James Baldwin // "It is rare indeed that people give. Most people guard and keep; they suppose that it is they themselves and what they identify with themselves that they are guarding and keeping, whereas what they are actually guarding and keeping is their system of reality and what they assume themselves to be. One can give nothing...without giving oneself--that is to say, risking oneself. If one cannot risk oneself, then one is simply incapable of giving."
Oprah Winfrey // "Breathe. Let go. And remind yourself that this very moment is the only one you know you have for sure."
Charles Bukowski // "If you're going to try, go all the way. Otherwise, don't even start. If you're going to try, go all the way. This could mean losing girlfriends, wives, relatives, jobs and maybe your mind...it could mean not eating for 3 or 4 days. It could mean freezing on a park bench. It could mean...mockery, isolation...a test of your endurance, of how much you really want to do it. And you'll do it despite rejection and the worst odds and it will be better than anything else you can imagine. If you're going to try, go all the way. There is no other feeling like that."
Anthony Bourdain // "Recognize excellence. Celebrate weirdness and innovation. Oddballs should be cherished, if they can do something other people can't do."
John Coltrane // "I want to be a force for real good...I know that there are bad forces, forces that bring suffering to others and misery to the world, but I want to be the opposite force. I want to be the force which is truly for good."
Maggie Smith // "Speak your mind, even if your voice shakes."
David Lynch // "Stories come out from where we live and what we hear and see and feel, so I don’t know what will come next. It’s like fishing: You just wait... It’s like I always say, “The chef cooks the fish, the chef doesn’t make the fish.” Desire is the bait, the fish is caught, and then the chef cooks it. Ideas are like fish. They just come to you sometimes, and when you’re really lucky, you fall in love with them and know exactly what to do."
Albert Einstein // "At least once a day, allow yourself the freedom to think and dream for yourself."
Coco Chanel // "Hard times arouse an instinctive desire for authenticity."
Christina Ricci // "As long as we can tell stories about our ability to survive, the more we will hope, not self-destruct."
Vincent Van Gogh // "I want to touch people with my art. I want them to say, 'He feels deeply, he feels tenderly.'"
Jacques Cousteau // “Every morning I wake up saying, I’m still alive; a miracle. And so I keep on pushing.”