“Everything that slows us down and forces patience, everything that sets us back into the slow circles of nature is a help. Gardening is an instrument of grace.” —May Sarton

"I'm not loyal to one genre. I want to mix it up." —Benedict Cumberbatch

"Put on your crown, my Queen, and we will build a New City on these ruins." —Eldridge Cleaver, Soul On Ice

"What a boon to live on the water! Such delicious shades and hues! This is a template worthy of the greatest painters. The textures of sand and stone could inspire incomparable sculptures, and the sounds—the steady lapping of the waves, the sweet chirping of the birds—make this a sanctuary." —Adriana Trigiani, Rococo

Every dark cloud comes with its own silver lining.

At the time, I didn't care whether the pictures I was taking were any good, or how I was going to inscribe my deep love of place, this time with photography, in a way that could begin to explain it. --Sally Mann, Hold Still

I can see the blue clusters of wild grapes hanging amongst the foliage of the saplings, and I remember the taste of them and the smell. --Mark Twain, Autobiography

Paying tribute . . . “The mug came first: a clay-based receptacle for stimulant, for memory, for story, for tonic, for aloneness.” —Dawn Raffel, The Secret Life of Objects

“Ever since Leonardo da Vinci urged artists to search for inspiration in the dirt on walls or the streaked patterns in stones, they have found that the accidental blot, the chance mark, or the naturally occurring stain can be a starting point for some extraordinary art.” — Christopher Turner, Tate Etc., Spring 2011 ­

Breathing in, I see all my ancestors in me: my mineral ancestors, plant ancestors, mammal ancestors, and human ancestors. My ancestors are always present, alive in every cell of my body, and I play a part in their immortality. --Thich Nhat Hanh, The Art of Living

I’m a woman Phenomenally. Phenomenal woman, That’s me. ― Maya Angelou, "Phenomenal Woman"

I would like to no longer dance to anything but the rhythm of my soul. —Isadora Duncan