2005-09, Address at Stanford University (2005)
Context: Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don’t lose faith. I’m convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You’ve got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking. Don’t settle.
“Listen carefully to first criticisms made of your work. Note just what it is about your work that critics don't like - then cultivate it. That's the only part of your work that's individual and worth keeping.”
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Jean Cocteau 123
French poet, novelist, dramatist, designer, boxing manager … 1889–1963Related quotes
“Until you look forward to criticism, your Work’s not done.”
Loving What Is: Four Questions That Can Change Your Life (2002)
On her advice for Latina playwrights in “Anne García-Romero” https://50playwrights.org/2016/05/06/anne-garcia-romero/ in 50 Playwrights Project (2016 May 6)
Quoted in Time magazine, October 31, 1977. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/printout/0,8816,945814,00.html
Also attributed to Christopher Hampton by the Sunday Times Magazine (16 October 1977)
“Make your work to be in keeping with your purpose”
“Success = 1 part work + 1 part play + 1 part keep your mouth shut”
Source: Ideas and Opinions
Sunday Times Magazine (London, October 16, 1977)
“You cannot be really first-rate at your work if your work is all you are.”
Source: A Short Guide to a Happy Life