I was made a revolutionary in spite of myself… [A]ll creation presupposes as its origin a sort of appetite that is brought on by the foretaste of discovery. This foretaste of the creative art accompanies the intuitive grasp of an unknown entity that will not take definite shape except by the action of a constantly vigilant technique. This appetite that is aroused in me at the mere thought of putting in order musical elements that have attracted my attention is not at all a fortuitous thing like inspiration, but as habitual and periodic, if not constant, as a natural need... The very act of putting my work on paper, of, as we say, kneading the dough, is for me inseperable from the pleasure of creation. So far as I am concerned, I cannot seperate the spiritual effort from the psychological and physical effort; they confront me on the same level and do not present a hierarchy...What concerns us here is not imagination itself, but rather creative imagination: the facultyy that helps us to pass from the level of conception to the level of realization. In the course of my labors I suddenly stumble upon something unexpected. this unexpected element strikes me. I make note of it. At the proper time I put it to profitable use... The faculty of creating is never given to us all by itself. It always goes hand in hand with the gift of observation. And the true creator may be recognized by his ability always to find about him, in the commonest and humblest thing, items worthy of note... The least accident holds his interest and guides his operations. If his finger slips, he will notice it; on occasion, he may draw profit from something unforeseen that a momentary lapse reveals to him. One does not contrive an accident: one observes it to draw inspiration therefrom.

~ Igor Stravinsky Quotes from Creators on Creating

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Your life is a kind of laboratory where you’re constantly experimenting with your own higher knowing, always increasing your capacity to design the life you choose. Human beings must create; it’s hardwired. The question is, are you consciously creating or only sleepwalking through your human life?

~ David Emerald Quotes from The Power of TED*

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Thinking is the hardest and most exhausting of all labor; and hence many people shrink from it.

~ Wallace D. Wattles Quotes from The Science of Being Great

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The great piano virtuoso Paderewski was once playing before an audience of the rich and the royal. After a brilliant performance, an elegant lady waxed ecstatic over the great artist. She said, “Ah Maestro, you are a genius!” Paderewski tartly replied, “Ah yes, madam, but before I was a genius I was a clod!” What he was saying was that his present acclaim was not handed to him on a silver platter. He, too, was once a little boy laboriously practicing his scales. And even at his peak, behind every brilliant performance there were countless hours of practice and preparation.

~ Eric Butterworth Quotes

Self-Development Quotes on: Genius, Act, Yin, Great, Labor, Eric Butterworth, Practice, Preparation, Rich, Brilliant

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Sacrifice self to bless one another, even as God has blessed you. Forget self in laboring for mankind…

~ Mary Baker Eddy Quotes from Miscellaneous Writings 1883-1897

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The preparations were elaborate and mammoth in scale, and Washington threw himself into the effort, demanding that not an hour be lost.

~ David McCullough Quotes from 1776

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Man is so made that he can only find relaxation from one kind of labor by taking up another.

~ Anatole France Quotes

Motivational Quotes on: Kind, Labor, Can

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All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.

~ Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Quotes

Self-Development Quotes on: Excellence, Martin Luther King, Labor, Pain, Excel, Should

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