This is the contract that says, I shall destroy myself and everyone around me in an effort to bring forth my inspiration, and my martyrdom shall be the badge of my creative legitimacy. - P38
so if you prefer a short life of tragic glamour to a long life of rich satisfaction (and many do), knock yourself out. - P39
Adifferent way is to cooperate fully, humbly, and joyfully with inspiration. - P40
You can measure your worth by your dedication to your path, not by your successes or failures. - P41
And at the end of your days, you can thank creativity for having blessed you with a charmed, interesting, passionate existence. - P41
(As Joan Didion said, "I don’t know what I think until I write about it.") - P45
It was like poking a stick at a cast-off snakeskin: The more I messed with it, the faster it fell apart and turned to dust. - P47
Because this is the other side of the contract with creativity: If inspiration is allowed to unexpectedly enter you, it is also allowed to unexpectedly exit you. - P47
Trust in the miraculous truth that new and marvelous ideas are looking for human collaborators every single day. - P48
(What was there for Harper Lee to be afraid of, after all? Possibly just this: That she could not outdo Harper Lee.) - P68
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