If I have any beliefs about immortality, it is that certain dogs I have known will go to heaven, and very, very few persons.
James ThurberRead
Unless artists can remember what it was to be a little boy, they are only half complete as artist and as man.
Interpretation
Artists need to connect with their childhood to fully realize their potential.
James Thurber emphasizes the importance of childhood experiences in shaping an artist's creativity and understanding. Remembering the innocence, wonder, and imagination of being a child allows artists to connect deeply with their work and express themselves more authentically, thus becoming more complete as both artists and individuals.
In practice
During an art workshop, I shared this quote to inspire participants to tap into their childhood memories while creating.
If I have any beliefs about immortality, it is that certain dogs I have known will go to heaven, and very, very few persons.
Speed is scarcely the noblest virtue of graphic composition, but it has its curious rewards. There is a sense of getting somewhere fast, which satisfies a native American urge.
The laughter of man is more terrible than his tears, and takes more forms hollow, heartless, mirthless, maniacal.
Things have dropped from me. I have outlived certain desires; I have lost friends, some by death... others through sheer inability to cross the street.
The appreciative smile, the chuckle, the soundless mirth, so important to the success of comedy, cannot be understood unless one sits among the audience and feels the warmth created by the quality of laughter that the audience takes home with it.
These are the days of bootleg love.
Writing poetry is the hard manual labor of the imagination.
A thing of beauty is a joy for ever: Its loveliness increases; it will never Pass into nothingness; but still will keep A bower quiet for us, and a sleep Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.
That which is not worth contemplating in life, is not worth recreating in art.
When I'm writing, I write every day. It's lovely when that's happening. One day dovetailing into the next. Sometimes I don't even know what day of the week it is.
The office of poetry is not to make us think accurately, but feel truly.
The first thing you have to consider when writing a novel is your story, and then your story - and then your story!
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