Cheryl Strayed Quotes

There's lots of things that can't make it in the world that are worth making. There are lots of great artists who never make it, there are lots of great writers who don't get published - is it still worthwhile? Aren't we glad people are still doing it?

A successful artist of any kind has to work so hard that she is justified in refusing to lay down her sceptre until she is placed on the bier.

The only tip I have for an artist is perseverance... Never give up.

Without passion, all the skill in the world won't lift you above craft. Without skill, all the passion in the world will leave you eager but floundering. Combining the two is the essence of the creative life.

In Brazil, when you say you're going to be an artist you always get that point of view that this is a crazy career and you might not make it. In my case, it kind of happened.

I will be an artist. I am sure I will. [Vincent Van Gogh]

Many days you will want to give up because of rejections and failures. Passion to be an artist will help you prevail where others fail.

Talk about a struggling artist having to work against enormous odds ... But I love movies so much, so I'm going to do it.

I find that the great artists I've met are people who are so playfully invested in their process that, even if it doesn't come out the way they like, they still power through and even take energy from it.

No fate holds more splendour for an artist, than the one which greets his effort with such enthousiasm!

I put all of my time into art because I couldn't go back to Jersey and work at Starbucks.

If you leave your art, the world will beat you back to it. The world has not an ambition worth sharing, or a prize worth handling.

Writing is an act of cherishing... It is an act of love.

I had a very high opinion of my father's judgement of things and he said, "You better get a job that pays the bills because a writer doesn't make any money. If possible, get a job that allows you to write in your spare time."

The great fear I've had to overcome is the fear of failure. You have to be willing to be afraid, if you're going to be an artist.

Johnny Cash's face belongs on Mount Rushmore...I don't write as much as I did back when I was writing songs every day. I've come to know when I've got a good one, although sometimes it takes the world awhile to catch up with me...If you're in it because you love it and you have to do it, that's the right reason. If you're in it because you want to get rich or famous, don't do it.

Naturally, you don't sit down in "white hot inspiration" and write with a burning flame in front of you. But since I knew I could never be happy being anything but a writer, and Mockingbird put itself together for me so accommodatingly, I kept at it because I knew it had to be my first novel, for better or for worse.

I always wonder what drives us as Artists.

If you love writing or making music or blogging or any sort of performing art, then do it. Do it with everything you've got. Just don't plan on using it as a shortcut to making a living.

I wanted to be an artist, even at the age of 15, and people used to laugh at me. It was the late '90s, the time of pop stars and navel-dancing, where you were showing your midriff. I wanted to be a real singer.

Everything I wanted before, I want twice as much now. And that doesn't mean material things; it means to explore more, to think more. Being an artist doesn't start because you're 21, and it doesn't end because you're 51. You are who you are until the day you die.

I don't think it's very useful to open wide the door for young artists; the ones who break down the door are more interesting.

In any creative endeavor, you do have to sort of take your shots. Nobody is going to beg you to go into the creative arts. So, if you want to pursue a career in something like acting or writing, the motor and the drive have to come from you. And that does take courage because, A, a lot of people want to do it, and B, it's hard. So, you have to have the guts to put yourself out there and go for it in spite of the world saying, "You know, it would be so much easier, if you didn't pursue this." So, it does take guts.

I'm gonna keep singing and dancing as long as I can.

Most of the artists I know are crazy in one way or another. I think that's why you get into it. You're in pursuit of a certain sort of peace that's very, very, very difficult to come by.