Thoughts on creativity from creative spirits born on
November 1:
from novelist and playwright Sholem Asch (Dos Shtetl, Got fun nekome, Farn Mabul, Der man fun Netseres) (1880-1957):
Writing comes more easily if you have something to
say.
I love the place; the magnificent books; I require
books as I require air.
--
painter L. S. Lowry (Going to the Match, Coming
from the Mill, Industrial Landscape, Portrait of Ann) (1887-1976):
You don't need brains to be a painter, just feelings.
--
from poet Edmund Blunden (Poems 1913 and 1914, An
Elegy and Other Poems, Cricket Country, Poems on Japan) (1896-1974):
Mastery in poetry consists largely in the instinct for
not ruining or smothering or tinkering with moments of vision.
--
from poet Hagiwara Sakutarō, father of Japanese free
verse (Tsuki ni hoeru, Aoneko, Hyōtō) (1886-1942):
All philosophers must, therefore, doff their hats to
the poets when they discover that the path of reason takes them only so far.
Poetry is the intellect's product of one second. A
certain type of sentiment that one ordinarily has touches something like
electricity and for the first time discovers a rhythm. This electricity is, for
the poet, a miracle. Poetry is not something anticipated and made.
--
from songwriter John W. Peterson ("It Took a
Miracle," "Over the Sunset Mountains") (1921-2006):
A man practices the art of adventure when he breaks
the chain of routine.
from science fiction writer Gordon R. Dickson (Childe
Cycle, Dragon Knight series) (1923-2001):
Trouble rather the tiger in his lair than the sage
among his books.
John Le Carre said that authenticity is less important
than plausibility.
--
from playwright A.R. Gurney (The Dining Room, Sweet
Sue, The Cocktail Hour, Love Letters) (1930-2017):
This is just me, me the way I write, the way my
writing is, the way I want to be to you, giving myself to you across a distance
not keeping or retaining any part of it for myself, giving this piece of myself
to you totally, and you can tear me up and throw me out, or keep me, and read
me today.
--
from country singer-songwriter Bill Anderson
("City Lights," "Once A Day," "Cold Hard Facts of
Life," "Two Teardrops," "Give It Away") (born 1937):
Sometimes the best songs almost write themselves.
In Nashville, as in every other city, there's no
substitute for hard work.
--
from 16-time Grammy-winning composer-arranger-producer
David Foster (born 1949):
Don't do what you're taught to do, do what you love to
do.
Don't be too precious about your craft... there's only
26 letters and 12 notes, and Shakespeare and Beethoven said it all better than
any of us ever will.
It seems like the big difference between good art and
so-so art lies somewhere in the art's heart's purpose, the agenda of the
consciousness behind the text. It's got something to do with love, with having
the discipline to talk out of the part of yourself that can love instead of the
part that just wants to be loved.
--
from psychotherapist and author Philippa Perry (Couch
Fiction: A Graphic Tale of Psychotherapy, How to Stay Sane, The Book You Wish
Your Parents Had Read [and Your Children Will be Glad That You Did]) (born
1957):
A novel, or a book on philosophy, is going to use both
sides of the brain: not only will you have feelings about what you read, but
your mind will also get more of a work-out because you will make connections
between what you are learning and what you already recognize.
--
from screenwriter Kim Krizan (Before Sunrise,
Before Sunset) (born 1961):
Creation comes out of imperfection. It seems to come
out of a striving and a frustration.
I write so the endangered thoughts roaming naked and
vulnerable through the misty jungles of my mind aren't slain by the guns of
practical living.
--
from synth-pop rocker Mags Furuholmen (A-ha) (born
1962):
All music that’s meaningful is pain-condensed and made
into something you can relate to... People find consolation in the way that
someone can articulate conflicting feelings and turn them into some sort of
beauty.
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