Quotes from book
The Artist's Way

The Artist's Way

The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path To Higher Creativity is a self-help book by American author Julia Cameron. The book was written to help people with artistic creative recovery, which teaches techniques and exercises to assist people in gaining self-confidence in harnessing their creative talents and skills. Correlation and emphasis is used by the author to show a connection between artistic creativity and a spiritual connection with God.The ideas in creative personal development outlined in the book, which were felt to be new at the time of the publication, are said to have become a phenomenon and spawned into many meetups and support groups throughout the world. The group meetings are based on a 12-week creativity course designed for people to work through and gain artistic inspiration, as outlined in the book. The program is focused on supporting relationships in removing artistic blocks and fostering confidence.


“Pray to catch the bus, then run as fast as you can.”

Julia Cameron book The Artist's Way

Source: The Artist's Way

“Art? You just do it. MARTIN RITT”

Julia Cameron book The Artist's Way

The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity

“Mystery is at the heart of creativity. That, and surprise.”

Julia Cameron book The Artist's Way

The Artist's Way (1992)
Context: All too often too often we try to push, pull, outline and control our ideas instead of letting them grow organically. The creative process is a process of surrender, not control.
Mystery is at the heart of creativity. That, and surprise. <!-- p. 195

“Creativity - like human life itself - begins in darkness.”

Julia Cameron book The Artist's Way

Variant: Creativity — like human life itself — begins in darkness.
Source: The Artist's Way (1992)
Context: Creativity — like human life itself — begins in darkness. We need to acknowledge this. All too often, we think only in terms of light: "And then the lightbulb went on and I got it!" It is true that insights may come to us as flashes. It is true that some of these flashes may be blinding. It is, however, also true that such bright ideas are preceded by a gestation period that is interior, murky, and completely necessary.

“Serious art is born from serious play.”

Julia Cameron book The Artist's Way

Source: The Artist's Way

“Leap, and the net will appear.”

Julia Cameron book The Artist's Way

Source: The Artist's Way

“Anger is meant to be acted on. It is not meant to be acted out.”

Julia Cameron book The Artist's Way

The Artist's Way (1992)
Context: Anger is meant to be acted on. It is not meant to be acted out. Anger points the direction. We are meant to use anger as fuel to take the actions we need to move where our anger points us. With a little thought, we can usually translate the message that our anger is sending us.

“All too often too often we try to push, pull, outline and control our ideas instead of letting them grow organically.”

Julia Cameron book The Artist's Way

The Artist's Way (1992)
Context: All too often too often we try to push, pull, outline and control our ideas instead of letting them grow organically. The creative process is a process of surrender, not control.
Mystery is at the heart of creativity. That, and surprise. <!-- p. 195

Similar authors

 Julia Cameron photo
Julia Cameron45
American writer 1948
Frank Herbert photo
Frank Herbert158
American writer None
William Saroyan photo
William Saroyan190
American writer None
Ray Bradbury photo
Ray Bradbury401
American writer None
William Faulkner photo
William Faulkner214
American writer None
Julio Cortázar photo
Julio Cortázar29
Argentinian writer None
David Foster Wallace photo
David Foster Wallace185
American fiction writer and essayist None
Pearl S.  Buck photo
Pearl S. Buck95
American writer None
Charles Bukowski photo
Charles Bukowski555
American writer None
Joseph Campbell photo
Joseph Campbell140
American mythologist, writer and lecturer None