When we are self-conscious, we cannot be wholly aware; we must throw ourselves out first. This throwing ourselves away is the act of creativity.
Madeleine L'EngleIn your language you have a form of poetry called the sonnetโฆThere are fourteen lines, I believe, all in iambic pentameter. Thatโs a very strict rhythm or meterโฆAnd each line has to end with a rigid pattern. And if the poet does not do it exactly this way, it is not a sonnetโฆBut within this strict form the poet has complete freedom to say whatever he wantsโฆYouโre given the form, but you have to write the sonnet yourself. What you say is completely up to you.
Madeleine L'EngleLike all great fantasists, he has taught me about life, life in eternity rather than chronology, life in that time in which we are real.
Madeleine L'EngleInspiration more often comes during the work than before it, because the largest part of the job of an artist is to listen to the work.
Madeleine L'EngleWhen we look at a painting, or hear a symphony, or read a book, and feel more Named, then, for us, that work is a work of Christian art. But to look at a work of art and then to make a judgment as to whether or not it is art, and whether or not it is Christian, is presumptuous. It is something we cannot know in any conclusive way. We can know only if it speaks within our own hearts, and leads us to living more deeply with Christ in God.
Madeleine L'Engle