I believe in the power of words to inspire, to comfort, and to heal. Words From Susan is an ongoing library of quotes for you to look at, print, and share. Feel free to share widely, with credit, but no commercial use, please.
Min Jin Lee is the author of Free Food For Millionaires and Pachinko. She spoke these words on the podcast Design Matters with Debbie Millman when asked about what advice she would give to her students. She talked about the pressure to see everything as urgent in this attention economy and te need to think about what is important instead.
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Inspired by my Tai Chi class and a good reminder.
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Abigail May Alcott often said these words to her daughter Louisa who let the world know she was alive through her writing, especially the beloved Little Women. From the book ​My Heart is Boundless: Writings of Abigail May Alcott, Louisa's Mother edited by Eve LaPlante who is a cousin of Louisa May Alcott and a great-niece of Abigail May Alcott. Shared on International Women's Day 2021.
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Suffragist Lucy Stone said these words on her deathbed in 1893 to her daughter Alice Stone Blackwell who was also a suffragist. I'm sharing them in celebration of the election of Kamala Harris to the Vice-Presidency of the United States. The quotation is one of fourteen in my book Suffragists Speak.
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Sarah Moore Grimké wrote this in 1837. Ruth Bader Ginsburg quoted her in the documentary RBG. I share this in memory of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The quotation is one of fourteen in my book Suffragists Speak.
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Ashley Bryan is an amazing artist, probably best known for his children's books. The quote is from an interview he did with Lisa Mossel Vietze from the Island Institute in Rockland, Maine in 2010 when he was 87. He's still creating at 97. An inspiring message for us all!
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Elizabeth Cady Stanton spoke these words in her Keynote Address at the Woman's Rights Conference in Seneca Falls, NY on July 19, 1848. “The right is ours. Have it we must. Use it, we will. The pens, the tongues, the fortunes, the indomitable wills of many women are already pledged to secure this right. The great truth that no just government can be formed without the consent of the governed we shall echo and re-echo in the ears of the unjust judge, until by continual coming we shall weary him.”
Click here to purchase Susan's book, Suffragists Speak: Hand-Lettered Quotes To Celebrate The 100th Anniversary Of Women’s Right To Vote.
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This is the final sentence in an opinion piece by the late Congressman John Lewis which was published today in the New York Times. He wrote it shortly before his death to be published on the day of his funeral.
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We really enjoyed watching the CBS All Access Star Trek series "Picard." Star Trek Next Generation was a part of lives for many years and it was great to spend time again with Patrick Stewart and his new companions, as well as meet up with some old ones. I wrote this with the wider end (5mm) of a Zig Memory System calligraphy marker that was running out of ink which gave these lovely textures to the letters.
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I found this quote from Rainer Maria Rilke's Letters to a Young Poet in one of Robyn Gordon's beautiful facebook posts that features the work of artists from around the globe with carefully chosen quotes. It so perfectly fits the "unfamiliar circumstances" of the coronavirus that I had to write it out.
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This quote was originally lettered for the Learning Part 1 chapter of my illustrated memoir, Calligraphy: How I Fell In, Out, and In Love Again. Charles W. Eliot (1834–1926) was President of Harvard University from 1869–1909. The quotation is from his book, The Happy Life, which was an address he gave at The Women's College in Baltimore on November 7, 1895.
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This quote from Hamlet came to me as I was seeking one to send to someone about to have gender reassignment surgery. It also seems to speak to the politics of the moment. I wrote it with a brass ruling pen and Moon Palace sumi ink, both from John Neal.
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This quote from Jack Kerouac's Belief and Technique for Modern Prose was part of my exhibition called The Power of Words at the Clare Gallery at the Franciscan Center for Urban Ministry in Hartford, CT in January 2017. It was written live in the gallery with brush and acrylic paint on a 4 foot by 6.5 foot banner. I've shared my love of Kerouac's words in several formats over the years: my first artist's book entitled Contradictions: Jack Kerouac, Lowell, the River, lettering for the journal Moody Street Irregulars, and as part of an exhibition of Lowell artists at the Rencontre Internationale de Jack Kerouac in Quebec City.
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Read Kerouac's complete list of 30 beliefs and techniques on brainpickings.
Read my blog post about the exhibition in Quebec City.
I was reminded of an exhibit of photography and film by John Cohen at the Photographic Resource Center in Boston in January 2002 when Warren Lehrer wrote about his passing on facebook and I then read his obituary in the New York Times. John Cohen was a musician (founding member of the New Lost City Ramblers), musicologist, photographer, filmmaker, and teacher. He said he thought about being a painter but chose being out in the world photographing over being in a studio in front of an easel.
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I wrote this out on my birthday in 2018 and shared it on my blog. Now I'm adding it to the Words From Susan offerings. The quote is from John O'Donohue's book, To Bless the Space Between Us: A Book of Blessings. His writings are always inspiring.
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I'm sharing this on Labor Day 2019. The line is from a poem written in 1911 by James Oppenheim. It is associated with the successful 1912 strike by women textile workers in Lawrence, MA. Mimi Farina set the poem to music in 1974, the same year she founded the non-profit Bread and Roses designed to bring free music to people isolated in institutions—jails, hospitals, juvenile facilities, and rest homes.
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Click here to listen to Mimi and her sister Joan Baez sing "Bread and Roses."
Click here to hear Mimi talk eloquently about her art and Bread and Roses.
In the fall of 1985, I attended a workshop on Notan, the Japanese design principle of light and dark. I had first encountered the concept in a design class with Brenda Lowen-Siegel at the DeCordova Museum School. I loved Jenny’s workshop and I loved Jenny, especially the philosophical depth she brought to the study of calligraphy and design. From her experiences with Zen Buddhism and Jungian analysis, she saw Notan as more than a design principle. It spoke to her of the importance of acknowledging and balancing light and dark, positive and negative, in all aspects of life. 
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Click here to read my appreciation of Jenny after her passing in 2013.
Created to celebrate Peter Verheyen Day and the 25th Anniversary of the Book_Arts-L which he created in 1994. The knowledge of the subscribers (2333 subscribers in 24 countries) is wide and deep. I don't think there has never been a question that went unanswered. The generous tone is set by Peter. He brings out the best in all of us and keeps us in line on the infrequent occasions when we get snippy. Thank you Peter for all you have done to connect the book arts community. 
Click here to join the Book_Arts-L.
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This started as an interpretation of the word "breath" for the book Breath by Prem Rawat which came about after an email correspondence. I decided that I wanted the message for me to be "breathe" and added the "e" to the design.
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This quote was lettered in memory of the writer Toni Morrison on August 7, 2019, the day after her passing. It is from the essay "The Price of Wealth, the Cost of Care" which was included in her book The Source of Self-Regard.
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