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Eric Maisel

Eric Maisel Quotes

Teacher

Eric Maisel is a renowned teacher, born in 1947. He is known for his contributions to adult education and lifelong learning, particularly in the fields of creative writing and counseling.

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All Artist Ifs Creativity Art Feels May Creative Real Choices Desire

Famous Eric Maisel Quotes

“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.”

Humans May Art Ideas Feelings Moving Artist Human Beings Fellows Chiefs Currency

Book:Affirmations for Artists

Source: Affirmations for Artists

“Our desire is to grow so quiet and to work so deeply that we participate fully in the mystery in which we're embedded. When we manage to do that we feel as if we have merged with the universe; for the duration of that experience we feel immortal.”

Ifs Feels Desire Universe Grows Mystery Quiet Manage Immortality Immortal Embedded Duration

Book:The Creativity Book: A Year's Worth of Inspiration and Guidance

Source: The Creativity Book: A Year's Worth of Inspiration and Guidance

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

May Whole Failing Unique Importance Artwork

Book:Affirmations for Artists

Source: Affirmations for Artists

“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.”

Made Inspiration Artist Awareness Return Creating Conscious Tasks Connections Surroundings Activate Conscious Awareness

Book:Affirmations for Artists

Source: Affirmations for Artists

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

Heart Hurt Intellect It Hurts Deconstruction

Book:The Creativity Book: A Year's Worth of Inspiration and Guidance

Source: The Creativity Book: A Year's Worth of Inspiration and Guidance

“The artist dreams of works of real breadth; but, limited by his personality and the nature of his medium, limited by inner disturbances and loss of purpose, he often works more narrowly than he'd intended.”

Real Dream Purpose Artist Loss Personality Mediums Disturbance Breadth

Book:Affirmations for Artists

Source: Affirmations for Artists

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

Artist Grows Lists Limitation Insecure

Book:Affirmations for Artists

Source: Affirmations for Artists

“The middle way cannot be achieved by dividing two extremes in half.”

Way Two Half Middle Extremes Moderation Dividing Two Extremes Middle Way

Book:Affirmations for Artists

Source: Affirmations for Artists

“No muse shoots darts of insight into the unsuspecting artist.”

Artist Insight Muse Darts Unsuspecting

Book:Affirmations for Artists

Source: Affirmations for Artists

“Settle into mystery as you would settle into your most comfortable chair. Listen. Have visions. Lose yourself.”

Loses Vision Mystery Comfortable Settling Chairs Losing Yourself

Book:The Creativity Book: A Year's Worth of Inspiration and Guidance

Source: The Creativity Book: A Year's Worth of Inspiration and Guidance

“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.”

Littles Walks Creativity Wall Anxiety Oneself Obsession

Book:Affirmations for Artists

Source: Affirmations for Artists

“If you create you will also wait, and while you're waiting you will want to be patient but not idle... responses from the world often take a long time.”

Ifs World Want Long Waiting Long Time Patience Response Patient Idle Be Patient

Book:The Creativity Book: A Year's Worth of Inspiration and Guidance

Source: The Creativity Book: A Year's Worth of Inspiration and Guidance

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

Facts Artist Peace Wise Making Peace

Author:Eric Maisel

“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.”

Might Mistake Plans Circumstances Mood Planning Swings Execution Mood Swing

Author:Eric Maisel

“I am one powerful self made up of so many selves that sometimes I throw myself a get-acquainted party.”

Made Self Sometimes Powerful Party Power Self Made

Book:Affirmations for Artists

Source: Affirmations for Artists

“A time comes, after years in the trenches, when the artist begins to fathom what his career has looked like so far and what it will look like if he continues as he's proceeded.”

Ifs Years Looks Artist Careers Profession Fathom Trenches

Book:Affirmations for Artists

Source: Affirmations for Artists

“Remind yourself of the value of detaching from work that's out of your hands and committing to new work that wants to be born.”

Want Hands Values Born Progress New Work

Book:The Creativity Book: A Year's Worth of Inspiration and Guidance

Source: The Creativity Book: A Year's Worth of Inspiration and Guidance

“Isn't today a day to devote to craft? Isn't tomorrow? Isn't every day, routinely, until the end of time?”

