Quotes by Austin Kleon

Be curious about the world in which you live. Look things up. Chase down every reference. Go deeper than anybody else--thats how youll get ahead.

Write the book you want to read

Draw the art you want to see, start the business you want to run, play the music you want to hear, write the books you want to read, build the products you want to use – do the work you want to see done.

Read deeply. Stay open. Continue to wonder.

Collect books, even if you don’t plan on reading them right away. Filmmaker John Waters has said, “Nothing is more important than an unread library.

Pablo Picasso was notorious for sucking the energy out of the people he met. His granddaughter Marina claimed that he squeezed people like one of his tubes of oil paints. Yous have a great time hanging out all day with Picasso, and then yous go home nervous and exhausted, and Picasso would go back to his studio and paint all night, using the energy hed sucked out of you.

Art that only comes from the head isnt any good.

If you ever find that youre the most talented person in the room, you need to find another room.

Life is a lonely business

Life is a lonely bussiness

Nobody is born with a style or a voice. We dont out of the womb knowing who we are. In the beginning, we learn by pretending to be our heroes. We learn by copying.

My motto for creat

Find the most talented person in the room, and if it’s not you, go stand next to him. Hang out with him. Try to be helpful. If you ever find that you’re the most talented person in the room, you need to find another room.

The way to get over creative block is to simply place some constraints on yourself. It seems contradictory, but when it comes to creative work, limitations mean freedom.

If you just mimic the surface of somebody’s work without understanding where they are coming from, your work will never be anything more than a knockoff.

Forget about being an expert or a professional, and wear your amateurism (your heart, your love) on your sleeve. Share what you love, and the people who love the same things will find you.

Everybody says they want artists to make money and then when they do, everybody hates them for it. The word sellout is spit out by the bitterest, smallest parts of ourselves. Dont be one of those horrible fans who stops listening to your favorite band just because they have a hit single. Dont write off your friends because theyve had a little bit of success. Dont be jealous when the people you like do well - celebrate their victory as if its your own.

Dont think of your website as a self-promotion machine, think of it as a self-invention machine.

Strike all the adjectives from your bio. If you take photos, youre not an aspiring photographer, youre not an amazing photographer either. Youre a photographer. Dont get cute. Dont brag. Just state the facts.

The best way to get started on the path to sharing your work is to think about what you want to learn, and make a commitment to learning in front of others.