Whether I went to school or not, I would always study.” – RZA.
If you want followers, be someone worth following.
Words matter. Artists love to trot out the tired line, “My work speaks for itself,” but the truth is, our work doesn’t speak for itself.
We all like to think we’re more complex than a two-sentence explanation.
The German writer Goethe said, “We are shaped and fashioned by what we love.” “We.
Life is a lonely bussiness.
The important thing is to make it to the end of the day, no matter what. No matter how bad it gets, see it through to the end so you can get to tomorrow.
But human beings are interested in other human beings and what other human beings do.
This is actually a good thing, because you want attention only after you’re doing really good work.
In O’Brien’s words, “It is our failure to become our perceived ideal that ultimately defines us and makes us unique.” Thank goodness.
There’s an economic theory out there that if you take the incomes of your five closest friends and average them, the resulting number will be pretty close to your own income.
When you open up your process and invite people in, you learn.
If you want to be more effective when sharing yourself and your work, you need to become a better storyteller.
Science fiction writer Theodore Sturgeon once said that 90 percent of everything is crap. The same is true of our own work. The trouble is, we don’t always know what’s good and what sucks.
You just have to be as generous as you can, but selfish enough to get your work done.
There are no rules, of course. Life is an art, not a science. Your mileage may vary. Take what you need and leave the rest.
Don’t be creepy. Don’t be a jerk. Don’t waste people’s time. Don’t ask too much.
Nothing is more important than an unread library.” Don’t worry about doing research. Just search.
It’s for this reason that I read the obituaries every morning. Obituaries are like near-death experiences for cowards.
Paul McCartney has said, “I emulated Buddy Holly, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis. We all did.