“Create all the happiness you are able to create; remove all the misery you are able to remove. Every day will allow you, --will invite you to add something to the pleasure of others, --or to diminish something of their pains.”

“The seraph looked up, and pain sliced through my head as our eyes met, almost blinding me. "I honor you. You can do something I cannot," it said softly. "For all I am and all I have been, you are human. You are loved for your inventiveness, both good and bad. I can kill, but you can create. You can even create...an end," it said wistfully. "That's something I will never be able to do. Accept this. Create.”

“...he understands that taking more pains to create something can add to the sheer pleasure of offering it up to the universe.”

“There is no abstract art. You must always start with something. Afterward you can remove all traces of reality.”

“You do not need to pay attention to those voices within you that create pain, or make you feel less competent, smart or able.”

“Something terrible happens to people who don't create, something poisonous. Creating is a necessity for all humans, like breathing. If you don't do it, you suffer.”