Austin Kleon

It's in the act of making things that we figure out who we are.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Don't think of your website as a self-promotion machine, think of it as a self-invention machine.

You are, in fact, a mashup of what you choose to let into your life.