Austin Kleon Quotes

Don't wait until you know who you are to get started.

Surround yourself with books and objects that you love. Tape things up on the wall. Create your own world.

Do what you love” + low overhead = a good life.

You are, in fact, a mashup of what you choose to let into your life.

Copying is about reverse-engineering.

Be regular and orderly in your life, so that you may be violent and original in your work.” — Gustave Flaubert

It’s not the book you start with, it’s the book that book leads you to.

The form of what you share doesn’t matter. Your daily dispatch can be anything you want — a blog post, an email, a tweet, a YouTube video, or some other little bit of media. There’s no one-size-fits-all plan for everybody.

We all go through cycles of disenchantment and re-enchantment with our work. When you feel as though you've lost or you're losing your gift, the quickest way to recover is to step outside the marketplace and make gifts. There's nothing as pure as making something specifically for someone special.

Marcel Duchamp said, “I don’t believe in art. I believe in artists.” This is actually a pretty good method for studying — if you try to devour the history of your discipline all at once, you’ll choke.

Don’t worry about doing research. Just search.

Google everything. I mean everything. Google your dreams, Google your problems. Don’t ask a question before you Google it. You’ll either find the answer or you’ll come up with a better question.

Be open, share imperfect and unfinished work that you want feedback on, but don't share absolutely everything. [...] The act of sharing is one of generosity— you're putting something out there because you think it might be helpful or entertaining to someone on the other side of the screen.

Recommended Reading Linda Barry, What It Is Hugh MacLeod, Ignore Everybody Jason Fried + David Heinemeier Hansson, Rework Lewis Hyde, The Gift Jonathan Lethem, The Ecstasy of Influence David Shields, Reality Hunger Scott McCloud, Understanding Comics Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Flow Ed Emberley, Make a World

If you want to change your life, change what you pay attention to. “We give things meaning by paying attention to them,” Jessa Crispin writes, “and so moving your attention from one thing to another can absolutely change your future.” “Attention is the most basic form of love,” wrote John Tarrant. When you pay attention to your life, it not only provides you with the material for your art, it also helps you fall in love with your life.