Ahmed Alam

“The object of painting a picture is-however unreasonable that may sound... The object which is back of every true work of art, is the attainment of state of being, a state of high functioning, a more than ordinary moment of existence. The picture is but a by-product of the state, a trace, the footprint of that state.”
― Robert Henri, The Art Spirit

“HAMM:
In my house.
(pause.)
One day you’ll be blind, like me. You’ll be sitting there, a speck in the void, in the dark, for ever, like me.
(pause.)
One day you’ll say to yourself, I’m tired, I’ll sit down, and you’ll go and sit down. Then you’ll say, I’m hungry, I’ll get up and get something to eat. But you won’t get up. You’ll say, I shouldn’t have sat down, but since I have I’ll sit on a little longer, then I’ll get up and get something to eat. But you won’t get up and you won’t get anything to eat.
(pause.)
You’ll look at the wall a while, then you’ll say, I’ll close my eyes, perhaps have a little sleep, after that I’ll feel better, and you’ll close them. And when you open them again there’ll be no wall any more.
(pause.)
Infinite emptiness will be all around you, all the resurrected dead of all the ages wouldn’t fill it, and there you’ll be like a little bit of grit in the middle of the steppe.
(pause.)
Yes, one day you’ll know what it is, you’ll be like me, except that you won’t have anyone with you, because you won’t have had pity on anyone and because there won’t be anyone left to have pity on.
(pause.)”
― Samuel Beckett, Endgame

“و من السخرية ان الذين يملكون ما يزيد عن حاجاتهم يبحثون عن الفائض أكثر و اكثر، و يتركون مسافة بينهم و بين الآخرين الذين ينافسونم في تكديس الثروات. وهكذا تصبح الروابط اضعف فاضعف و ينخفض حجم الصلات الانسانية فيما بينهم. و لكن البدوي في حالة الفاقد القصوى يقترب من المعنى الجوهري للاشياء دون أن يضر نفسه، ودون ان يفقد روابطه بالآخرين مثل المستقرين”
― نوبوأكي نوتوهارا, العرب: وجهة نظر يابانية

“The intuitive mind is a sacred gift, and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.”
― Betty Edwards, Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain: A Course in Enhancing Creativity and Artistic Confidence: The Definitive 4th Edition