Whispered words can be devastatingly effective.

Brahms once remarked that the mark of an artist is how much he throws away. Nature, the great creator, is always throwing things away. A frog lays several million eggs at a sitting. Only a few dozen of these become tadpoles, and only a few of those become frogs. We can let imagination and practice be as profligate as nature.

Play, intrinsically rewarding, doesn't cost anything; as soon as you put a price on it, it becomes, to some extent, not play.

We provide both irritation and inspiration for each other- the grist for each other's pearl making.

Looking at the creative process is like looking into a crystal: no matter which facet we gaze into, we see all the others reflected.

Play is the taproot from which original art springs. It is the raw stuff that the artist channels with all his learning and technique.

The Western Idea of practice is to acquire a skill. It is very much related to your work ethic, which enjoins us to endure struggle or boredom now in return for future rewards. The Eastern idea of practice, on the other hand, is to create the person, or rather to actualize or reveal the complete person who is already there.... Not only is practice necessary to art, it is art.