Steal Like an Artist

Austin Kleon

Have you ever read a book which, while you were reading, made you feel relaxed and energised?

As I read my question, I realise how I may have been reading junk a lot. But, Steal Like an Artist is not that. Sharing some of my favourite quotes from the book below.

Favorite Quotes

Everything that needs to be said has already been said. But, since no one was listening, everything must be said again.

André Gide

You are, in fact, a mashup of what you choose to let into your life.

“We are shaped and fashioned by what we love.” Goethe

Hoarders collect indiscriminately, artists collect selectively. They only collect things that they really love.

Chew on on thinker - writer, artist, activist, role model - you really love. Study everything there is to know about that thinker. Then find three people that thinker loved, and find out everything about them. Repeat this as many times as you can. Climb up the tree as far as you can go. Once you build your tree, it’s time to start your own branch. Seeing yourself as a part of a creative lineage will hlep you feel less alone as you start making your own stufff

The great thing about dead or remote masters is that they can’t refuse you as an apprentice. You can learn whatever you want from them. They left their lesson plans in their work.

Its not the book you start with. It’s the book that book leads you to.

Nothing is more important than an unread library.

You don’t want to look like your heros. You want to see like your heroes.

When you start to lose steam, head back to the analog station and play.