Quotes For Fueling Creativity

The other day, Austin Kleon blogged about collecting quotes in a notebook and prompted me to think about how they amount to more than just cat posters. Quotes inspire. ​

"It is a good thing for an uneducated man to read books of quotations."
​-Winston S. Churchill 

Jake Parker says every person has a creative bank account that they both fill and spend when they need it. The concept is very similar to something that Benjamin Lo said about Chi. When a student asked him how to discharge a chi blast that sends people flying backward, he responded by saying, "Do you have Chi?"

I am also reminded of the wise Zen saying that one cannot fill a full cup. You must first "empty your cup." So, a creative person is someone who regularly fills and empties their cup.

Quotes are succinct and powerful, so reading them can sometimes feel like reading an entire novel. They are very filling. The inspiration that some quotes bring can last a lifetime and inspire many different creative projects along the way. 
I am still very fond of my collection of quotes, and I return to it often. Here is one:

"A fine quotation is a diamond in the hand of a man of wit and a pebble in the hand of a fool." 
​-Joseph Roux 

I do not know whether I am a man of wit or a fool, but if I turn out to be the fool, at least I'll be armed with something to throw at all the haters.