Eric Rothman

And one of the great tragedies of our time is how thoroughly we are trained to distrust this kind of knowing. From a young age, we are encouraged to prioritise strategy over spontaneity, prudence over passion. We are told to plan our lives, manage our time, brand our personalities. Desire, in this framework, is a liability... too wild, too messy,... See more

Don’t be lame, don’t be corny. The craft has to be there. I feel like I’m just such a craft snob. I just don’t respect people that don’t... I mean, whatever, it’s your thing if you don’t care about it, but it’s like, if you know about it, you know it when you see it. Also, every masterpiece has incorporated so much craft into it, and there’s no way... See more

Freedom comes from acceptance of all parts of the journey — like paddling a canoe across the ocean — to be able to do so calmly, gracefully, rather than constantly trying to find land, some imagined sanctuary of security, validation, or permission. No one and nothing can give that to you, so the best thing to do is to simply surrender. Let go. Know... See more

“Well, I’m gonna get a lot of hell for saying this. I just want to put it out there. I know, I am. This is going to be a something that I might regret saying, but...I think one of the best things to cure self-doubt is just to go to really bad stuff. I’m talking about plays you hear about that are terrible–go to them. There’s shows on television... See more

One belief I have is that if you wish to be virtuous you will learn to eat cereal virtuously.

The novice of virtue is tempted by dreams of heroic acts, just as the novice sculptor daydreams of palatial monuments, or other grand work. But the master sculptor is extraordinary not because he has been commissioned for monumental bronzes (which may never... See more