Reading after a certain age diverts the mind too much from its creative pursuits. Any man who reads too much and uses his own brain too little falls into lazy habits of thinking.
I’ve found that the only way I can keep writing every day, year after year, is to let my mind wander into new territories. To do that, I’ve had to cultivate a kind of mental playfulness.
You have to develop under the influence of the spirit if you want the spirit to show through in the final product.
At first it may have seemed that a worldwide pandemic would be a roadblock to the Lord’s work. For example, traditional methods of sharing the gospel have not been possible. However, the pandemic is revealing new and more creative ways of reaching out to the honest in heart. The work of gathering Israel is increasing in power and enthusiasm. Hundreds and thousands of stories attest to this.
In the past, we might have been so tied to traditional approaches that it took a pandemic to open our eyes. Perhaps we were still building with sandstone when granite was already available. Of necessity, we are now learning how to use a variety of methods, including technology, to invite people—in normal and natural ways—to come and see, come and help, and come and belong.
...I think the biggest thrill in life is to have a dream or imagine something and then get to see it be real.
Readers are plentiful, thinkers are rare.
There is a fine line between sensitivity and sentimentality…Sensitivity seems to touch and uplift the listener, while sentimentality goes one step too far and plays on the listener's emotions in an uncomfortable way.
Experience has taught me that the more specifically I phrase the requests and instructions that I direct to my subconscious, the more successful the exercise will become.
Human salvation lies in the hands of the creatively maladjusted.
Passion is the love of creation. Creation is its own gift.
Creation is a patient search.
Find your creative/thinking time. Defend it ruthlessly, spend it alone, maybe at home.
There’s a reason very few creative people wear suits and ties. Audacious ideas rarely spring from boardrooms and office cubicles. They come from getting out and about and experiencing life in its most inspiring settings. Creativity doesn’t wear a uniform, nor should creators.
You're at your best when you're not trying too hard.
When we put down ideas of what life should be like, we are free to wholeheartedly say yes to our life as it is.