Quotes About Inspiration

Surely most men are destroyed, but there are others who like pillars of fire guide frightened men through the darkest. 'Thou mayest, thou mayest!' What glory! It is true that we are weak and sick and quarrelsome, but if that is all we ever were, we would, millenniums ago, have disappeared from the face of the earth.

Persons of genius, it is true, are, and are always likely to be, a small minority; but in order to have them, it is necessary to preserve the soil in which they grow.

When I write, I aim in my mind not toward New York but toward a vague spot a little to the east of Kansas.

There is no doubt that I have lots of words inside me; but at moments, like rush-hour traffic at the mouth of a tunnel, they jam.

Whatever men make, she says, what they felt when they made it is there...Man is a means for turning things into spirit and turning spirit into things.

I was made to feel I could do things. If you get this feeling early and can hold it until you're 15, you tend to never lose it.

I would write ads for deodorants or labels for catsup bottles, if I had to. The miracle of turning inklings into thoughts and thoughts into words and words into metal and print and ink never palls for me.

The artist brings something into the world that didn't exist before, and that he does it without destroying something else. A kind of refutation of the conservation of matter. That still seems to me its central magic, its core of joy.

My first thought, as a child, was that the artist brings something into the world that didn't exist before, and that he does it without destroying something else. A kind of refutation of the conservation of matter. That still seems to me its central magic, its core of joy.

Being a great writer is not the same as writing great.

We weren't idealistic about much, we children of the 1950s, but we were certainly idealistic about art. We went into it with the highest kind of ambition — not to get rich or to impress women, but to make our mark as Proust and Joyce had made their mark.

To become less and transmit more, to replenish energy with wisdom - some such hope, at this more than midpoint in my life, is the reason why I write.

Remember: you must participate in the creative world you want to become part of.

Fantasies are like extra cash. They need to be banked for later use.

As soon as you stop listening to new music, your life is over. You are a fart.

If you are thinking about making some adjustments in you life to allow you to help change the world, my heartfelt recommendation is not to spend too much time thinking about it. Just dive in.

talent is evenly distributed. You never know how many talented people are out there until you invite and inspire them to be creative.

Make each day your masterpiece.

Make each day a masterpiece.

A coach's primary function should be not to make better players, but to make better people.

It is important for us to see that our mentors are human and therefore fallible; it makes our own shortcomings more tenable.

A mentor must always guide, never push. It was my job to listen to them, offer my perspective, and encourage them to pursue the ideals they believed to be true.

Always try to be the very best that you can be. Learn from others, yes. But don't just try to be better than they are.

The best leaders are lifelong learners; they take measures to create organizations that foster and inspire learning throughout. The most effective leaders are those who realize it's what you learn after you know it all that counts most.