Austin Kleon Quotes

We all love things that other people think are garbage. You have to have the courage to keep loving your garbage, because what makes us unique is the diversity and breadth of our influences, the unique ways in which we mix up the parts of culture others have deemed “high” and the “low.”

When you find things you genuinely enjoy, don’t let anyone else make you feel bad about it. Don’t feel guilty about the pleasure you take in the things you enjoy. Celebrate them.

In my experience, your stock is best made by collecting, organizing, and expanding upon your flow.

Don’t talk to people you don’t want to talk to, and don’t talk about stuff you don’t want to talk about.

Whenever Picasso learned how to do something, he abandoned it.

Our failure to copy our heroes is where we discover where our own thing lives. That is how we evolve.

It takes more than a day’s devotion to know and to possess the wealth of a day,

work you do while you procrastinate is probably the work you should be doing for the rest of your life.” — Jessica Hische

Stock and flow” is an economic concept that writer Robin Sloan has adapted into a metaphor for media: “Flow is the feed. It’s the posts and the tweets. It’s the stream of daily and sub-daily updates that remind people you exist. Stock is the durable stuff. It’s the content you produce that’s as interesting in two months (or two years) as it is today. It’s what people discover via search. It’s what spreads slowly but surely, building fans over time.” Sloan says the magic formula is to maintain your flow while working on your stock in the background.

O manifesto é esse: Desenhe a arte que você quer ver, comece o negócio que quer gerir, toque a música que quer ouvir, escreva os livros que quer ler, crie os produtos que quer usar – faça o trabalho que você quer ver pronto.

Everybody loves a good story, but good storytelling doesn't come easy to everybody. It's a skill that takes a lifetime to master. So study the great stories and then go find some of your own. Your stories will get better the more you tell them.

If you’re out of ideas, wash the dishes. Take a really long walk. Stare at a spot on the wall for as long as you can. As the artist Maira Kalman says, “Avoiding work is the way to focus my mind.

When we’re glued to our screens, the world looks unreal. Terrible. Not worth saving or even spending time with. Everyone on earth seems like a troll or a maniac or worse. But you get outside and you start walking and you come to your senses. Yeah, there are a few maniacs and some ugliness, but there are also people smiling, birds chirping, clouds flying overhead . . . all that stuff. There’s possibility. Walking is a way to find possibility in your life when there doesn’t seem to be any left.

Follow me back?” is the saddest question on the Internet.

Carry a notebook and a pen with you wherever you go. Get used to pulling it out and jotting down your thoughts and observations. Copy your favorite passages out of books. Record overheard conversations. Doodle when you’re on the phone.

The work you do while you procrastinate is probably the work you should be doing for the rest of your life.