Quotes About Mastery

Art begins in imitation and ends in innovation. —Mason Cooley

even Mozart, who was a musical prodigy at age four, took 13 more years before he began to produce world-class music. The

No one ever considers himself expert if he really knows his job.

In the process of learning to walk, did you spend more time falling down or standing up? If you were anything like most babies, you failed (fell) far more than you succeeded (walked). It didn't matter: you were on the path of mastery.

They do the thing, and gain the power.

Great art is never finished, only abandoned. — Leonardo da Vinci

Hate. Hate is the key. Control your hate. Control your rage.

Whatever your medium, the goal of any arts practice is to develop a greater set of skills for dealing with challenges. Experience will help you close that gap between your own vision and the piece's final execution.

Ultimately, the only power to which man should aspire is that which he exercises over himself.

We were masters of nature, masters of the world. We had forgotten everything--death, fatigue, our natural needs. Stronger than cold or hunger, stronger than the shots and the desire to die, condemned and wandering, mere numbers, we were the only men on earth.

A disciple came to the celebrated Master of the Good Name with a question. "Rabbi, how are we to distinguish between a true master and a fake?" And the master of the good name said, "When you meet a person who poses as a master, ask him a question: whether he knows how to purify your thoughts. If he says that he knows, then he is a fake.

We were the masters of nature, the masters of the world. We had transcended everything—death, fatigue, our natural needs. We were stronger than cold and hunger, stronger than the guns and the desire to die, doomed and rootless, nothing but numbers, we were the only men on earth. At

We were the masters of nature, the masters of the world. We had transcended everything—death, fatigue, our natural needs. We were stronger than cold and hunger, stronger than the guns and the desire to die, doomed and rootless, nothing but numbers, we were the only men on earth.

There is a lot of satisfaction, a lot of joy, that can come from doing something you love and that you're good at

It's a simple and generous rule of life that whatever you practice, you will improve at.

Remember that you're nothing but a beginner - even if you've been working on your craft for fifty years. We are all just beginner here, and we shall all die beginners. So let it go.

that's what you have to do at the beginning; everybody imitates before they can innovate.

It's a simple and generous rule of life that whatever you practice, you will improve at. For instance: If I had spent my twenties playing basketball every single day, or making pastry dough every single day, or studying auto mechanics every single day, I'd probably be pretty good at foul shots and croissants and transmissions by now.

if you devote yourself to anything diligently for ten years, that will make you an expert. (That's the time it would take to earn two master's degrees and a doctorate.)

First, however you initially grasp the sword, change your grip a little, so that you focus on how you're holding it. Don't take your weapon for granted.

knows you're beyond yeoman level in your knowledge

Only I am sure I met no one on the way, because if I had I should have had to master myself, walk like a woman in her senses, even give a greeting. And when you have to, you can.

The happiness of a man in this life does not consist in the absence but in the mastery of his passions.

All practical teachers know that education is a patient process of mastery of details, minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day.