Ten writers for children. All with something to say.

3/10/09

Quotes on Inspiration

10 quotations on "inspiration" and "imagination" to ponder:

"Solitude is as needful to the imagination as society is wholesome for the character."
---James Russel Lowell

"He who has imagination without learning, has wings and no feet."
---Joseph Joubert

"You cannot depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus."
---Mark Twain

"Inspiration may be a form of superconsciousness, or perhaps of subconsciousness - I wouldn't know. But I am sure it is the antithesis of self- consciousness."
---Aaron Copland

"We should be taught not to wait for inspiration to start a thing. Action always generates inspiration. Inspiration seldom generates action."
---Frank Tibolt

"You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club."
---Jack London

"Inspiration is wonderful when it happens, but the writer must develop an approach for the rest of the time... The wait is simply too long."
---Leonard Bernstein

"An idea is salvation by imagination."
---Frank Lloyd Wright

"Everyone is a genius at least once a year. The real geniuses simply have their bright ideas closer together. "
---Georg Christoph Lichtenberg

"Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen. "
---John Steinbeck

7 comments:

Lauren said...

These are great Mark, however I would argue with Frank Tibolt. I disagree that inspiration seldom generates action-- in my life and the lives of my family, inspiration is the root of all action-- and when it doesn't come, then it is good to push the action into action. I love Mark Twain's! Keep that imagination in focus!
Thanks!

betsy woods said...

Dear Mark,

Thank you for the inspiration. I am still pondering them and wondering how truly inspired the thoughts are.

Diane Adams said...

"You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club."
---Jack London
This quote is getting taped to my computer!

Edie Hemingway said...

Mark,
Thanks for an inspiring list of inspirations!

Stephanie said...

I love those! Jack London's is one of my faves, but now I have a new fave:Mark Twain's. Thanks for sharing those.

Anonymous said...

Great quotation collection! (Leave it to Jack London to grab a club...)

Christy said...

These are wonderful, Mark! I'm a quote collector too, and I haven't encountered most of these before. I particularly like the Lowell, Copland, and Steinbeck. I'm going to copy all of these down and pass them on. Thanks for sharing.