Quotes About Inspiration

The Lord of the Rings is of course a fundamentally religious and Catholic work; unconsciously so at first, but consciously in the revision.

But if it's true it's beautiful. Truth is beautiful. And so my whole work is about what amounts to a reverence for life itself.

I'm the best promoter in the world because I haven't taken a day off work since I left the penitentiary, and because I have read all the great philosophers like St. Thomas Aquinine.

A work of art doesn't dare you to realize it. It germinates and gestates by itself.

I always have a quotation for everything - it saves original thinking.

For as long as I can remember, the thing that gave me a sense of wonderment and renewal... has always been the work of other actors.

When I work, I work very fast, but preparing to work can take any length of time.

The underlying sense of form in my work has been the system of the Universe, or part thereof. For that is a rather large model to work from.

The little dissatisfaction which every artist feels at the completion of a work forms the germ of a new work.

I'm always working. Like a lot of creative people I can't switch off. I can't disassociate work from pleasure. My job is my hobby.

The people who are doing the work are the moving force behind the Macintosh. My job is to create a space for them, to clear out the rest of the organization and keep it at bay.

I am driven by great work and seeing people do incredible things and having a part in that.

Passion always finds a way. Follow your passion and everything else will work out.

Don't stop. Narrow your focus to one idea, and make it work. That will give birth to all of the others. All you can do is plant the seed and water it.

A work of art is a world in itself reflecting senses and emotions of the artist's world.

If work is just going in every day and getting a check, it's an ugly life. When you can make work a meaningful purpose, you've hit the jackpot for people.

My work is always better when I am alone and follow my own impressions.

I have not collected art. Art collected me. I never found paintings. They found me. I have never even owned a work of art. They owned me.

Leaders don't complain about what's not working. Leaders celebrate what is working and work to amplify it.

The advice I like to give young artists, or really anybody who'll listen to me, is not to wait around for inspiration. Inspiration is for amateurs; the rest of us just show up and get to work.

I don't wait for inspiration. I'm not, in fact, quite sure what inspiration is, but I'm sure that if it is going to turn up, my having started work is the precondition of its arrival.

I use poetry to help me work through what I don't understand, but I show up to each new poem with a backpack full of everywhere else that I've been.

Today is the first day of the rest of your life. And if that doesn't work out for you, Tomorrow is the first day of the rest of your life.

Do what you love. When you love your work, you become the best worker in the world.