–– Zadie Smith (b. 1975), English writer

Quotes: Rūmī

"Recognize that 'unlearning' is the highest form of learning."

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

Quotes: Elizabeth Cooperman

"It is clear to me now that nothing can save us from the crisis of beginning." 

–– Elizabeth Cooperman, American writer, Woman Pissing

Source: Austin Kleon, Instagram, January 1, 2025.

Quotes: René Magritte

"To be a surrealist means barring from your mind all remembrance of what you have seen, and being always on the lookout for what has never been."

–– René Magritte (1898-1967), Belgian surrealist painter 

Quotes: Patti Smith

"Nobody says "Picasso, the male artist."

–– Patti Smith (b. 1946), American writer, poet, singer-songwriter and musician 

Source: women in art, Instagram, December 31, 2024.

Quotes: Earl Nightingale

"We become what we think about most of the time." 

–– Earl Nightingale (1921-1989), American motivational speaker and author

Source: the brain coach, Instagram stories, January 3, 2025. 

Quotes: Gaetano Pesce

"Be curious, sensitive and disobedient." 

–– Gaetano Pesce (1939-2024), Italian architect 

Source: Elle Decor Italia, April 2023, p. 397. 

via: Travel Journal, 2023, p. 58.

Quotes: Ram Dass

"You can do it like it's a great weight on you or you can do it like it's part of the dance." 

–– Ram Dass (1931-2019), American spiritual leader, psychologist, and writer 

Source: Daily Philosopher, Instagram, October 22, 2024 

via: Sketchbook N 14, 2024, p. 47.

Quotes: Napoleon Bonaparte

"The art of being sometimes audacious and sometimes very prudent is the secret of success." 

–– Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821), French military officer and statesman 

via: Sketchbook N 14, 2024, p. 44.

Quotes: Linda Liukas

"Who are the people who came before you? Have a little hall of fame of those people. Thinking of your work as a continuation or a lineage of those people helps sustain you on the days when it gets tough."

–– Linda Liukas (b. 1986), Finnish author, educator and illustrator 

Source: The Creative Independent, Instagram December 11, 2024