Eric Maisel Quotes

Image, Affirmations are not bound up in rules. An affirmation can be long

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Affirmations are not bound up in rules. An affirmation can be long or short, poetic or plain. If you love a phrase and find that it helps you, that is a valid affirmation.

—Eric Maisel

Image, You honor your writing space by recovering, if you are an addict.

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You honor your writing space by recovering, if you are an addict. You honor your writing space by becoming an anxiety expert, a real pro at mindfulness and personal calming. You honor your writing space by affirming that you matter, that your writing life matters, and that your current writing project matters. You honor your writing space by entering it with this mantra: “I am ready to work.” You enter, grow quiet, and vanish into your writing.

—Eric Maisel

Image, The artist, who must venture into the studio and risk there, and

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The artist, who must venture into the studio and risk there, and then venture into the marketplace and risk again, is obliged to learn how her defences work, so that she can drop and raise her guard instantly.

—Eric Maisel

Image, Boredom is the thing that regularly arrives between excitements and episodes of

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Boredom is the thing that regularly arrives between excitements and episodes of meaning: it is as natural as the tides, and in it an artist can drown.

—Eric Maisel

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Image, The growth that an artist seeks is a fine combination of mastering

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The growth that an artist seeks is a fine combination of mastering craft, garnering an audience, maintaining one's mental health, and working mightily from a ever-expanding base of experience.

—Eric Maisel

Image, Deconstruction is great for the intellect, but it hurts the heart terribly.

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Deconstruction is great for the intellect, but it hurts the heart terribly.

—Eric Maisel

Image, The artist who pictures sounds as colours, who feels the difference in

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The artist who pictures sounds as colours, who feels the difference in microns between one sea green and another... is not attending to what the world considers important.

—Eric Maisel

Image, Let each of us dream of a community of artists and work to make that dream a reality.

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Let each of us dream of a community of artists and work to make that dream a reality.

—Eric Maisel

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Image, Art is manipulation, the management of material, the directing of fate… Who

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Art is manipulation, the management of material, the directing of fate... Who does that directing?

—Eric Maisel

Image, Chaos is everywhere – and artists, to fashion art and live truthfully,

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Chaos is everywhere - and artists, to fashion art and live truthfully, have no choice but to invite this unwanted guest right into the studio.

—Eric Maisel

Image, Creativity is the gift that keeps on giving.

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Creativity is the gift that keeps on giving.

—Eric Maisel

Image, By ‘expecting nothing’ you are not ‘giving up.’ Far from it!

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By 'expecting nothing' you are not 'giving up.' Far from it! You are making a decision to focus on what needs to be done rather than on outcomes.

—Eric Maisel

Image, Humanitarian convictions are the linchpins of our salvation, and these an artist

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Humanitarian convictions are the linchpins of our salvation, and these an artist must champion.

—Eric Maisel

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Image, No muse shoots darts of insight into the unsuspecting artist.

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No muse shoots darts of insight into the unsuspecting artist.

—Eric Maisel

Image, A key to a long, productive writing life is finding ways to

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A key to a long, productive writing life is finding ways to support that life, emotionally and existentially.

—Eric Maisel

Image, It goes against an artist’s grain to retire. But whether he retires

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It goes against an artist's grain to retire. But whether he retires or not, he will age... What work will get done in the remaining time? ...Can he find a little peace in this twilight? Or must he still rush on, restlessly and hungrily, to the very end?

—Eric Maisel

Image, You can sweat by not practicing or you can pick up your

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You can sweat by not practicing or you can pick up your clarinet. There's good sweat and there's bad sweat.

—Eric Maisel

Image, Whatever pain and suffering you’ve experienced in your life has been a

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Whatever pain and suffering you've experienced in your life has been a blessing at least in this one regard: you now know some true things that you couldn't have learned any other way.

—Eric Maisel

Image, Talent is so loaded a word, so full to the brim with

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Talent is so loaded a word, so full to the brim with meanings, that an artist might be wise to forget about it altogether and just keep on working.

