Quotes on Art and Life

A punctuation of texts for the influx of pictures recently in this blog.

From John Ruskin's On Art and Life by Peguin Books, Great Ideas (I love these pocket sized travel friendly series.)

Do what you can, and confess frankly what you are unable to do,
neither let your effort be shortened for fear of failure,
nor your confession silenced for fear of shame.

Now it is only by labour that thought can be made healthy, and only by thought that labour can be made happy, and the two cannot be separated with impunity. (page 24)

All art worthy the name is the energy - neither of the human body alone, not of the human soul alone, but of both united, one guiding the other: good craftsmanship and work of the fingers joined with good emotion and work of the heart. (page 69)

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Some I manage to plug from online. Especially from the podcast of Sidebar.

Make sure wherever you go after school, you are not the best guy there.
~ David Groove

Draw now, think about it later.
~ Greg Munchess

But mostly I feel happy to be part of something far bigger than myself. I like being part of a team, it's why I write scripts rather than novels.
~ Jack Thorne, writer of The Scouting Book For Boys, shares his diary

Nothing should be prized more highly than the value of each day.
~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

The true secret of happiness lies in taking a genuine interest in all the details of daily life and elevating them to an art.
~ William Morris

Creative ideas reside in people’s minds but are trapped by fear or rejection. Create a judgment-free environment and you’ll unleash a torrent of creativity.
~ Alex Osborne

Change does not change tradition. It strengthens it. Change is a challenge and an opportunity; not a threat.
~ Prince Phillip of England

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From Unlimited Power by Antony Robbins.

Success: to laugh often and much, to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.

Success is the ongoing process of striving to become more.

The opportunity to continually grow emotionally, socially, spiritually, physiologically, intellectually and financially while contributing in some positive way to others. The road to success is always under construction.

~~~

From the armory in Kevingroove Museum.

When you cross sword with an enemy you must not think of cutting him either strongly or weakly; just think of cutting and killing him.
~ Miyamoto Musashi, A Book of Five Rings, 1645

It has to be lamented, that man, ever in a progressive state of civilization, differs little from the savage in his thirst for gratifying the degrading indulgence of revenge.
~ JG Millingen, the History of Dueling, 1942

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And those I pillaged from the walls in the same art gallery,

Blessed are they who see beautiful things in humble places where other people see nothing.
~ Camille Pissarro

...it is the human aspect of things, that which is plainly human, that touches me most in art.
~ Jean-François Millet

In a word, what I wanted to do was create a style for our age.
~ Emile Bernard

Monet is one of the few painters who know how to paint water... With him, water is alive and deep. It is true water.
~ Emile Zola

I do not literally paint that table, but the emotion it produces upon me.
~ Henri Matisse

I want to conquer Paris with an apple.
~ Paul Cezanne

I don't paint portraits, I paint people in their homes.
~ Édouard Vuillard

The portrait is one of the most curious art forms. It demands special qualities in the artist and an almost total kinship with the model.
~ Henri Matisse

I want to make portraits that will be revelations... in a century's time... I am not trying to paint using a photographic likeness...
~ Vincent van Gogh.

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And a last one from me. On the week before our degree show exhibition was due, a friend of our classmate jumped from the Suspension Bridge. If only he can see how much his friends huddled and cried and was miserable after that. I will say in this day and age, even boredom can literally kills, but hey,

A successful suicide can only be committed once - don't squander it!
Therefore, live.

At least live till a day when there is a good enough reason to commit it. And chances are, by then you would realize the precious gift that is being Alive.