Home > Work > Finding Water: The Art of Perseverance

Finding Water: The Art of Perseverance QUOTES

Finding Water: The Art of Perseverance QUOTES

1 " The doing of something productive regardless of the outcome is an act of faith. The doing of a small something when a large something is too much for us is perhaps especially an act of faith. Faith means going forward by whatever means we can. "

― Julia Cameron , Finding Water: The Art of Perseverance

2 " Fatigue can make it hard to have faith. Too much busyness can make it hard to have faith. Too much of too little solitude can impact faith. For that matter, so can a bout of hunger or overwork, anything carried to an extreme. Faith thrives on routine. Look at any monastery and you will see that. Faith keeps on keeping on. "

― Julia Cameron , Finding Water: The Art of Perseverance

3 " When you feel yourself to be in critical condition, you must treat yourself as gently as you would a sick friend. "

― Julia Cameron , Finding Water: The Art of Perseverance

4 " A career must be husbanded. Care must be taken. Everyday must bring some small bit of progress. How would an artist with any self-worth act? Act that way. "

― Julia Cameron , Finding Water: The Art of Perseverance

5 " Often it is tenacity, not talent, that rules the day. "

― Julia Cameron , Finding Water: The Art of Perseverance

6 " Perfectionism doesn't believe in practice shots. It doesn't believe in improvement. Perfectionism has never heard that anything worth doing is worth doing badly--and that if we allow ourselves to do something badly we might in time become quite good at it. Perfectionism measures our beginner's work against the finished work of masters. Perfectionism thrives on comparison and competition. It doesn't know how to say, "Good try," or "Job well done." The critic does not believe in creative glee--or any glee at all, for that matter. No, perfectionism is a serious matter. "

― Julia Cameron , Finding Water: The Art of Perseverance

7 " When we seek daily spiritual guidance, we are guided toward the next step forward for our art. Sometimes the step is very small. Sometimes the step is, "Wait. Not now." Sometimes the step is, "Work on something else for a while." When we are open to Divine Guidance, we will receive it. It will come to us as the hunch, the inkling, the itch. It will come to us as timely conversations with others. It will come to us in many ways--but it will come. "

― Julia Cameron , Finding Water: The Art of Perseverance

8 " God does not give us more than we can handle," I am told but I wonder if God doesn't overestimate me just a little. Or perhaps, and this is likely, I underestimate God. "

― Julia Cameron , Finding Water: The Art of Perseverance

9 " It takes constant vigilance not to slip into negativity or simple apathy. It takes courage to believe over any given period of time that we are getting better and not sliding into decline. "

― Julia Cameron , Finding Water: The Art of Perseverance

10 " Making art has taught me that the tiniest smidgen of progress is something to be cherished. "

― Julia Cameron , Finding Water: The Art of Perseverance

11 " So much of an artist's career hinges on the sense that we are going somewhere, that we are not just trapped by the four walls of wherever we are. For creative sanity, I must believe that if I just do the next right thing, a path will unfold for me. "

― Julia Cameron , Finding Water: The Art of Perseverance

12 " It is all too easy as an artist to allow the shape of our career to be dictated to us by others. We can so easily wait to be chosen. Such passivity invites despair. To remain healthy and vital, artists must stay proactive in their own behalf. "

― Julia Cameron , Finding Water: The Art of Perseverance

13 " If we have plain old ordinary fear then we are within reach of a solution. Fear has been with humankind for millennia and we do know what to do about it--pray about it, talk about it, feel the fear, and do it anyway. "Artistic" fear, on the other hand, sounds somehow nastier and more virulent, like it just might not yield to ordinary solutions--and yet it does, the moment we become humble enough to try ordinary solutions. "

― Julia Cameron , Finding Water: The Art of Perseverance

14 " We cannot control the reception of our work. We must find our dignity in the doing. "

― Julia Cameron , Finding Water: The Art of Perseverance

15 " Making art has taught me that the tiniest smidgen of progress is something to be savored. "

― Julia Cameron , Finding Water: The Art of Perseverance