quotes for artists

The
Difference
Between a good artist
And a great one

Is:

The novice
Will often lay down his tool
Or brush

Then pick up an invisible club
On the mind's table

And helplessly smash the easels and
Jade.

Whereas the vintage man
No longer hurts himself or anyone

And keeps on
Sculpting

Light.

- Hafiz

Sometimes out of despair, when we have given up, the stone itself sends a message - should one say, bit by bit - so that we may receive it. Finally, everything falls into place and emerges with a precision so remarkable, it cannot be chance.

There are no conditions to fulfill. There is nothing to be done, nothing to be given up.
Just look and remember; whatever you perceive is not you, not yours.
It is there in the field of consciousness, but you are not the field nor its contents,
nor even the knower of the field. It is your idea that you have to do things that
entangles you in the result of you efforts - the motive, the desire, the failure to achieve,
the sense of frustration - all of this holds you back. Simply look at whatever happens
and know that you are beyond it . . . forget your past experiences and achievements:
stand naked, exposed to the winds and rains of life and you will have a chance.

- Nisargadatta Maharaj

Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative and creation, there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings, and material assistance which no man could have ever dreamed would have come his way - Whatever you can do or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now!

- Goethe

The only thing that separates a person from what they want in this life
is the will to try it and the faith to believe it is possible.

- W.E.B. DuBois

I beg you to have patience with everything unresolved in your heart
and to try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms
or books written in a very foreign language. Don't search for the answers,
which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them.
And the point is to live everything. Live the questions now.
Perhaps then, someday far in the future,
you will gradually, without ever noticing it,
live your way into the answers…

- Rainer Maria Rilke

Work is love made visible

Kahlil Gibran

I have always believed in numbers, in the equations and logics that lead to reason. But after a lifetime of such pursuits, I ask, "What truly is logic? Who decides reason?" My quest has taken me through the physical, the metaphysical, the delusional, and back. And I have made the most important discovery of my career, the most important discovery of my life:

It is only in the mysterious equations of Love
that any logic or reasons can be found.

- John Nash

If you have not realized your body's potential, you have not missed much.
If you have not realized your mind's potential, you have missed a little.
If you have not realized your heart's potential, you have missed much.
If you have not realized your soul's potential, you have missed all.

Everything is sculpture.
Any material, any idea without hindrance born into space,
I consider sculpture.Noguchi

Love gives naught but itself and takes
naught but from itself.
Love possesses not nor would it be possessed:
For love is sufficient unto love.

When you love, you should not say,
"God is in my heart", but rather "I am in the heart of God"
And think not that you can direct the course of love,
for love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.

Love has no other desire but to fulfill itself
But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires:
To melt and be like a running brook that sings it melody to the night
To know the pain of too much tenderness
To be wounded by your own understanding of love;
And to bleed willingly and joyfully.
To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving;
To rest at the noon hour and meditate love's ecstasy;
To return home at eventide with gratitude;
And then to sleep with a prayer for the
beloved in your heart and a song of praise
upon your lips.

- from The Prophet, by Kahlil Gibran

I must tell you, at the risk of seeming ridiculous,
that the true revolutionary is guided by great feelings of love.

- Che Guevera

Remember, you are not a human being having a spiritual experience,
but a spiritual being having a human experience.

- tea bag quote

[In a true marriage], you are neither the man nor the women,
but the love between the two.

- Nisargadatta Maharaj

Love is not a result; it is the very ground of being

- Nisargadatta Maharaj

You are love itself - when you are not afraid

- Nisargadatta Maharaj

quotes from I Am That, Nisargadatta Maharaj

Chapter 74

Q: You are always stressing the need of going beyond, of aloofness, of solitude. You hardly ever use the words "right" and "wrong." Why is it so?

M: It is right to be oneself, it is wrong not to be. All else is conditional. You are eager to separate right from wrong because you need some basis for action. You are always after doing something or other. But, personally motivated action, based on some scale of values, aiming at some result, is worse than inaction, but its fruits are always bitter.

Q: Are awareness and love one and the same?

M: Of course. Awareness is dynamic, love is being. Awareness is love in action. By itself the mind can actualize any number of possibilities, but unless they are prompted by love, they are valueless. Love precedes creation. Without it, there is only chaos.

Q: Where is the action in awareness?

M: You are so incurably operational. Unless there is movement, restlessness, and turmoil, you do not call it action. Chaos is movement for movement sake. True action does not displace; it transforms. A change of place is mere transportation; a change of heart is action. Just remember, nothing perceived is real. Activity is not action. Action is hidden, unknown, unknowable. You can only know the fruit.

Chapter 3

Q: In the [inclusive] mind, does the problem of joy and sorrow no longer exist?

M: Not as we know them, as desirable or repugnant. It becomes rather a question of love seeking expression and meeting with obstacles. The inclusive mind is love in action, battling against circumstances, initially frustrated, ultimately victorious.

Q: Between the body and the spirit, is it love that provides the bridge?

M: Of course, the mind creates the abyss, the heart crosses it.

DESIDERATA

Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly, and listen to others, even the dull and ignorant; they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexations to the spirit. If you compare yourself to others, you may become vain or bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time. Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery; but let this not blind you to what virtue there is: many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere, life is full of heroism. Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love, for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass. Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not disturb yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive him to be. And whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

Every moment . . . a blessing!

- Giovanni Bosco