"... In fashioning a work of art we are by no means free, we do not choose how we shall make it but ... it pre-exists us and therefore we are obliged, since it is both necessary and hidden, to do what we should have to do if it were a law of nature –– that is to say, to discover it."
–– Marcel Proust (1871-1922), French writer and critic
via: Commonplace Book 2006-2009, 2008, p. 152.
"Anything that happens to me as a writer has been precipitated by an action of my own."
–– Joyce Carol Oates (b. 1938), American writer
via: Commonplace Book 2006-2009, 2008, p. 155.
"Art ... must do something more than give pleasure: it should relate to our own life so as to increase our energy of spirit."
–– Sir Kenneth Clark (1903-1983), British art historian, museum director, and broadcaster
via: Commonplace Book 2006-2009, 2008, p. 157.
"In Celtic understanding the soul is "the place where the imagination lives.""
–– John O'Donohue (1956-2008), Irish author, priest, philosopher, poet
via: Commonplace Book 2006-2009, 2008, p. 165.
"At its root, creativity is not about success or failure. It's a spiritual path. It's mystery."
–– Clarissa Pinkola Estés (b. 1945), American author and psychoanalyst
via: Commonplace Book 2006-2009, 2008, p. 165.
"A note can be as small as a pin or as big as the world; it depends on your imagination."
–– Thelonious Monk (1917-1982), American jazz pianist and composer
via: Commonplace Book 2006-2009, 2009, p. 175.
"If you don't make mistakes, you're not working on hard enough problems. And that's a big mistake."
–– Frank Wilczek (b. 1951), American theoretical physicist and mathematician
via: Commonplace Book 2006-2009, 2009, p. 176.
"Dance in the body you have."
–– Agnes DeMille (1905-1993), American dancer and choreographer
via: Commonplace Book 2006-2009, 2009, p. 179.
"Education is what remains after the facts are gone."
–– Francis Bacon (1909-1992), Irish-born British painter
via: Commonplace Book 2006-2009, 2007, p. 189.
"Remember our etymologies: experience means almost the same as experiment, and an expert is one who is good at experiencing in a particular situation. Learning by experience is taking in the successful gleanings from standard artistic practice the improvisations between you and the real world."
–– Eric Booth, American actor, teacher, and author
Source: Eric Booth. The Everyday Work of Art. Naperville, Illinois: Sourcebooks, 1997; p. 152.
via: Commonplace Book 2006-2009, 2007, p. 191.
"Nurture your mind with great thoughts, for you will never go any higher than you think."
–– Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881), British statesman
via: Commonplace Book 2006-2009, 2007, p. 89.
"If you realized how powerful your thoughts are, you would never think a negative thought."
–– Peace Pilgrim (1908-1981), American spiritual teacher and activist, born Mildred Lisette Norman
via: Commonplace Book 2006-2009, 2007, p. 86.
"Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves."
–– Carl Jung (1875-1961), Swiss psychiatrist and psychologist
via: Commonplace Book 2006-2009, 2007, p. 84.
"If everyone was satisfied with themselves there would be no heroes."
–– Mark Twain (1835-1910), pen name of Samuel Clemens, American writer
via Commonplace Book 2006-2009, 2006, p. 80.
"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."
–– Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968), American Baptist minister and civil rights activist
via Commonplace Book 2006-2009, 2006, p. 78.
"Show me a completely contented person and I'll show you a failure."
–– Thomas Edison (1847-1931), American inventor and businessman
via Commonplace Book 2006-2009, 2006, p. 78.
"The individual who wants to reach the top in business must appreciate the might of the force of habit –– and must understand that practices are what create habits. He must be quick to break those habits that can break him –– and hasten to adopt those practices that will become the habits that help him achieve the success he desires."
"An artist is a person who thinks more than there is to think, feels more than there is to feel, and sees more than there is to see."
–– John Oliver Hobbes (1867-1906), American-born, British novelist and dramatist, pen-name of Pearl Mary Teresa Richards
via Commonplace Book 2006-2009, 2006, p. 40.
"It is easier to try to be better than you are than to be who you are."
–– Marion Woodman (1928-2018), Canadian psychoanalyst and writer
Source: Oliver Burkeman. Meditations for Mortals. Toronto: Allen Lane/Penguin Random House Canada, 2024; p. v.
via: Commonplace Book 2024, 2025, p. 33.
"Work is love made visible."
–– Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931), Lebanese-American writer and poet
via Commonplace Book 2006-2009, 2006, p. 5.
"The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook."
–– William James (1842-1910), American psychologist and philosopher
via: Commonplace Book 2024, 2025, p. 33.
"A photograph is ... a moment. But a painting is a monument."
–– Ann-Marie MacDonald (b. 1958), Canadian playwright, author, actress, and broadcast host
Source: Ann-Marie MacDonald. Fayne. Toronto: Alfred A. Knopf Canada, 2022; p. 153.
via: Commonplace Book 2024, 2025, p. 31.
"We cannot change anything unless we accept it."
–– Carl Jung (1875-1961), Swiss psychiatrist and psychologist
Source: Oliver Burkeman. Meditations for Mortals. Toronto: Allen Lane/Penguin Random House Canada, 2024; p. 60.
via: Commonplace Book 2024, 2025, p. 34.
"Ideas come along in the strangest way when you just pay attention."
–– David Lynch (1946-2025), American filmmaker, visual artist, musician and actor
Source: David Lynch. Catching the Big Fish: Meditation, Consciousness, and Creativity. New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin, 2006; p. 77.
via Commonplace Book 2013-2014, 2013, p. 39.
"No pressure, no diamonds."
–– Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881), Scottish essayist, historian, and philosopher
via Commonplace Book 2013-2014, 2013, p. 27.
"[C]reativity follows from positive emotion. The more positive a person's mood on a given day, the more creative thinking he did the next day –– and, to some extent, the day after that –– even taking into account his moods on those later days. This may be due to what psychologists call an incubation effect. Pleasant moods stimulate greater breadth in thinking –– greater cognitive variation –– which can linger and even build over a day or more. Such cognitive variation can lead to new insights at work. In other words, although new ideas might emerge soon after you experience a positive emotion, you might find them popping up much later."
–– Teresa Amabile (b. 1950), American academic and author; and Steven J. Kramer, American independent researcher, writer, and consultant
Source: Teresa Amabile and Steven Kramer. The Progress Principle: Using Small Wins to Ignite Joy, Engagement, and Creativity at Work. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Review Press, 2011; p. 52-53.
via Commonplace Book 2013-2014, 2013, p. 27-28.
"You must allow yourself to outgrow and depart from certain eras of your life with a gentle sort of ruthlessness."
–– Katy Maxwell, Girl of the Earth
Source: Words of Women, Instagram
