25 quotes from my commonplace book

“A writer who waits for ideal conditions under which to work will die without putting a word on paper.” – E.B. White
“Unless you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.” – Carl Jung
"Nature hides her secret because of her essential loftiness, but not by means of ruse.” – Albert Einstein
“The monotony of a quiet life stimulates the creative mind.” – Albert Einstein
"Many of us seek community solely to escape the fear of being alone. Knowing how to be solitary is central to the art of loving. When we can be alone, we can be with others without using them as a means of escape.” – Bell Hooks
"Now is the time to get serious about living your ideals. How long can you afford to put off who you really want to be? Your nobler self cannot wait any longer. Put your principles into practice – now. Stop the excuses and the procrastination. This is your life! You aren’t a child anymore. The sooner you set yourself to your spiritual program, the happier you will be. The longer you wait, the more you’ll be vulnerable to mediocrity and feel filled with shame and regret, because you know you are capable of better. From this instant on, vow to stop disappointing yourself. Separate yourself from the mob. Decide to be extraordinary and do what you need to do – now." – Epictetus
"It is only through imagination that men become aware of what the world might be; without it, ‘progress’ would become mechanical and trivial.” – Bertrand Russell
"Ideas can feel complete. It's only when you try to put them into words that you discover they're not.” – Paul Graham
“Write without pay until somebody offers pay; if nobody offers within three years, sawing wood is what you were intended for.” – Mark Twain
"A lot of books fail because the writer loses control of the research. You are either a master of the material or it's the master of you.” – Robert Greene
"Finish every day and be done with it. For manners and for wise living it is a vice to remember. You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it well and serenely, and with too high a spirit to be cumbered with your old nonsense. This day for all that is good and fair. It is too dear, with its hopes and invitations, to waste a moment on the rotten yesterdays.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
“We write for the same reason that we walk, talk, climb mountains or swim the oceans — because we can. We have some impulse within us that makes us want to explain ourselves to other human beings. That’s why we paint, that’s why we dare to love someone- because we have the impulse to explain who we are. Not just how tall we are, or thin… but who we are internally… perhaps even spiritually. There’s something, which impels us to show our inner-souls. The more courageous we are, the more we succeed in explaining what we know.” – Maya Angelou
“A day when one has not pushed oneself to the limit seems a damaged, damaging day, a sinful day. Not so! The most valuable thing one can do for the psyche, occasionally, is to let it rest, wander, live in the changing light of a room.” – May Sarton
"There is only one way to read, which is to browse in libraries and bookshops, picking up books that attract you, reading only those, dropping them when they bore you, skipping the parts that drag – and never, never reading anything because you feel you ought, or because it is part of a trend or a movement. Remember that the book which bores you when you are twenty or thirty will open doors for you when you are forty or fifty-and vise versa. Don’t read a book out of its right time for you.” – Doris Lessing
"To suffer terribly and to know yourself as the cause: that is Hell.” – Jordan Peterson
“A scientist is happy, not in resting on his attainments but in the steady acquisition of fresh knowledge.” – Max Planck
"Many people are not ready for their lucky break when it comes to them. Develop your skills. Study your craft. Save some money. Build a network before you need it. Lay the ground work. The prepared person is positioned to benefit from unexpected opportunities.” – James Clear
"Whales only get harpooned when they surface." and "The tallest blade of grass is first to get cut." (A lot of people said this. I’m not sure who to credit.)
"He who knows only his own side of the case, knows little of that” – John Stuart Mill
“Books record the deeds of leaders who once dared greatly, as well as those who dared too much, as a warning.” – Henry Kissinger
"I have no special talents, I am only passionately curious.” – Albert Einstein
“The secret to doing good research is always to be a little underemployed. You waste years by not being able to waste hours.” – Amos Tversky
“You don’t have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.” - Ray Bradbury
"You can't use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.” – Maya Angelou
"I write for myself, for my own pleasure. And I want to be left alone to do it.” – J.D. Salinger