30 Amazing Quotes from the Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity by Julia Cameron

Last Updated on January 30, 2024 by The Unbounded Thinker

Julia Cameron’s book: The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity is an important book for all creatives. In the book, Julia Cameron reveals how artists should approach their journey and shares amazing information that will awaken your inner artist.

I really love Julia Cameron’s book because she takes a spiritual approach to creativity.

I noted down amazing quotes from the book, which I believe are important to all creatives/aspiring artists.

Enjoy amazing Julia Cameron’s quotes:

‘Those who speak in spiritual terms routinely refer to God as the creator but seldom see creator as the literal term for artist.’
‘Creativity is an experience – to my eye, a spiritual experience.’
‘Art is an art of the soul, not the intellect.’
‘Judging your early artistic efforts is artist abuse. This happens in any number of ways: beginning work is measured against masterworks of other artists; beginning work is exposed to premature criticism, shown to overly critical friends.’
‘By being willing to be a bad artist, you have a chance to be an artist, and perhaps, over time, a very good one.’
‘All too often, it is audacity and not talent that moves an artist to center stage.’
‘Life is what we make of it. Whether we conceive of an inner god force or another outer God, doesn’t matter. Relying on that force does.’
‘It is my experience that this is the case. I have learned, as a rule of thumb, never to ask whether you can do something. Say, instead, that you are doing it. Then fasten your seat belt. The most remarkable things follow.’
‘Whatever you think you can do or believe you can do, begin it. Action has magic, grace, and power in it.’
‘Growth is an erratic forward movement; two steps forward, one step back. Remember that and be very gentle with yourself.’
‘We believe that to be artists we must be tough, cynical, and intellectually chilly. Leave that to the critics. As a creative being, you will be more productive when coaxed than when bullied.’
‘People frequently believe the creative life is grounded in fantasy. The more difficult truth is that creativity is grounded in reality, in particular, the focused, the well-observed or specifically imagined.’
‘One of the chief barriers to accepting God’s generosity is our limited notion of what we are in fact able to accomplish.’
‘God has lots of money. God has lots of movie ideas, novel ideas, poems, songs, paintings, acting jobs. God has a supply of loves, friends, houses that are available to us. By listening to the creator within, we are led to our right path.’
‘The desire to be worldly, sophisticated, and smart often blocks our flow.’
‘For many of us, raised to believe that money is the real source of security, a dependence on God feels foolhardy, suicidal, even laughable.’
‘As you expect God to be more generous, God will be able to be more generous to you.’
‘What we really want to do is what we are really meant to do. When we do what we are meant to do, money comes to us, doors open for us, we feel useful, and the work we do feels like play to us.’
‘Creativity is not and never has been sensible. Why should it be?
‘Making art begins with making hay while the sun shines. It begins with getting into the now and enjoying your day.’
‘In order to thrive as artists – and, one could argue, as people – we need to be available to the universal flow. When we put a stopper on our capacity for joy by anorectically declining the small gifts of life, we turn aside the larger gifts as well.’
‘Once you accept that it is natural to create, you can begin to accept a second idea – that the creator will hand you whatever you need for the project.’
‘Artists and intellectuals are not the same animal.’
‘Over any extended period of time, being an artist requires enthusiasm more than discipline.’
‘In order to work freely on a project, an artist must be at least functionally free of resentment (anger) and resistance (fear).’
‘Creativity is GOD ENERGY flowing through us, shaped by us, like light flowing through a crystal prism. When we are clear about who we are and what we are doing, the energy flows freely and we experience no strain.’
‘Food, work, and sex are all good in themselves. It is the abuse of them that makes them creativity issues.’
‘As artists, we cannot afford to think about who is getting ahead of us, and how they don’t deserve it. The desire to be better than can choke off the simple desire to be. As artists, we cannot afford this thinking. It leads us away from our own voices and choices and into a defensive game that centers outside of ourselves and our sphere of influence.’
‘The creator made us creative. Our creativity is our gift from God. Our use of it is our gift to God. Accepting this bargain is the beginning of true self-acceptance.’
‘Creativity requires faith. Faith requires that we relinquish control.’