˝If the art legitimates cruel...

"If the art legitimates cruelty, I think the art is not worth having." - P213

My desire to work—my desire to engage with my creativity as intimately and as freely as possible—is my strongest personal incentive to fight back against pain, by any means necessary, and to fashion a life for myself that is as sane and healthy and stable as it can possibly be. - P214

But that’s only because of what I have chosen to trust, which is quite simply: love. Love over suffering, always. - P215

But that’s only because of what I have chosen to trust, which is quite simply: love. Love over suffering, always. - P216

Inspiration is always trying to work with me. So I sit there and I work, too. That’s the deal. I trust it; it trusts me. - P219

The work wants to be made, and it wants to be made through you. - P220

Martyr always ends up dead in a heap of broken glory, while Trickster trots off to enjoy another day. - P222

Our time on earth is short an...

Our time on earth is short and should be enjoyed. You should leave this dream behind and go find something else to do with your life. - P197

Then Ford smiled and added, almost as an afterthought: "However, I will say this. If you happen to discover, after a few years away from writing, that you have found nothing that takes its place in your life—nothing that fascinates you, or moves you, or inspires you to the same degree that writing once did . . . well, then, sir, I’m afraid you will have no choice but to persevere." - P197

Nature provides the seed; man provides the garden; each is grateful for the other’s help. - P203

Heaven forbid anyone should enjoy their chosen vocation. - P208

Trusting in nothing but suffering is a dangerous path, though. - P209

"Any artist who is an alcoholic is an artist despite their alcoholism, not because of it." - P211

I believe that our creativity grows like sidewalk weeds out of the cracks between our pathologies—not from the pathologies themselves. - P211

People have a strange trust in their devils, indeed. - P212

I knew better than to say, “I...

I knew better than to say, “I...

I knew better than to say, “I...