Great Throughts Treasury

This site is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Alan William Smolowe who gave birth to the creation of this database.

Jan Phillips

Author, Public Speaker, Workshop Leader

"In the creative process, we are called to co-create with the thing that wants birthing. We must listen, open ourselves, summon courage, commit ourselves to the task, and begin. And this is the hardest part: in the face of nothing, we must begin. Not waiting for the sentence to be fully formed before writing the first word. Not waiting for the completed image to manifest in our minds before approaching the canvas."

"Be creative with every moment."

"Committing to our creativity is an act of faith, a promise that we will keep at it despite our fears and failings and despite whatever obstacles we find in our paths."

"What we need to know, we already know. It is not more knowledge that is needed, but more careful listening, more dreaming, more daring."

"Intimacy does not occur by default. It has to be intended, worked at."

"Let us not wait for the heroic, conspicuous gestures, but rather look more carefully for those small, daily kindnesses, those rituals of bonding and sharing that show us as people revering life, revering each other."

"No matter how brilliant our attempts to inform, it is our ability to inspire that will turn the tides."

"Quotations distill ideas down to their essence."

"What we need to know, we already know. It is not more knowledge that is needed, but more careful listening, more dreaming, more daring."