Brian Eno Quotes

Making art has never been a mystery to me. It's never been something that's very difficult.

Trying to force creativity is never good.

When you make art, you get really invested in it. When art happens by accident and you were just along for the ride? It's way more fun.

The more I can stay on the creative side, the happier I am.

If I find out I have to write today and nothing else, that’s a perfect day. I know a lot of people who are great at it and make it look easy who are tortured and miserable people. Writing for me is perfect peace.

You know a trillion times more about art than me. But I’ve learned that it isn’t necessary to know all that much. You just make what you wanna see, right? It’s a game, right? It’s like being paid for dreaming.

The highest prize we can receive for creative work is the joy of being creative. Creative effort spent for any other reason than the joy of being in that light filled space, love, god, whatever we want to call it, is lacking in integrity. . .

I've always felt that there's a point where a piece seems to be alive, that is, living. And that's the point where I know the composition is finished.

The idea that I wrote something that stood for the way I feel about things, and that it lasts, that's probably my favorite thing that I've done.

I don't fight creativity. I don't fight against not being creative. If I'm not being creative, I'm not forcing it.

I think good artists know when they're on a roll, and they recognize when lightning is striking. It's a very fortunate thing to have that inspiration and not to overanalyze it or mess with it; you just follow it if you love what you do.

The only thing in life that really gives me any peace is just being lost in the process of creating something, whether it's the film or painting and drawing, which has been a big part of my life, for a long time.

I'll have periods when I write and periods when I don't. But you don't want it to become a discipline, really. If it becomes a discipline, it becomes a chore, and that's no good. To make art you need to be inspired.

Artwork is not like a commercial business; there is no such thing as a schedule for art. You can't hurry art.

A lot of what making art is, is just being open, and empty. And putting yourself in the right place for things to, literally, come together.

Some writing is a really nice solitary process, in a way, because you can be a little self-conscious around other people. If it's just you, and you're at your favorite piano, or whatever instrument, and you feel comfortable, then somehow, I always feel like it's opening a door and letting whatever is to pass through pass.

I think a lot of making art is listening to yourself.

Making art, good art, is always a struggle. It can make you happy when you pull it off. There's no better feeling. It's beauteous. But it's always about hard work and inspiration and sweat and good ideas.

For a sculptor, a painter, a weaver, a potter, the dialogue between one's materials and what one makes from them is easy to see: discover a new material or a new way to use a familiar one, and new things can be made, sometimes leading to the discovery of more new material, leading to more creation.

Art is not about thinking something up. It is the opposite - getting something down.

For me, drawing generates thinking and vice versa.

I finally got to the point where I decided I don't care if it's good art or bad art - it's what I do. I enjoy doing it, and people like it.

I love the rush of being creative. I really think I live for it.

When you write a song, you don't ask if it's good or not, or if it's gonna sell. When you write a song, you ask whether you've reached deep inside your heart and whether it's honest.

Artists today think of everything they do as a work of art. It is important to forget about what you are doing - then a work of art may happen.