Inspirational Quotes book (reviewed)

Manual labor of the mind

Published March 16  ·  All posts on Mar 16  ·  

Writing is essentially donkey work, manual labor of the mind. What makes it bearable are those moments (which sometimes can last for weeks, months) when the book takes over, takes on a life of its own, goes off in unexpected directions.

~ John Gregory Dunne

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The creative mind

Published February 25  ·  All posts on Feb 25  ·  

The creative mind gets poisoned with the idea that your great work will be the result of getting serious. So many of my good ideas come from what looks like goofing off, wasting time. Art is play. There’s no way to tell what’s deep or shallow until you play with the idea.

~ Austin Kleon

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Sleep

Published February 21  ·  All posts on Feb 21  ·  

It’s a common experience that a problem difficult at night is resolved in the morning after the committee of sleep has worked on it.

~ John Steinbeck

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Freedom

Published February 15  ·  All posts on Feb 15  ·  

I think freedom, ideally, is being able to choose your responsibilities. Not not having any responsibilities, but being able to choose which things you want to be responsible for.

~ Toni Morrison

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Professionalism

Published February 13  ·  All posts on Feb 13  ·  

The essence of professionalism is the focus upon the work and its demands, while we are doing it, to the exclusion of all else. The ancient Spartans schooled themselves to regard the enemy, any enemy, as nameless and faceless. In other words, they believed that if they did their work, no force on Earth could stand against them.

~ Steven Pressfield

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Review each day

Published February 11  ·  All posts on Feb 11

I will keep constant watch over myself and—most usefully—will put each day up for review. For this is what makes life evil—that none of us looks back upon our own lives. We reflect upon only that which we are about to do. And yet our plans for the future descend from the past.

~ Seneca

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Self employment

Published February 7  ·  All posts on Feb 7  ·  

Self employment, for me at least, is a never-ending contest between the world’s worst manager and the world’s laziest employee.

~ Daniel Akst

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Overcoming fear

Published January 1  ·  All posts on Jan 1  ·  

The amateur believes he must first overcome his fear; Then he can do his work. The professional knows that fear can never be overcome. He knows there is no such thing as a fearless warrior or a dread-free artist.

~ Steven Pressfield

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Solitude

Published December 30  ·  All posts on Dec 30  ·  

If we possess inward solitude we do not fear being alone, for we know that we are not alone. Neither do we fear being with others, for they do not control us. In the midst of noise and confusion we are settled into a deep inner silence. Whether alone or among people, we always carry with us a portable sanctuary of the heart.

~ Richard Foster

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Conversation as music

Published December 26  ·  All posts on Dec 26  ·  

Conversation is a musical thing, like jazz or birdsong: more ‘call and response’ than question and answer. It enables us to travel great distances, but the joy is in the journey not the destination. We are meant to sing and dance along the way, jamming with others, riffing off them, creating something new right here, right now, in a way that no one can alone.

~ Robert Poynton

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