Let yourself write badly. You can rewrite later. Paint rotten canvases. You can paint over them. Just do ten minutes at the piano. It’s better than none. Think of yourself as a skittish horse. Keep the jumps small. Julia Cameron.

Here’s our special quote in honor of Labor Day: The difference between a creative person and a creative producer is hard work. Those who actually produce the play, build the rocket, find the cure, and write the novel don’t let their ideas collect dust on the “tomorrow’ shelf. They dig in, often before they feel completely ready, and keep digging until they unearth what they are searching for. It is the unglamorous, relentless, dirty-hands effort

To learn to see, to learn to hear, you must do this—go into the wilderness alone. Don Jose quoted by Joan Halifax.

Creativity’s purpose is to stir back to live what has fallen asleep, to cleanse and clear emotional residues, and to open passageways for blocked energy. Michele Cassou

I believe talent is like electricity. We don’t understand electricity. We use it. Maya Angelou

An essential portion of any artist’s labor is not creation as much as invocation. Lewis Hyde.