The Doom and Glory of Knowing Who You Are: James Baldwin on the Empathic Rewards of Reading and What It Means to Be an Artist
Maria Popovathemarginalian.org
The Doom and Glory of Knowing Who You Are: James Baldwin on the Empathic Rewards of Reading and What It Means to Be an Artist
Baldwin understood the singular importance of the novel, because he saw the dilemma his country faced as essentially an interior one, as his fellow citizens suffered from a poison that began in the individual spirit and then made its way into politics
Colm Tóibín • The Private Life: On James Baldwin - The Paris Review
An artist has an eye for beauty. An artist looks for wonder in the physical world and the virtual world. An artist sees what isn’t readily seen by others, and shares that vision with humanity. An artist knows how to surrender to the creative force…to be thoughtless and in love.
Don Miguel Ruiz • The Actor (Escuela De Misterios/ Mystery School)
As a gay, illegitimate artist twice accused of sodomy, he knew what it was like to be regarded, and to regard yourself, as different. But as with many artists, that turned out to be more an asset than a hindrance.
Walter Isaacson • Leonardo da Vinci
A person must have experience, he must live, if his artistry is to be more than a technical accomplishment. He cannot find the subject matter of his artistic activity within his art; this must be an expression of what he suffers and enjoys in other relationships — a thing which depends in turn upon the alertness and sympathy of his interests.