Ends Today Tomorrow Crafts End Times

Book:Affirmations for Artists

Source: Affirmations for Artists

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

Creativity Creating Soulful

Author:Eric Maisel

“There are an infinite number of rewards you could bestow on yourself for working at your creative projects, and you deserve every one of them.”

Numbers Creative Projects Deserve Infinite Rewards

Book:The Creativity Book: A Year's Worth of Inspiration and Guidance

Source: The Creativity Book: A Year's Worth of Inspiration and Guidance

“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.”

Artist Risk Raises Studios Venture Obliged Marketplace Defence

Book:Affirmations for Artists

Source: Affirmations for Artists

“All space is space in which to create.”

Book:The Creativity Book: A Year's Worth of Inspiration and Guidance

Source: The Creativity Book: A Year's Worth of Inspiration and Guidance

“Many people are embarrassed to create in public. It feels unseemly to them, like kissing in plain view... Make a spectacle of yourself.”

People Feels Views Kissing Embarrassed

Book:Making Your Creative Mark: Nine Keys to Achieving Your Artistic Goals

Source: Making Your Creative Mark: Nine Keys to Achieving Your Artistic Goals

“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.”

Knows Way Has Beens Pain Suffering Blessing Regard Pain And Suffering True Things

Book:The Creativity Book: A Year's Worth of Inspiration and Guidance

Source: The Creativity Book: A Year's Worth of Inspiration and Guidance

“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.”

Might Artist Forget Wise Talent Being Wise Loaded

Book:Affirmations for Artists

Source: Affirmations for Artists

“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.”

Humans Littles Artist Figures Taste Creatures Mad Passionate Truthful Temperament Rebellious Eccentric Profane Outlandish

Author:Eric Maisel

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

Choices Air Infinite Nothingness Our Choices Thin Air

Book:The Creativity Book: A Year's Worth of Inspiration and Guidance

Source: The Creativity Book: A Year's Worth of Inspiration and Guidance

“An artist... must actively caress wonder: for fascination, like the desire to play, can be eradicated by the rigors of living.”

Play Desire Artist Wonder Fascination Caress Rigor

Book:Affirmations for Artists

Source: Affirmations for Artists

“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.”

Reason Reality Wonder Destroyed Void Sophisticated Pierce Sense Of Wonder

Book:The Creativity Book: A Year's Worth of Inspiration and Guidance

Source: The Creativity Book: A Year's Worth of Inspiration and Guidance

“Go directly to work' means... when an idea strikes, you drop everything and when your work bell tolls, you answer it.”

Mean Ideas Answers Strikes Bells Tolls

Author:Eric Maisel

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

Sometimes Work Creativity Sweat Buckets Beads

Book:Affirmations for Artists

Source: Affirmations for Artists

“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.”

Mind Heart Hands Three Creativity Knowing Teaching Elements Buddhist Great Faith Zen Buddhist Knowing And Doing

Book:Creativity for Life: Practical Advice on the Artist's Personality, and Career from America's Foremost Creativity Coach

Source: Creativity for Life: Practical Advice on the Artist's Personality, and Career from America's Foremost Creativity Coach

“When you consciously decide to breathe more slowly and deeply, you alert your body to the fact that you want it to behave differently. You are not just changing your breathing pattern, you are making a full-body announcement that you are entering into a different relationship with your mind and your body.”

Want Mind Different Facts Body Relationship Patterns Breathe Your Body Breathing Behave Entering Announcements Different Relationships

Author:Eric Maisel

“A long, deep breath is the equivalent of a full stop and the key to centering.”

Long Keys Breaths Deep Breath Centering Long Deep

Book:A Writer's Space: Make room to dream, to work, to write

Source: A Writer's Space: Make room to dream, to work, to write

“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.”

Needs Giving Done Decision Focus Giving Up Outcomes Expecting Not Giving Up

Author:Eric Maisel

“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.”

Ifs Writing Real Matter Grows Space Ready Becoming Honor Quiet Anxiety Projects Mindfulness Currents Experts Entering Addict Writing Life Mantras Calming Recovering Affirming

Author:Eric Maisel

“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.”

