Eiji Tsuburaya on remaining childlike

"My heart and mind are as they were when I was a child. Then I loved to play with toys and to read stories of magic. I still do. My wish is only to make life happier and more beautiful for those who will go and see my films of fantasy." – Eiji Tsuburaya

Source: Eiji Tsuburaya: Master of Monsters by August Ragone, page 14

RZA on the power of imagination

  I was playing with my son and he goes "shoo-shoo"––making like he's shooting powers at me. "I'm sending my powers at you!" he'd yell. And the first time he did it, I said, "You know, that really won't hurt anybody."
   But the second time he did it, I didn't say that to him. Because I thought about it and realized that if you really have that will and that chi energy, and that understanding, who knows? Maybe you can fuck someone up that way. That thirty-sixth chamber in martial arts, that's the one where the fighter just forces energy at his opponent and knocks him across the room. So I don't want to take that away from a child.
   It's imagination. To imagine means to image. And once you make an image, you can make flesh. It's power upon power. And it's real. That power, that force--if you let it, it can move mountains.

– RZA

Source: The Wu-Tang Manual, pg. 87

David Carradine on superheroes

"When I was a little kid I read a comic book called Supersnipe. This maybe six-year-old kid was the world's biggest comic fan, and he dressed up in baggy red long johns with the window in the back, plus a cape and a little black mask, and went around trying to fight crime and stuff. But in a couple of the stories, he actually became Supersnipe, over six feet tall, with lots of muscles and skintight long johns, but still with this tiny six-year-old head on top of it all. And it wasn't exactly a dream in the stories; the daring deeds really did get done.

"Well, I was the world's greatest comic fan, and I got my grandmother to sew me a superhero costume and tried to fly in it, off the garage roof. I really believed this stuff, and I'm not embarrassed to say I still do... Superhuman abilities are a lot of fun. Rarely in the comic books do they get into the price. It's heavy, as I remember. But, hey, you live only an infinite number of times, so why not make yourself useful."

– David Carradine
Source: The Kill Bill Diary, pg. 131

Russell Simmons on stillness

 

"When Albert Einstein developed the theory of relativity, he was operating out of a state of stillness. When Biggie Smalls wrote his greatest rhymes, he was operating out of a state of stillness. When Thomas Edison invented the lightbulb, he was operating out of a state of stillness. When Gandhi went on his first hunger strike, he was operating out of a state of stillness too.
  Stillness is the fertile soil in which imagination is nourished, and ideas can grow to incredible heights. The stillness inside of us is a field of dreams from which we can reap our most abundant harvests."

– Russell Simmons

Source: Super Rich, pg. 32

Masahiro Mori on the proper flow of learning

"To make water flow, it is necessary to create a difference in height, for water will flow only from high places to low places. In human society, we can increase the flow of nature by maintaining a low posture. 
  When you go to a scholar or an expert and ask him to teach you, the best way to ensure a flow of information from him to you is for you to practice humility–put yourself on a lower level than your instructor, so that his knowledge can flow down more freely. If you attempt to be his equal–to stand on the same level–you are not likely to learn much. Still less will you learn from anyone whom you hold in contempt."

– Masahiro Mori

Source: The Buddha in the Robot: A Robot Engineer's Thoughts on Science and Religion

Pixar's Austin Madison on inspiration

May 17, 2011

 

To whom it may inspire,

I, like many of you artists out there, constantly shift between two states. The first (and far more preferable of the two) is the white-hot, "in the zone" seat-of-the pants, firing on all cylinders creative mode. This is when you lay your pen down and the ideas pour out like wine from a royal chalice! This happens about 3% of the time.

The other 97% of the time I am in the frustrated, struggling, office-corner-full-of-crumpled-up-paper mode. The important thing is to slog diligently through this quagmire of discouragement and despair. Put on some audio commentary and listen to the stories of professionals who have been making films for decades going through the same slings and arrows of outrageous production problems.

In a word: PERSIST.

PERSIST on telling your story. PERSIST on reaching your audience. PERSIST on staying true to your vision. Remember what Peter Jackson said, "Pain is temporary. Film is forever." And he of all people should know.

So next time you hit writer's block, or your computer crashes and you lose an entire night's work because you didn't hit save (always hit save), just remember: you're never far from that next burst of divine creativity. Work through that 97% of murky abysmal mediocrity to get to that 3% which everyone will remember you for!

I guarantee you, the art will be well worth the work!

Your friend and mine,

Austin Madison

Jay-Z on Jean-Michel Basquiat

 
"When Basquiat painted 'Charles the First' he was only twenty-two. People always wanted to stick Basquiat in some camp or another, to paste on some label that would be stable and make it easy to treat him like a commodity. But he was elusive. His eye was always on a bigger picture, not whatever corner people tried to frame him in. But mostly his eye was probably on himself, on using his art to get what he wanted, to say what he wanted to communicate his truth."

–Jay-Z, Decoded (p.95)

Jim Jarmusch on originality.

The RZA & Jim Jarmusch

"Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows. Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) with be authentic. Authenticity is invaluable; originality is non-existent. And don't bother concealing your thievery–celebrate it if you feel like it. In any case, always remember what Jean-Luc Godard said: 'It's not where you take things from–it's where you take them to.'"

–Jim Jarmusch

George Lucas on the need for peers.

Francis Ford Coppola & George Lucas

"There's no way of getting through any kind of endeavor without help from friends. And trying to be the number one person, ultimately, is a losing proposition. You need peers, you need people who are at the same level you are. You never know in life when you're going to need help, and you never know who you're going to need it from."

– George Lucas

Bruce Lee on human potential.

"Ever since I was a child I have had this instinctive urge for expansion and growth. To me, the function and duty of a quality human being is the sincere and honest development of one's potential."
– Bruce Lee