Eric Maisel Quotes
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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.
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The middle way cannot be achieved by dividing two extremes in half.
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Settle into mystery as you would settle into your most comfortable chair. Listen. Have visions. Lose yourself.
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Abstraction is itself an abstract word and has no single meaning ... Every word in our language is abstract, because it represents something else.
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Ambition is vital, but dangerous: it is a keen motive and a driving force, but over what edge can it drive the artist?
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A key to a long, productive writing life is finding ways to support that life, emotionally and existentially.
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The wise artist makes peace with the fact that he will understand less than he had anticipated.
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The artist must possess at least as much conviction as does his enemy, the dogmatic, mealy-mouthed, anti-art bigot.
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To obsess too virulently is to walk alone in anxiety. But to obsess too little is to wall oneself off from one's own creativity.
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You can't plan in advance for everything - every mood swing, every mistake you might make in execution, every shift in your circumstances. But you can keep updating your plan.
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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.
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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.
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A composition is an arrangement, built out of parts, that aims at seamlessness.
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Rekindling hope, engaging in inner work, and venturing into the world amount to a complete plan for picking yourself up when you're down.
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An artist must struggle to accept the shape of this universe - and achieve some important successes.
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When you flow like water you bring all of your talents and resources to your creative work... Flow around every obstacle you encounter, including any you've erected yourself.
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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.
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Even though we require flexibility to negotiate our changing circumstances, we are rather built to anxiously turn away from alternatives.
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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.
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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.
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An artist... must actively caress wonder: for fascination, like the desire to play, can be eradicated by the rigors of living.
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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.
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Isn't today a day to devote to craft? Isn't tomorrow? Isn't every day, routinely, until the end of time?
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Keenly aware of their limitations, artists often remain insecure even as their list of successes grows.