To Be Inspired Is Great, But to Be an Inspiration Is Incredible - Anonymous

When a work lifts your spirits and inspires bold and noble thoughts in you, do not look for any other standard to judge by: the work is good, the product of a master craftsman. — Jean de la Bruyere

Jean de La Bruyère

La Bruyère proposes a strikingly direct test for artistic greatness: if a work raises your spirit and stirs noble thoughts, it has already proved its worth. Rather than beginning with technical rules or elite opinion, he...

The beauty of architecture is it involves work that stretches over a very long time but often starts in one instant, with just one emotion. — Ma Yansong

Ma Yansong

Ma Yansong’s remark begins with a striking contrast: architecture may take years, even decades, to realize, yet its true beginning can occur in a single charged moment. In that instant, a feeling—awe, longing, serenity,...

The great composer does not set to work because he is inspired, but becomes inspired because he is working. — Ernest Newman

Ernest Newman

At first glance, Ernest Newman overturns a familiar romantic belief: that artists wait passively for inspiration to arrive like a lightning strike. Instead, he argues that the great composer begins with labor, routine, a...

If you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible warning. — Catherine the Great

Catherine the Great

Catherine the Great’s line draws a blunt moral boundary: we influence others whether we intend to or not. If we cannot—or will not—model admirable behavior, then our failures may still teach, but in the harsher form of c...

Teach by example: the life you lead will be the lesson others follow. — Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass’s line insists that instruction is never only verbal; it is embodied. People may forget what is preached, yet they remember what is practiced—especially when actions repeat consistently over time.

The most important thing is to try and inspire people so that they can be great at whatever they want to do. — Kobe Bryant

Kobe Bryant

Kobe Bryant’s words shift the focus of success from the individual to the collective. Rather than centering on his own achievements, he emphasizes the responsibility to spark something in others.