May Spirit Artist Love Is Powerful Quality Journey Passionate Awful Motive Sublime Thrilling Obsessive

Book:Creativity for Life: Practical Advice on the Artist's Personality, and Career from America's Foremost Creativity Coach

Source: Creativity for Life: Practical Advice on the Artist's Personality, and Career from America's Foremost Creativity Coach

“Love is the spirit that motivates the artist's journey.”

Spirit Artist Love Is Journey

Book:Creativity for Life: Practical Advice on the Artist's Personality, and Career from America's Foremost Creativity Coach

Source: Creativity for Life: Practical Advice on the Artist's Personality, and Career from America's Foremost Creativity Coach

“A wild person with a calm mind can make anything.”

Mind Persons Calm Calm Mind

Author:Eric Maisel

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

Artist Creativity Solitude Favour Being Alone

Author:Eric Maisel

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

Desire Artist Strong Vision Personality Depression Built Compassionate Strong Desire

Book:Affirmations for Artists

Source: Affirmations for Artists

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

Worry Picks Sweat Clarinet

Book:The Creativity Book: A Year's Worth of Inspiration and Guidance

Source: The Creativity Book: A Year's Worth of Inspiration and Guidance

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

Important Artist Universe Accepting Struggle Achieve Shapes

Book:Affirmations for Artists

Source: Affirmations for Artists

“To create you must quiet your mind. You need a quiet mind so that ideas will have a chance of connecting.”

Needs Mind Ideas Chance Silence Quiet Connecting

Author:Eric Maisel

“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.”

Ifs Long Helping Bounds Phrases Poetic Affirmation

Book:Making Your Creative Mark: Nine Keys to Achieving Your Artistic Goals

Source: Making Your Creative Mark: Nine Keys to Achieving Your Artistic Goals

“Life is too short not to create, not to love, and not to lend a helping hand to our brothers and sisters.”

Helping Hands Life Is Brother Helping Others Brothers And Sisters Too Short Life Is Too Short Helping Hand

Book:The Creativity Book: A Year's Worth of Inspiration and Guidance

Source: The Creativity Book: A Year's Worth of Inspiration and Guidance

“Creativity is the marriage humanity makes with eternity.”

Humanity Creativity Eternity

Book:Affirmations for Artists

Source: Affirmations for Artists

“Creativity requires introspection, self-examination, and a willingness to take risks. Because of this, artists are perhaps more susceptible to self-doubt and despair than those who do not court the creative muses.”

Self Artist Creativity Creative Doubt Risk Despair Court Self Discovery Willingness Muse Introspection Examination Susceptible Self-doubt Self-examination

Author:Eric Maisel

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

States Chance Quality Awareness Creating Hinges

Book:The Creativity Book: A Year's Worth of Inspiration and Guidance

Source: The Creativity Book: A Year's Worth of Inspiration and Guidance

“Abstraction is itself an abstract word and has no single meaning ... Every word in our language is abstract, because it represents something else.”

Language Abstract Abstraction

Author:Eric Maisel

About the Author

Born: 1947
Known for: Teacher
Quotes: 108

Related Topics

Artist Ifs Creativity Art Feels May Creative Real Choices Desire

Popular Topics

People Ifs Thinking Knows Men World Way Want Love Life Inspirational Needs Giving Feels Should Writing Trying Years Mind Firsts

Books & Sources

Affirmations for ArtistsRelated source material

The Creativity Book: A Year's Worth of Inspiration and GuidanceRelated source material

Making Your Creative Mark: Nine Keys to Achieving Your Artistic GoalsRelated source material

Creativity for Life: Practical Advice on the Artist's Personality, and Career from America's Foremost Creativity CoachRelated source material

A Writer's San Francisco: A Guided Journey for the Creative SoulRelated source material

A Writer's Space: Make room to dream, to work, to writeRelated source material

The Van Gogh Blues: The Creative Person s Path Through DepressionRelated source material

The Van Gogh Blues: The Creative Person's Path Through DepressionRelated source material

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