Quotes About Inspiration

My favorite thing about motherhood is the outpouring of love that is non-judgmental and beautiful. My daughter just makes me happy, and she motivates me to be a kid again.

Artists themselves are not confined, but their output is.

I'm fascinated with what happens to the creative output when you isolate yourself from the approval and disapproval of the people around you.

Remember that input is as important as output. Take in something for inspiration, to relight the fire inside you, and ideas on how to fix whatever isn't working in your writing will usually follow.

I adore Kate Atkinson, her literary as well as her crime output.

At the end of the day, I'm just trying to write a song that I like, that I'm not afraid to turn loose on the world. I do read a lot. I know a lot of people who read more, but I do try to keep a book in my hand most of the time, and I think that informs any kind of output that I'm going to have.

One of the things that fascinates me most is when people are so charmed by the universe that it becomes part of their artistic output.

I do not see the process of blogging as a separate thing from creating art. This is in part why I do not like to be known for being a 'blogger,' as this is just one form of output for creative ideas.

I believe intellect is needed in order to develop any creative output and that intellect alone is not enough!

Outrageous behavior, also known as the lunatic fringe, is the seed bed of innovation and creativity.

I haven't had trouble with writer's block. I think it's because my process involves writing very badly. My first drafts are filled with lurching, cliched writing, outright flailing around. Writing that doesn't have a good voice or any voice. But then there will be good moments.

For me, baseball is the most nourishing game outside of literature. They both are re-tellings of human experience.

Usually I'm the one who does the covers. And I just said, man, it would be nice to see what somebody else could do, outside of this thing. A fresher look. And I never, in a million years, would have come up with this. Believe me!

The National's favorite experiences as musicians are when we are collaborating with people a little outside of our world as a band.

I dedicate much of my success to what I learned inside and outside the classroom at Porter-Gaud, and I want to give that same opportunity to other kids in Charleston.

I think when I do things outside of music, I am always thinking of different things that are eventually one way or another going to come back to my music. I have to make sure it is all cohesive, as that's important to me as an artist and a person.

The more I show what I'm going through, the more I can give answers, the more I can help those on the outside looking in.

In the beginning, when I was trying to write, I couldn't turn off the outside world to the extent that I can now.

When I'm writing, I'm in an isolation chamber. I'm not one to think about that outside world stuff when I'm writing.

To a certain extent, just like my children, I nurture my writing until the point when it has to get out and face the outside world, where it takes on a life of its own. That is a purpose of any artist and their art.

In the end, for me, music is such an internal thing that to let the outside world influence would be against my modus operandi.

I get a kick out of being an outsider constantly. It allows me to be creative.

It may look weird to an outsider to watch me jump out of the car basically walking on my arms. Of course, it's very easy for me.

My biggest inspiration is black America and what they've done in the arts. I have always felt like an outsider in America, and what black Americans have done to add their chapter to this book called the American dream, and to be so unapologetic and true, and have added so much to art and culture in the world.