Austin Kleon
The only way to find your voice is to use it. It’s hardwired, built into you. Talk about the things you love. Your voice will follow.Collection: Love You
It's in the act of making things that we figure out who we are.Collection: Who We Are
In order to be found, you have to be findable.Collection: Order
Creative people need time to just sit around and do nothing.Collection: People
Be curious about the world in which you live. Look things up. Chase down every reference. Go deeper than anybody else--that's how you'll get ahead.Collection: Looks
You’re only going to be as good as the stuff you surround yourself with.Collection: Letting Go
Every new idea is just a mashup or a remix of one or more previous ideas.Collection: Ideas
You're ready. Start making stuff.Collection: Stuff
Don't wait until you know who you are to get started.Collection: Waiting
Not everybody will get it. People will misinterpret you and what you do. They might even call you names. So get comfortable with being misunderstood, disparaged, or ignored -- the trick is to be too busy doing your work to care.Collection: Names
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.Collection: Running
What a good artist understands is that nothing comes from nowhere. All creative work builds on what came before. Nothing is completely original.Collection: Artist
Show your work, and when the right people show up, pay close attention to them, because they'll have a lot to show you.Collection: People
The minute you learn something, turn around and teach it to others.Collection: Minutes
Read deeply. Stay open. Continue to wonder.Collection: Wonder
If we're free from the burden of trying to be completely original, we can stop trying to make something out of nothing, and we can embrace influence instead of running from it.Collection: Running
The more good ideas you collect, the more you can choose from to be influenced by.Collection: Ideas
You can’t be content with mastery; you have to push yourself to become a student again.Collection: Mastery
Your brain gets too comfortable in your everyday surroundings. You need to make it uncomfortable. You need to spend some time in another land, among people that do things differently than you. Travel makes the world look new, and when the world looks new, our brains work harder.Collection: Hard Work
The only way to find your voice is to use itCollection: Voice
Usually, when we talk about creativity, it's about self-expression, which is great, but for work to be art or design, there has to be someone on the other end. The audience makes the work come alive.Collection: Art
Nothing is more paralyzing than the idea of limitless possibilities.Collection: Ideas
If you ever find you're the most talented person in the room, you need to find another room.Collection: Inspirational
There's an intuition learned through our work. Teaching others doesn't mean they can just go out and replicate it.Collection: Teaching
You'll either find the answer or you'll come up with a better question.Collection: Answers
Be boring. (It’s the only way to get work done.)Collection: Done
School is one thing. Education is another. The two don’t always overlap. Whether you’re in school or not, it’s always your job to get yourself an education.Collection: Jobs
The best advice is not to write what you know, it's to write what you like.Collection: Writing
If you’re worried about giving your secrets away, you can share your dots without connecting them.Collection: Giving
Marriage is two people in love standing in the same bathroomCollection: Two
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."Collection: Inspirational
It sounds a little extreme, but in this day and age, if your work isn't online, it doesn't exist.Collection: Age
In the end, creativity isn’t just the things we choose to put in, it’s the things we choose to leave out.Collection: Creativity
Enjoy your obscurity while it lasts.Collection: Obscurity
So go on, get angry. But keep your mouth shut and go do your work.Collection: Goes On
The best way to get started on the path of sharing your work is to think about what you want to learn, and make a commitment to learning it in front of others.Collection: Commitment
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.Collection: Trying
Art that only comes from the head isn't any good. Watch any good musician and you'll see what I mean.Collection: Art
Write the book you want to readCollection: Book
Copying is about reverse-engineering.Collection: Engineering
Unless you are actually a ninja, a guru, or a rock star, don't ever use any of those terms in your bio. Ever.Collection: Stars
Travel makes the world look new, and when the world looks new, our brains work harder.Collection: Hard Work
Don't worry about doing research. Just search.Collection: Worry
Eat breakfast. Do some push-ups. Go for long walks. Get plenty of sleep.Collection: Sleep
You can't find your voice if you don't use it.Collection: Voice
We found the future, like birds fly into windows.Collection: Bird
The best advice is not to write what you know, it's to write what you like. Write the kind of story you like best - write the story you want to read. The same principle applies to your life and your career.Collection: Writing
Every artist gets asked the question, 'Where do you get your ideas?' The honest artist answers, 'I steal them.'Collection: Artist
Obituaries are like near-death experiences for cowards.Collection: Coward
If you want fans, you have to be a fan first.Collection: Firsts