—Eric Maisel

Image, We can carve time out of thin air, or we can fill

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We can carve time out of thin air, or we can fill up even infinite stretches of time with nothingness. These are our choices.

—Eric Maisel

Image, The artist at her best – wild, passionate, rebellious, and human –

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The artist at her best - wild, passionate, rebellious, and human - is often too large and truthful a creature for society's taste. The artist at her most outlandish - profane, eccentric, even a little mad - is at least as disquieting a figure.

—Eric Maisel

Image, While artists fervently believe that the art marketplace was invented by the

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While artists fervently believe that the art marketplace was invented by the devil and remains in his henchman's hands, they have no choice but to carry long spoons and sup there.

—Eric Maisel

Image, Keenly aware of their limitations, artists often remain insecure even as their

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Keenly aware of their limitations, artists often remain insecure even as their list of successes grows.

—Eric Maisel

Image, When a thing is not done, continuing to work is the strength;

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When a thing is not done, continuing to work is the strength; but when it is done, the strength lies in stopping.

—Eric Maisel

Image, The more sophisticated we become – as we pierce reality and see

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The more sophisticated we become - as we pierce reality and see the void beyond - the more our sense of wonder is destroyed, along with our reasons for being.

—Eric Maisel

Image, I am a human being and an artist: I really, simply, surely am.

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I am a human being and an artist: I really, simply, surely am.

—Eric Maisel

Image, Your chances of creating deeply hinge on the quality of your awareness state.

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Your chances of creating deeply hinge on the quality of your awareness state.

—Eric Maisel

Image, The wise artist makes peace with the fact that he will understand

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The wise artist makes peace with the fact that he will understand less than he had anticipated.

—Eric Maisel

Image, The writer loves the fog as it pours in; he loves the

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The writer loves the fog as it pours in; he loves the sun when the fog pours out. The rest of California is Beach Boys country, but San Francisco has that moody thing going on, those blues notes wrapped in moisture, an atmosphere that tempers California dreaming and makes life more real. The fog brings reality, but it is still a California reality, one spent outdoors the whole year round.

—Eric Maisel

Image, Artists have wild desires and a terrible hunger to achieve… Without it

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Artists have wild desires and a terrible hunger to achieve... Without it they haven't the juice for striving or loving. But desire also can make them greedy and turn dreams into unrealizable obsessions.

—Eric Maisel

Image, One visit with a child can supply us with enough creativity dust

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One visit with a child can supply us with enough creativity dust to last for a lifetime... Visit with children like you're the child you ought to be more often.

—Eric Maisel

Image, Who knows how many artists fail because the light that shines through

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Who knows how many artists fail because the light that shines through them is defracted in a thousand directions and not concentrated in a single beam?

—Eric Maisel

Image, Live intensely and dangerously. The world may not depend on your efforts, but you do.

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Live intensely and dangerously. The world may not depend on your efforts, but you do.

—Eric Maisel

Image, As the artist matures she is continuously shaken by what she manages

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As the artist matures she is continuously shaken by what she manages to discover: by the earth shifting beneath her feet once again, by her own amazed, ringing laughter.

—Eric Maisel

Image, The artist’s personality, built upon strong desires and compassionate vision, is by

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The artist's personality, built upon strong desires and compassionate vision, is by its nature prone to depression.

—Eric Maisel

Image, An artist who is too self-centered is liable to exhibit faults he

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An artist who is too self-centered is liable to exhibit faults he abhors: carelessness, callousness, and even downright cruelty.

—Eric Maisel

Image, Creativity is part sweat – not just beads of it, but sometimes buckets.

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Creativity is part sweat - not just beads of it, but sometimes buckets.

—Eric Maisel

Image, All space is space in which to create.

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All space is space in which to create.

—Eric Maisel

Image, While some part of the artwork may fail, the whole may have its own unique importance.

