You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Inspiration is not something passive; it requires active pursuit and effort to capture. You must chase your creative drive aggressively.
- In plain terms
- Don't wait for ideas; go out and find them yourself.
- What can you take from it?
- Actively pursue inspiration instead of waiting for it.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- How actively do you seek inspiration?
- Are you waiting for something?
Another view
Sometimes waiting is necessary for ideas to mature naturally.
More from Jack London
The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.
Permalink to quote #12 The man who dreams of artistry, and yet thinks it is necessary for someone else to lick him into shape, is a man whose art is doomed to mediocrity. If you're g…
Permalink to quote #11 I have always stood for the exalting of the life that is in me over art, or any other extraneous thing.
Permalink to quote #10
Related quotes
Inspiration is a guest that does not willingly visit the lazy.
Pyotr Ilyich TchaikovskyPyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky quote #4 It's dogged as does it. It's not thinking about it.
Anthony TrollopeAnthony Trollope quote #63 I didn't do my best work until I got licked in the head by a horse.
John HeldJohn Held quote #1