13 aMUSEing Quotes

On Monday I posted about my lack of a muse. I have a basement instead. It got me thinking about muses. Here are 13 random quotes about them.

1. “The muses are ghosts, and sometimes they come uninvited.”
― Stephen King, Bag of Bones

2. “Inspiration is the windfall from hard work and focus. Muses are too unreliable to keep on the payroll.”
― Helen Hanson

3. “The loveliest Muse in the world does not feed her owner; these girls make fine mistresses but terrible wives”
― Alfred de Vigny, Stello

4. “The absence of a muse can be even more inspirational than its presence”
― ALAgrApHY

5. “Following my muse has worked out pretty well so far. I can’t see any reason to change the formula now.”
– Chris Van Allsburg

6. A successful artist is inspired by his muse, and his muse is inspired by the payment of a commission.
– Robert Brault

7. The most astonishing joy is to receive from the muses the gift of a whole lyric.
– James Broughton

8. Those who work only when the Muse strikes them make little progress.
– William V. Dunning

9. No muse shoots darts of insight into the unsuspecting artist.
– Eric Maisel

10. Why does my Muse only speak when she is unhappy? / She does not, I only listen when I am unhappy.
– Stevie Smith

11. I would especially like to re-court the Muse of poetry, who ran off with the mailman four years ago, and drops me only a scribbled postcard from time to time.
– John Updike

12. “If I ever saw my muse she would be an old woman with a tight bun and spectacles poking me in the middle of the back and growling, “Wake up and write the book!”
― Kerry Greenwood

13. “But the fact is, she [the muse] won’t be summoned. She alights when it damn well pleases her. She falls in love with one artist, then deserts him for another. She’s a real btch!”
― Erica Jong