“In times of pain, when the future is too terrifying to contemplate and the past too painful to remember, I have learned to pay attention to right now. The precise moment I was in was always the only safe place for me.”
― Julia Cameron, quote from The Artist's Way
“Leap, and the net will appear.”
― Julia Cameron, quote from The Artist's Way
“Pray to catch the bus, then run as fast as you can.”
― Julia Cameron, quote from The Artist's Way
“No matter what your age or your life path, whether making art is your career or your hobby or your dream, it is not too late or too egotistical or too selfish or too silly to work on your creativity.”
― Julia Cameron, quote from The Artist's Way
“Serious art is born from serious play.”
― Julia Cameron, quote from The Artist's Way
“Creativity - like human life itself - begins in darkness”
― Julia Cameron, quote from The Artist's Way
“But do you know how old I will be by the time I learn to really play the piano / act / paint / write a decent play?"
Yes . . . the same age you will be if you don't.”
― Julia Cameron, quote from The Artist's Way
“Survival lies in sanity, and sanity lies in paying attention...the capacity for delight is the gift of paying attention.”
― Julia Cameron, quote from The Artist's Way
“Creativity occurs in the moment, and in the moment we are timeless.”
― Julia Cameron, quote from The Artist's Way
“Progress, not perfection, is what we should be asking of ourselves.”
― Julia Cameron, quote from The Artist's Way
“We always do the best we can by the light we have to see by.”
― Julia Cameron, quote from The Artist's Way
“The reward for attention is always healing.”
― Julia Cameron, quote from The Artist's Way
“Those who speak in spiritual terms routinely refer to God as creator but seldom see "creator" as the literal term for "artist". I am suggesting you take the term "creator" quite literally. You are seeking to forge a creative alliance, artist-to-artist with the Great Creator. Accepting this concept can greatly expand your creative possibilities.”
― Julia Cameron, quote from The Artist's Way
“We've all heard that the unexamined life is not worth living, but consider too that the unlived life is not worth examining.”
― Julia Cameron, quote from The Artist's Way
“Anger is meant to be acted upon. It is not meant to be acted out.”
― Julia Cameron, quote from The Artist's Way
“The trick is to metabolize pain as energy. Learn, when hit by loss, to ask the right question: "What next?" instead of "Why me?”
― Julia Cameron, quote from The Artist's Way
“Boredom is just “What’s the use?” in disguise. And “What’s the use?” is fear, and fear means you are secretly in despair. So put your fears on the page. Put anything on the page. Put three pages of it on the page.”
― Julia Cameron, quote from The Artist's Way
“The heart of creativity is an experience of the mystical union; the heart of the mystical union is an experience of creativity.”
― Julia Cameron, quote from The Artist's Way
“All too often, it is audacity and not talent that moves an artist to center stage.”
― Julia Cameron, quote from The Artist's Way
“The reward for attention is always healing. It may begin as the healing of a particular pain—the lost lover, the sickly child, the shattered dream. But what is healed, finally, is the pain that underlies all pain: the pain that we are all, as Rilke phrases it, “unutterably alone.” More than anything else, attention is an act of connection.”
― Julia Cameron, quote from The Artist's Way
“In filling the well, think magic. Think delight. Think fun. Do not think duty. Do not do what you should do—spiritual sit-ups like reading a dull but recommended critical text. Do what intrigues you, explore what interests you; think mystery, not mastery.”
― Julia Cameron, quote from The Artist's Way
“Our tears prepare the ground for our future growth. Without this creative moistening, we may remain barren. We must allow the bolt of pain to strike us. Remember, this is useful pain; lightning illuminates.”
― Julia Cameron, quote from The Artist's Way
“Often people attempt to live their lives backwards: they try to have more things, or more money, in order to do more of what they want so that they will be happier. The way it actually works is the reverse. You must first be who you really are, then, do what you need to do, in order to have what you want. MARGARET YOUNG”
― Julia Cameron, quote from The Artist's Way
“There is no such thing as being done with an artistic life. Frustrations and rewards exist at all levels on the path.”
― Julia Cameron, quote from The Artist's Way
“Listening to the siren song of more, we are deaf to the still small voice waiting in our soul to whisper, ‘You’re enough.”
― Julia Cameron, quote from The Artist's Way
“There is a treadmill quality to workaholism.”
― Julia Cameron, quote from The Artist's Way
“It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it is because we do not dare that they are difficult. SENECA”
― Julia Cameron, quote from The Artist's Way
“...when we move out of faith into the act ofJ creation, the universe is able to advance.”
― Julia Cameron, quote from The Artist's Way
“Whatever you think you can do or believe you can do, begin it. Action has magic, grace, and power in it.”
― Julia Cameron, quote from The Artist's Way
“Grieving is a weakness-too human, too mired in compassion, and we can't repeat that mistake, can we?”
― Steven dos Santos, quote from The Culling
“What makes you think you can survive as a saint in this world, unless you make it your business to exploit the gullible and greedy?”
― Anand Neelakantan, quote from Ajaya: Roll of the Dice
“Behold, my sons, I desire that ye should remember to keep the commandments of God; and I would that ye should declare unto the people these words. Behold, I have given unto you the names of our first aparents who came out of the land of Jerusalem; and this I have done that when you remember your names ye may remember them; and when ye remember them ye may remember their works; and when ye remember their works ye may know how that it is said, and also written, that they were bgood.”
― The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, quote from Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, Pearl of Great Price
“I’d always be watching her. And she knew now that she belonged to me. Every breath she took, every step she made, every smile she faked, I’d always be there, watching her, waiting for her.”
― Jaimie Roberts, quote from Deviant
“How do we get out of this circle?" I asked him.
"We kill him," he said.
"Good. Let's kill him and go home."
"I thought you'd never ask.”
― Ilona Andrews, quote from White Hot
BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.
We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.
Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.