The Marginalian
The Marginalian

Reads tagged with “interview”

David Foster Wallace on Writing, Self-Improvement, and How We Become Who We Are
David Foster Wallace on Writing, Self-Improvement, and How We Become Who We Are

“Good writing isn’t a science. It’s an art, and the horizon is infinite. You can always get better.”

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Leonard Cohen on Creativity, Work Ethic, and Why You Should Never Quit Before You Know What It Is You’re Quitting
Leonard Cohen on Creativity, Work Ethic, and Why You Should Never Quit Before You Know What It Is You’re Quitting

“The cutting of the gem has to be finished before you can see whether it shines.”

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Legendary Songwriter Carole King on Inspiration vs. Perspiration and How to Overcome Creative Block
Legendary Songwriter Carole King on Inspiration vs. Perspiration and How to Overcome Creative Block

“Once the inspiration comes, that directs where the perspiration goes.”

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Malcolm Gladwell on Criticism, Tolerance, and Changing Your Mind
Malcolm Gladwell on Criticism, Tolerance, and Changing Your Mind

“That’s your responsibility as a person, as a human being — to constantly be updating your positions on as many things as possible. And if you don’t contradict yourself on a regular basis, then you’re not thinking.”

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Joyce Carol Oates on What Hemingway’s Early Stories Can Teach Us About Writing and the Defining Quality of Great Art
Joyce Carol Oates on What Hemingway’s Early Stories Can Teach Us About Writing and the Defining Quality of Great Art

On the elusive gift of blending austerity of craft with elasticity of allure.

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Jeanette Winterson on Time, Language, Reading, and How Art Creates a Sanctified Space for the Human Spirit
Jeanette Winterson on Time, Language, Reading, and How Art Creates a Sanctified Space for the Human Spirit

“Art can make a difference because it pulls people up short. It says, don’t accept things for their face value; you don’t have to go along with any of this; you can think for yourself.”

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The Art of Looking: How to Live with Presence, Break the Tyranny of Productivity, and Learn to See Our Everyday Wonderland
The Art of Looking: How to Live with Presence, Break the Tyranny of Productivity, and Learn to See Our Everyday Wonderland

“When you look closely at anything familiar, it transmogrifies into something unfamiliar.”

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Picasso on Intuition, How Creativity Works, and Where Ideas Come From
Picasso on Intuition, How Creativity Works, and Where Ideas Come From

“To know what you’re going to draw, you have to begin drawing.”

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Susan Sontag on the Crucial Difference Between Being in the Middle and Being at the Center
Susan Sontag on the Crucial Difference Between Being in the Middle and Being at the Center

Why true neutrality is not an abstinence from taking sides of but an act of compassion.

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Shepard Fairey on Capitalism, Freedom, Selling Out, and What Makes Great Art
Shepard Fairey on Capitalism, Freedom, Selling Out, and What Makes Great Art

“I believe in capitalism with some checks to chill out the evil greedy element. Capitalism is a way for hard work to yield rewards.”

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