Quotes from ELEANOR ROOSEVELT

"Do what you feel in your heart to be right,

For you'll be criticized anyway."

           
                        -ELEANOR ROOSEVELT


About ELEANOR ROOSEVELT

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Langston Hughes

"An artist must be free to choose what he does, certainly, but he must also never be afraid to do what he might choose."

— Langston Hughes

American Poet/Novelist

1902 - 1967

It takes courage to be an artist.  You must be able to do what others are not willing to do.  You must be able to create what you are afraid of creating.  If you let fear of rejection influence what you create, you will not be able to produce the art that you want and need to create.  

Artists need to be free from the criticism of society.  Critics often get it wrong.  Don't let the negativity of others hold you back.  Create what your heart tells you to create.  Believe in the choices you make.  If you listen to yourself, you will find your way through the maze of criticism and come out with your spirit whole and free.

Are you feeling courageous?  Are you creating the art that you want to create?  Are you ignoring the criticism of both your friends and your enemies?  Are you creating from the heart?  The choice is yours. 

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Johari King

Wave Dreams

(2010)

"I'm learning not to shy away from experiences I want just because I'm afraid of failure and criticism.  And I now know when to remove myself from situations that chip away at my spirit and slowly destroy me.  I've realized it's all about balance and breathing in a bit of fresh air."

— Johari King

American Writer/Painter

1977 -

One of the biggest challenges for many creative leaders is coping with fear: the fear of failure, the fear of success or the fear of criticism.  This fear can actually paralyze the artist within and prevent the production of creative work.  Overcoming this fear takes courage, faith and belief in oneself.  Overcoming this fear can take years.  Even successfully published writers and artists can be paralyzed by fear.  Some turn to alcohol or drugs to take off the edge — to hide the anxiety.  Others withdraw and hide.

This fear can chip away at the spirit and slowly destroy a person.  A creative leader must learn to overcome his anxiety and fear.  He must find a way through the wall that threatens his creativity.  He must learn balance and the ability to breathe fresh air.

What fears are holding you back — keeping you from producing your best work?  What are you doing to find a way through the fear?  How are you finding balance and faith in your life?

Buddha's Garden

(2010)

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Tobias Wolff

"We are made to persist.  That's how we find out who we are."

— Tobias Wolff

American Author

1945 - 



The difference between the winners and the losers is that the winners keep going long after the losers have quit.  Many people want to be writers, painters, musicians, and actors.  Most quit too soon.  They let rejection and negative criticism cause them to give-up.  The creative journey takes a lot of stamina and persistence.

In 1914, Thomas Edison was 67 years old. He had lived a lifetime and invented hundreds of gadgets including the light bulb. He was a multi-millionaire living in Menlo Park, New Jersery. One night in February 1914 his phonograph factory burnt to the ground. Overnight he lost more than 3 million dollars and he had no insurance. The next day he was walking through his burnout factory and his son came over to console him. Edison turned to his son and he said: "There is great value in disaster. It burns up all our mistakes. Thank God we can start anew." He redesigned the phonograph, rebuild the factory and gave the world a brand new phonograph within three months. I don't care what challenges you face today or what is preventing you from continuing your creative journey. The difference between the winners and the losers is the winners keep going long after the losers have quit.

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Catherine Lanigan

"I learned that writers make something out of nothing.  We make dreams into reality.  That's our nature, our mission.  We were born to it.  I will never give up my dream again.  Never." 

— Catherine Lanigan

American Writer

1947 - 

Catherine Lanigan gave up on her dream of writing while in college because a college professor told her she had no talent.  Years later after encouragement from a journalist, she returned to writing. 

We all have people who try to destroy our dreams and it takes courage to stand up to them.  If you are a beginning artist, writer, actor or singer, don't ask if you have talent.  No one can judge that but you.  Ask if you have the passion and persistence to keep creating even when others discourage you.  Ask if you have the heart and the courage to stand up for what you believe in.

Writers and artists make something from nothing.  They take a blank canvas and fill it with color.  They take a blank sheet of paper and fill it with story.  Believe in your dream.  Believe in yourself.  Believe in your creative gift.

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Vincent Van Gogh

Self-Portrait

1889

"If you hear a voice within you say, 'You cannot paint,' then by all means paint and that voice will be silenced."

— Vincent van Gogh

Dutch Painter

1853 - 1890

Most of us have a voice inside that plants seeds of doubt in our hearts.  "You can't paint.  You can't write.  You can't draw.  You can't speak.  You can't sing...."  The list goes on and on.  Today we call it self-talk.  One expert says that 75% of what we say to ourselves is negative.   We need to silence that negative voice by proving him wrong.  Don't listen to that negative voice that is determined to make you fail.  Keep writing.  Keep painting.  Keep drawing.

When I teach people how to be better speakers, I talk about that second voice sitting on their shoulders.  When I first started speaking, I heard two voices — the one coming out of my mouth and the one sitting on my shoulder.  The one was positive and upbeat.  The second was nervous and negative.  The more often I spoke, the less vocal the second voice became.  Today I rarely hear that negative voice.  And when I do, I give him a quick kick and he is gone.

And the same is true of my writing.  I used to hear the voice of doubt shouting in my ear.  Today, I can barely hear him mumble.  And when he does appear, he is skin and bones and dressed in rags.  Soon he will be homeless.

The First Steps, After Jean Francis Millet

(January 1890)

I have written two poems in response to this painting, The First Steps, by Van Gogh:  A Father's Dream from the point of view of the father and A Mother's Grief from the point of view of the mother.  Just click on the titles.

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Virginia Satir

"We must not allow other people's limited perceptions to define us."

— Virginia Satir

American Author

1916 - 1988

One of the challenges we all face is not letting other people's perceptions of us determine who we are and how we behave.  This development of who we believe ourselves to be begins almost from the moment we are born.  Our parents judge us based on our gender.  I have talked to women who say: "My father wanted a boy so he named me ___________."  Other people will tell us that we are big or tall or pretty.  And over the years these observations sink into our subconscious and we begin to believe them to be true.  Much of my childhood I was told that I was big for my age.  Over time that observation by people translated in my brain as "you are fat" even when I wasn't.

What observations have you heard throughout your life that you have come to believe as true?  How did these observations become translated into your brain?  Are these observations true or do you need to discard them?

As artists and writers we experience similar challenges.  People will criticize our creative works and often we come to believe these criticisms to be true.  We may even change our work to please the critics.  If we do, we are allowing their limited vision to define who we are and what we are capable of achieving.  Do not let those with limited imaginations limit you.  Stand up for yourself.  Choose to define yourself and your work by your vision, not that of others.

 

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James Baldwin

"One can give nothing whatever without giving oneself — that is to say, risking oneself.  If one cannot risk oneself then one is simply incapable of giving."

— James Baldwin

American Novelist

1924 - 1987

All art is risk.  As creative leaders we risk being vulnerable to criticism and ridicule.  We risk doubt and failure.  We risk being misunderstood.  Yet, there is no creation without risk.  There is no art without giving of oneself.



Taking a risk requires that we step out of our comfort zone and try something new.  Taking risk helps us to grow and progress as artists.  Taking a risk means that we might fail.  Taking a risk requires courage.



What risks are you not taking because you are afraid?  What risks do you want to take but you don't have the courage?  If you knew that you would die in a year, what risks would you take today?  What truth have you not told because you are afraid of what others might say?

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