Maira Kalman Quotes

I truly believe there's always a solution to every problem.

The book. Calming object. Held in the hand.

The ability to take a walk from one point to the next point, that is half the battle won.

I don't believe in politics; I don't understand any of it.

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

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

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

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

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

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

I don't listen to the news. I don't read the newspaper unless it's eccentric information - and the obituaries, of course.

Jump right in, or wade in slowly.
Advantage to one, it's over quickly.
Advantage to the other, it isn't.

Some people, surely, die on the way to something.
Then we call them the late so-and-so.

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.

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

If I could never work again and I could just listen to music and walk, I'd be very, very happy.

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.

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

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.

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

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

Oh, Tocqueville, you're the man.

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

There is no kind of music I don't listen to. Everything good is interesting. I am as happy with a Bach fugue as I am with a record by Thelonious Monk.

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

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.

I don't like anything permanent; I have to be able to flee. You have to be able to flee at a moment's notice.

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

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.

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.

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.