“Any kind of creative activity is likely to be stressful. The more anxiety, the more you feel that you are headed in the right direction. Easiness, relaxation, comfort — these are not conditions that usually accompany serious work.”

— Joyce Carol Oates

Joyce Carol Oates interviews herself (2013)

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update Sept. 14, 2021. History

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Joyce Carol Oates 89

American author 1938

Josh Pate (1970) Screenwriter, director and producer

Source: Surfacing with Josh Pate https://web.archive.org/web/20080409004815/http://www.mania.com:80/surfacing-josh-pate_article_49815.html (October 10, 2005)

“No matter how much pressure you feel at work, if you could find ways to relax for at least five minutes every hour, you'd be more productive.”

Joyce Brothers (1927–2013) Joyce Brothers

As quoted in Succeeding Sane : Making Room for Joy in a Crazy World (1998) by Bonnie St. John Deane, p. 122

“Music is a pastime, a relaxation from more serious occupations.”

Alexander Borodin (1833–1887) Russian composer, doctor and chemist

Letter to V A Krylov, 1867, in Borodin: Collected Letters.

“Nourished people, people who love and care for themselves, are also more efficient and nicer to be around. When you give yourself permission to relax, people will feel more relaxed around you; your environment will become more harmonious. Balance—between work and pleasure, giving and receiving, seriousness and levity—creates a happy healthy life.”

Kathy Freston American self-help writer

Quantum Wellness (2008)

“Relaxation is what you are, stress is what you think you should be.”

Ralph Smart

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“It is easy to consider advice when it is brought forth with care, and consideration, and gentleness. Sometimes people are offended or feel manipulated if you are so blustering, you see. And it's an opportunity to be kind — you know — usually if you're giving advice, it's because you care about people and you love them. So you ought to act that way.
…
If you find yourself to be a — sort of an abrasive type of person, perhaps you might try to be gentle, because the truth is that gentleness and kindness are a lot more powerful than we are led to believe. And if you are like this, and people are telling you it doesn't work, don't listen to them — do what you know is right.”

Ysabella Brave (1979) American singer

"Being Gentle(& the haunted ice tray)" (28 October 2007) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dT5fXvbVNFc

“Fatal heart attacks can be triggered by 'anger in all degrees, depression, and anxiety… This doctor states that anxiety places more stress on the heart than any other stimulus, including physical exercise and fatigue.”

Roy R. Grinker, Sr. (1900–1993) American psychiatrist and neurologist

Cited in: McMillen, S.I (1963) None of These Diseases Fleming H. Revell, Co., Westwood, NJ. p. 61

“Tournament chess is not relaxing. It's stressful, even if you win.”

Jennifer Shahade (1980) chess player

ChessBase.com - The strongest native-born American woman" (3 August 2003) http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=1093

“The American people are sheep. They're comfortable, rich, working. It's like the Romans, they're happy with bread and their spectator sports. The Super Bowl means more to them than any right.”

Jack Kevorkian (1928–2011) American pathologist, euthanasia activist

Quoted in "Between the dying and the dead: Dr. Jack Kevorkian's life and the battle to Legalize Euthanasia"‎ - Page 247 - by Neal Nicol, Harry Wylie - 2006
2000s, 2006

“Anxiety, the next gumption trap, is sort of the opposite of ego. You're so sure you'll do everything wrong you're afraid to do anything at all. Often this, rather than "laziness," is the real reason you find it hard to get started. This gumption trap of anxiety, which results from over-motivation, can lead to all kinds of errors of excessive fussiness. You fix things that don't need fixing, and chase after imaginary ailments. You jump to wild conclusions and build all kinds of errors into the machine because of your own nervousness. These errors, when made, tend to confirm your original underestimation of yourself. This leads to more errors, which lead to more underestimation, in a self-stoking cycle. The best way to break this cycle, I think, is to work out your anxieties on paper. Read every book and magazine you can on the subject. Your anxiety makes this easy and the more you read the more you calm down.”

Robert M. Pirsig book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

Source: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (1974), Ch. 26
Source: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values

“Any kind of creative activity is likely to be stressful. The more anxiety, the more you feel that you are headed in the right direction. Easiness, relaxation, comfort — these are not conditions that usually accompany serious work.”

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Joyce Carol Oates 89

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