Maira Kalman Quotes

My workspace is defined by books, ephemera, quiet and light. I don't have a computer, telephone or a fax machine there.

What protects you in this world from sadness and from the loss of an ability to do something? ... Work and love.

Everyone I know is looking for solace, hope and a tasty snack.

A visit to a museum is a search for beauty, truth, and meaning in our lives. Go to museums as often as you can.

Flowers lead to books, which lead to thinking and not thinking and then more flowers and music, music. Then many more flowers and many more books.

I like the brooding man - a brooding man with a sense of humor.

if something does go wrong, here is my advice... KEEP CALM and CARRY ON.

Go out and walk. That is the glory of life.

In any work you do, you can be profound one minute, and then you be superficial the next, and you can be smart and insightful and then insipid. There can be room for all that.

Washing dishes is the anecdote to confusion. I know that for a fact.

On my desk, I always have a lemon or a lime drying. I love the fragrance. Also, a Staedtler eraser, a brush for the eraser and a pencil sharpener.

Wonderful things happen when your brain is empty.

You'd have to be completely crazy not to be influenced by and take from other artists. It's completely impossible not to.

My short attention span has allowed me a life of diversity in work and place.

I live in a small world of gouache and brush and pen and ink. I'd like to explore the world of multiples - etching and prints.

The book. Calming object. Held in the hand.

I still do have the little lunch bag that my mother made out of a towel and embroidered with my name on it for when I went to kindergarten.

Every Monday morning is new hope.

It's almost impossible to reconcile the realities of how one feels during the day, hour by hour. But I approach things not cynically.

My sister is an artist and an interior designer. She went to high school for art. I went to high school for music.

The most inspiring objects are books. I have about 5,000 volumes in my home library. It's an unending source of visuals and ideas.

I have many questions, but no patience to think them through.

I like Thomas Jefferson, though he intimidated me. I thought he would have been very tough to be around. I don't know if he had such a sense of humor.

Michael Pollan is a champion. In all ways. A man of great integrity, humor, and common sense and kindness.

I said, 'Well, how much space do I have?' And they said, 'Well, you know, it's the Internet.'

Useless and precious objects. Taking up space. Taking up time.

If you go too fast you might not notice everything. On the other hand, you don't want to be late.

Isn't that the only way to curate a life? To live among things that make you gasp with delight?

... suffice to say, joy is where you find it- usually on the shelf right next to sadness.