Top 25 Julia Cameron Quotes

Each of us has an inner dream that we can unfold if we will just have the courage to admit what it is. And the faith to trust our own admission. The admitting is often very difficult.

The creative process is a process of surrender, not control.

Creativity is always a leap of faith. You’re faced with a blank page, blank easel, or an empty stage.

In my experience, divorce takes you out for about 10 years, but you hear people talk about it lightly. The same with depression. You only have to have one good breakdown before you realize you need help. It’s pretty frightening.

My work unblocks people, and then I look at the work that they do, and I think, ‘My God, how could they not have known they were talented? How could they not have known?’

Love is the substance of all life. Everything is connected in love, absolutely everything.

I think everybody encounters difficulty. It’s just more pitched in some people.

So much of our mythology around money centers on the illusion that if we had ‘more,’ we would be more comfortable and more able to access our creativity. But creativity and prosperity are spiritual matters, not fiscal ones.

We have a lot of pressures on children very young. We have ambition. We over-schedule our children. We want them to have soccer lessons and violin lessons… I think children need to have at least an hour of fun a day.

I believe that when we ask to be led, we are led, and there’s nothing too small or esoteric for spiritual help.

I think that ‘Floor Sample‘ is a story of resiliency, a lifelong spiritual search, and a lifelong sense of spiritual companionship that is most often expressed as creativity. My desire in writing the book was to step from behind the icon of ‘Julia the teacher‘ and introduce ‘Julia the artist.’

Writing is a spiritual practice in that people that have no spiritual path can undertake it and, as they write, they begin to wake up to a larger connection. After a while, people tend to find that there is some muse that they are connecting to.

When it was suggested that I write a memoir I said, ‘I’m not old enough. I’m not distinguished enough.’ But I went home and sat down to write, and the material for the book just came flooding into my hands.

Growth is an erratic forward movement: two steps forward, one step back. Remember that and be very gentle with yourself.

It’s important always to have a sense of wonder.

My life is at least as intricate as my readers‘ lives. People say that ‘The Artist’s Way’ changed their lives, but when they talk about ‘Floor Sample,’ they tell me, ‘I was with you all the way.’

There’s this mythology that parents are supposed to be parents 24/7 and are supposed to be completely fulfilled by their kids. That’s not the case. We need to make our own passions a priority.

When we put the pen to paper, we articulate things in our life that we may have felt vague about. Before you write about something, somebody says, ‘How do you feel?’ and you say, ‘Oh, I feel okay.’ Then you write about it, and you discover you don’t feel okay.

Technology teaches passivity. Absorbed in our devices – at any age – we are absorbed in someone else‘s perspective.

When I ask for help with my creativity, I get it.

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.

I believe that I am very lucky to have close friends who are faithful. From my friends, I have learned the importance of perseverance.

Don’t try to ‘fix‘ the child’s boredom – rather, let the child find his or her inner resources.

Mystery is at the heart of creativity. That, and surprise.

People get so focused on the big dream that they forget about the process.