Alice Walker

"Deliver me from writers who say the way they live doesn't matter.  I'm not sure a bad person can write a good book.  If art doesn't make us better, then what on earth is it for."

— Alice Walker

American Novelist/Poet

1944 -

Can a person live a horrible personal life and still write great literature or paint great pictures?  Should we make moral judgements on the personal lives that creative people live?  Or should we separate the personal lives from the work?  Not easy questions.  Nor easy answers.  Many writers and artists have done things in their personal lives that were not morally right.  Where do we draw the line?  Hitler?  There are those who say all his paintings should be destroyed.  Charles Dickens?  He was not the best of husbands.  John Cheever?  He was a drunk.  Like Alice Walker, I hope that art will make us better people, but I am not sure that it does.  What do you think?

Alice Walker

"Even if you don't consider yourself an artist, to make something that is beautiful and not destructive, or to make something that is useful and not destructive, that is the healing power of the artist."

— Alice Walker

American Novelist/Poet

1944 -

One of the oldest needs of human beings is the need to create.  There are people who make beautiful objects, but society does not consider them artists.  There are people who make useful objects, but society does not consider them artists.  And yet in my opinion, they are artists.   A gardener who is passionate about the garden she grows is an artist.  A furniture maker who is passionate about the furniture he makes is an artist.  

Here is Alice Walker talking about the genesis of her novel, The Color Purple.

Alice Walker

"Don't wait around for other people to be happy for you.  Any happiness you get you've got to make yourself."

— Alice Walker

American Novelist/Poet

1944 - 

The appreciation and support of others may be short-lived and fickle.  We need to believe in ourselves and our work.  Our happiness and satisfaction must come from within.  We must learn to care for ourselves and encourage our artistic work.  The world may not understand what we do or why we do it, but we must find the inner strength to keep going.  Pat yourself on the back today and give yourself a compliment.