Top 280 Austin Kleon Quotes (2025 Update)
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251. “Nobody is born with a style or a voice. We don’t out of the womb knowing who we are. In the beginning, we learn by pretending to be our heroes. We learn by copying.”

— Austin Kleon

252. “When I’m stuck in the morning and I don’t know what to write about in my diary, I’ll modify the pros-and-cons list. I’ll draw a line down the middle of the page, and in one column I’ll list what I’m thankful for, and in the other column, I’ll write down what I need help with. It’s a paper prayer.”

— Austin Kleon

253. “Teaching people doesn’t subtract value from what you do, it actually adds to it.”

— Austin Kleon

254. “Don’t be jealous when the people you like do well – celebrate their victory as if it’s your own.”

— Austin Kleon

255. “There’s an economic theory out there that if you take the incomes of your five closest friends and average them, the resulting number will be pretty close to your own income.”

— Austin Kleon

256. “Don’t worry about unity from piece to piece – what unifies all of your work is the fact that you made it.”

— Austin Kleon

257. “Some days you just have to get rid of as best as you can.”

— Austin Kleon

258. “When you ignore quantitative measurements for a bit, you can get back to qualitative measurements. Is it good? Really good? Do you like it? You can also focus more on what the work does that can’t be measured. What it does to your soul.”

— Austin Kleon

259. “You can’t wait around for someone to call you an artist before you make art. You’ll never make it.”

— Austin Kleon

260. “The stupidest possible creative act is still a creative act,” writes Clay Shirky in his book Cognitive Surplus. “On the spectrum of creative work, the difference between the mediocre and the good is vast. Mediocrity is, however, still on the spectrum; you can move from mediocre to good in increments. The real gap is between doing nothing and doing something.”

— Austin Kleon

261. “The fellow-pupil can help more than the master because he knows less.”

— Austin Kleon

262. “But human beings are interested in other human beings and what other human beings do.”

— Austin Kleon

263. “When I was younger, I never really knew what this meant. I used to worry a lot about voice, wondering if I had my own. But now I realize that the only way to find your voice is to use it.”

— Austin Kleon

264. “This is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal. I know the world is bruised and bleeding, and though it is important not to ignore its pain, it is also critical to refuse to succumb to its malevolence. Like failure, chaos contains information that can lead to knowledge – even wisdom. Like art.” – Toni Morrison.”

— Austin Kleon

265. “You should always share the work of others as if it were your own, treating it with respect and care.”

— Austin Kleon

266. “The months leading up to World War II were some of the most terrible months in the life of Leonard and Virginia Woolf, as they “helplessly and hopelessly” watched events unfold. Leonard said one of the most horrible things was listening to Hitler’s rants on the radio – “the savage and insane ravings of a vindictive underdog who suddenly saw himself to be all-powerful.”

— Austin Kleon

267. “Science fiction writer Theodore Sturgeon once said that 90 percent of everything is crap. The same is true of our own work. The trouble is, we don’t always know what’s good and what sucks.”

— Austin Kleon

268. “When I’m working on my art, I don’t feel like Odysseus. I feel more like Sisyphus rolling his boulder up the hill. When I’m working, I don’t feel like Luke Skywalker. I feel more like Phil Connors in the movie Groundhog Day.”

— Austin Kleon

269. “To establish your own routine, you have to spend some time observing your days and your moods.”

— Austin Kleon

270. “How does an artist look at the world? First, you figure out what’s worth stealing, then you move on to the next thing.”

— Austin Kleon

271. “It is better to take what does not belong to you than to let it lie around neglected.” – Mark Twain.”

— Austin Kleon

272. “Life is a lonely bussiness.”

— Austin Kleon

273. “When people realize they’re being listened to, they tell you things.” – Richard Ford.”

— Austin Kleon

274. “Whether I went to school or not, I would always study.” – RZA.”

— Austin Kleon

275. “I’ll often post something I loved making that took me forever and crickets chirp. I’ll post something else I think is sort of lame that took me no effort and it will go viral. If I let those metrics run my personal practice, I don’t think my heart could take it very long.”

— Austin Kleon

276. “You and I will be around a lot longer than Twitter, and nothing substitutes face to face.” – Rob Delaney It.”

— Austin Kleon

277. “You have to find a place that feeds you – creatively, socially, spiritually, and literally. Even.”

— Austin Kleon

278. “Don’t share things you can’t properly credit. Find the right credit, or don’t share.”

— Austin Kleon

279. “By letting go of our egos and sharing our process, we allow for the possibility of people having an ongoing connection with us and our work, which helps us move more of our product.”

— Austin Kleon

280. “This is actually a good thing, because you want attention only after you’re doing really good work.”

— Austin Kleon

281. “We all like to think we’re more complex than a two-sentence explanation.”

— Austin Kleon

282. “Whenever you’re at a loss for what move to make next, just ask yourself, “What would make a betterstory?”

— Austin Kleon

283. “Where do you get your ideas?” The honest artist answers, “I steal them.”

— Austin Kleon

284. “You need to find a way to bring your body into your work.”

— Austin Kleon

285. “What’s clear is that it’s healthiest if we make a daily appointment to disconnect from the world so that we can connect with ourselves.”

— Austin Kleon

286. “The world is crazy. Creative work is hard. Life is short and art is long.”

— Austin Kleon

287. “It’s often what an artist chooses to leave out that makes the art interesting.”

— Austin Kleon

288. “If you’ve never changed your mind about something, pinch yourself; you may be dead.”

— Austin Kleon

289. “In this age of information abundance and overload, those who get ahead will be the folks who figure out what to leave out so they can concentrate on what’s really important to them. Nothing is more paralyzing than the idea of limitless possibilities. The idea that you can do anything is absolutely terrifying.”

— Austin Kleon

290. “Share something small every day.”

— Austin Kleon

291. “When you don’t have much time, a routine helps you make the little time you have count. When you have all the time in the world, a routine helps you make sure you don’t waste it.”

— Austin Kleon

292. “Teach what you know.”

— Austin Kleon

293. “Enjoy your obscurity while it lasts.”

— Austin Kleon