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While some part of the artwork may fail, the whole may have its own unique importance.

—Eric Maisel

Image, A creative block is a fear about the future, a guess about

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A creative block is a fear about the future, a guess about the dangers dwelling in the dark computer and the locked studio.

—Eric Maisel

Image, It is in an artist’s real interest to congratulate herself more often:

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It is in an artist's real interest to congratulate herself more often: not out of narcissism, but in her role as her own dear friend and advocate.

—Eric Maisel

Image, Because she favours solitude and indwelling, an artist can live a significantly

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Because she favours solitude and indwelling, an artist can live a significantly more claustrophobic life that she had ever intended.

—Eric Maisel

Image, An artist must struggle to accept the shape of this universe –

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An artist must struggle to accept the shape of this universe - and achieve some important successes...

—Eric Maisel

Image, Affirmations need to be used if they are to become incorporated into

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Affirmations need to be used if they are to become incorporated into the fabric of your being.

—Eric Maisel

Image, When the artist activates his being, awakens to his surroundings, and sets

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When the artist activates his being, awakens to his surroundings, and sets himself the task of creating, connections are made out of conscious awareness that return coalesced as inspiration.

—Eric Maisel

Image, It is the job of each artist to believe in the possibility

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It is the job of each artist to believe in the possibility of meaningful, substantial, and sustainable change.

—Eric Maisel

Image, An inability to choose is a hallmark of anxiety… The too-anxious artist,

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An inability to choose is a hallmark of anxiety... The too-anxious artist, afraid to choose, will halt dead in the water.

—Eric Maisel

Image, The artist must possess at least as much conviction as does his

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The artist must possess at least as much conviction as does his enemy, the dogmatic, mealy-mouthed, anti-art bigot.

—Eric Maisel

Image, Dream, but expect nothing. Desire, but expect nothing. Hope, but expect nothing.

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Dream, but expect nothing. Desire, but expect nothing. Hope, but expect nothing. Release your need to control and gain real control.

—Eric Maisel

Image, An artist feels vulnerable to begin with; and yet the only answer

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An artist feels vulnerable to begin with; and yet the only answer is to recklessly discard more armour.

—Eric Maisel

Image, Love is the spirit that motivates the artist’s journey. The love may

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Love is the spirit that motivates the artist's journey. The love may sublime, raw, obsessive, passionate, awful. or thrilling, but whatever its quality, it's a powerful motive in the artist's life.

—Eric Maisel

Image, The three elements of creativity are thus: loving, knowing, and doing –

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The three elements of creativity are thus: loving, knowing, and doing - or heart, mind, and hands - or, as Zen Buddhist teaching has it; great faith, great question, and great courage.

—Eric Maisel

Image, Hurray for criticism, if it means that an artist’s voice is heard.

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Hurray for criticism, if it means that an artist's voice is heard. Let the wise artist invite criticism and survive it when it comes.

—Eric Maisel

Image, Make creativity your religion… because creating is soulful work.

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Make creativity your religion... because creating is soulful work.

—Eric Maisel

Image, The artist… may suppose that ideas are his chief currency; but unless

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The artist... may suppose that ideas are his chief currency; but unless he is also attuned to feelings, in life and in art, he will not move his fellow human beings.

—Eric Maisel

Image, The artist can’t paint, sing, or dance without emotion: if he does,

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The artist can't paint, sing, or dance without emotion: if he does, he is a machine masquerading as a person.

—Eric Maisel

Image, If we had the consciousness of a cat or a dog, we

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If we had the consciousness of a cat or a dog, we would have it in us to become perfect Zen masters. We could gnaw on a bone, take a nap, play with a spider until we killed it, get our litter just right, and be innocently and serenely present. Meaning would mean nothing to us, nor would we need it to mean anything. We would be free, and we would be spared. But, we are human beings, and we posses that odd duck – human consciousness.

—Eric Maisel