The painter... does not fit the paints to the world. He most certainly does not fit the world to himself. He fits himself to the paint. The self is the servant who bears the paintbox and its inherited contents.

Quote by Annie Dillard

Topics: Annie Dillard Quotes

Aim for the chopping block. If you aim for the wood, you will have nothing....

Aim for the chopping block. If you aim for the wood, you will have nothing....

As soon as beauty is sought not from religion and love, but for pleasure, it...

As soon as beauty is sought not from religion and love, but for pleasure, it...

Your work is to keep cranking the flywheel that turns the gears that spin the...

Your work is to keep cranking the flywheel that turns the gears that spin the...

How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.

How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.

The surest sign of age is loneliness.

The surest sign of age is loneliness.

The dedicated life is worth living. You must give with your whole heart.

The dedicated life is worth living. You must give with your whole heart.

There is no shortage of good days. It is good lives that are hard to...

There is no shortage of good days. It is good lives that are hard to...

You can't test courage cautiously.

You can't test courage cautiously.

There is a certain age at which a child looks at you in all earnestness...

There is a certain age at which a child looks at you in all earnestness...

People love pretty much the same things best. A writer looking for subject inquires not...

People love pretty much the same things best. A writer looking for subject inquires not...

A schedule defends from chaos and whim. It is a net for catching days. It...

A schedule defends from chaos and whim. It is a net for catching days. It...

Spend the afternoon. You can't take it with you.

Spend the afternoon. You can't take it with you.

The writer studies literature, not the world. He is careful of what he reads, for...

The writer studies literature, not the world. He is careful of what he reads, for...

Every book has an intrinsic impossibility, which its writer discovers as soon as his first...

Every book has an intrinsic impossibility, which its writer discovers as soon as his first...

It is ironic that the one thing that all religions recognize as separating us from...

It is ironic that the one thing that all religions recognize as separating us from...

Our life is a faint tracing on the surface of mystery, like the idle, curved...

Our life is a faint tracing on the surface of mystery, like the idle, curved...

Eskimo: If I did not know about God and sin, would I go to hell?...

Eskimo: If I did not know about God and sin, would I go to hell?...

If I had been the Virgin Mary, I would have said No.

If I had been the Virgin Mary, I would have said No.

Infidel: In New York, one who does not believe in the Christian religion; in Constantinople,...

Infidel: In New York, one who does not believe in the Christian religion; in Constantinople,...

Difference of religion breeds more quarrels than difference of politics

Difference of religion breeds more quarrels than difference of politics