Austin Kleon Quotes

When you don’t have much time, a routine helps you make the little time you have count. When you have all the time in the world, a routine helps you make sure you don’t waste it.

No tienes que vivir en ningún lado diferente al que estás para conectarte con la gente del mundo al que quieres pertenecer.

Si tienes dos o tres verdaderas pasiones, no creas que tienes que escoger alguna. No las deseches. Quédate con todo lo que te apasiona.

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.

Our culture mostly celebrates early successes, the people who bloom fast. But those people often wither as quickly as they bloom. [...] I don't want to know how a thirty-year-old became rich and famous; I want to hear how an eighty-year-old spent her life in obscurity, kept making art, and lived a happy life.

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.

The people who get what they're after are very often the ones who just stick around long enough.

Whatever we say, we’re always talking about ourselves.” — Alison Bechdel

I paint with my back to the world.” — Agnes Martin

It’s a closed book until the reader opens it. The reader brings the words and pictures to life with their time and attention.

Strike all the adjectives from your bio. If you take photos, you’re not an “aspiring” photographer, and you’re not an “amazing” photographer, either. You’re a photographer. Don’t get cute. Don’t brag. Just state the facts.

All the world’s a stage. Creative work is a kind of theater. The stage is your studio, your desk, or your workstation. The costume is your outfit — your painting pants, your business suit, or that funny hat that helps you think. The props are your materials, your tools, and your medium. The script is just plain old time. An hour here, or an hour there — just time measured out for things to happen.

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

Don’t Go Back to School

Where do you get your inspiration? What sorts of things do you fill your head with? What do you read? Do you subscribe to anything? What sites do you visit on the Internet? What music do you listen to? What movies do you see? Do you look at art? What do you collect? What’s inside your scrapbook? What do you pin to the corkboard above your desk? What do you stick on your refrigerator? Who’s done work that you admire? Who do you steal ideas from? Do you have any heroes? Who do you follow online? Who are the practitioners you look up to in your field?