Some of them are bleak. Some of them are sassy. But Shiva knows creative types need some inspiration.
The Buddhist definition of mantra is a sound, syllable or group of words that creates transformation through repetition. The pressures of finding work, balancing the best technology with your emptying bank account, and walking a thin line between art and commercialism are hard enough on a photographer, while simultaneously seeking to capture meaningful moments and memories.
We’ve compiled a list of 25 things you can mutter to yourself when you’re seeking inspiration. In the mirror, on the toilet, when rehearsing your order at Taco Bell—we won’t judge.
Here are 20 mantras to make you a better photographer.
When Rejected, Persist
1. Nanakorobi yaoki
Origin: Japan
English Translation: “Fall seven times, stand up eight”
2. ’ashadd min alhajar
Origin: Arabic region
English Translation: “Tougher than a stone”
3. Saru mo ki kara ochiru
Origin: Japan
English Translation: “Even monkeys fall from trees,” meaning the most skilled can still make mistakes
4. Sh?bài shì chéngg?ng zh? m?
Origin: China
English Translation: “Failure is the mother of success”
5. Donde hay gana, hay maña
Origin: Latin America/Spain
English Translation: “Where there is desire, there is ability,” or where there’s a will, there’s a way
Practice Your Art
6. Wàn shì k?i tóu nán
Origin: China
English Translation: “All things are difficult before they are easy.”
7. Ang kita sa bula, sa bula rin mawawala
Origin: Philippines
English Translation: “What comes from bubbles will disappear in bubbles,” or easy come, easy go
8. B?ng dòng s?n ch?, f?i y? rì zh? hán
Origin: China
English Translation: “It takes more than one cold day, for a river to freeze three feet deep,” basically meaning Rome wasn’t built in a day
9. Kaizen
Origin: Japan
English Translation: literally “change good,” meaning striving for improvement constantly
10. Alhulu ma yakmalish
Origin: Egypt
English Translation: “A beautiful thing is never perfect”
11. Tam net styda, ne znaya; styd lezhit v ne obnaruzhivaya
Origin: Russia
English Translation: “There is no shame in not knowing; the shame lies in not finding out”
Free To Be Me
12. Merdeka atau mati
Origin: Indonesia
English Translation: “Freedom or death”, a motto from battling Dutch colonialists
13. Deru kui wa utareru
Origin: Japan
English Translation: “The stake that sticks up gets hammered down,” reminding us that some are threatened by mavericks
14. Hunii erkheer zovokhoor uuriin erkheer jarga
Origin: Mongolia
English Translation: “Suffer in liberty than delight in captivity”
Going with the Flow
15. Om
Origin: India
English Translation: none. Representative of the past, present and future.
16. An piasteís sto choró tha chorépseis
Origin: Greece
English Translation: “If you join the dance circle, you must dance,” a quirky way of saying “when in Rome, do as the Romans do”
17. Optimum est pati quod emendare non possis
Origin: Ancient Rome
English Translation: “It is best to endure what you cannot change,” by the stoic Seneca the Younger, who encourages us to change the things we can
18. Non omnia possumus omnes
Origin: Ancient Rome
English Translation: “We all cannot do everything,” meaning you can’t be a master of every skill, and there’s no shame in that
19. Ada asap ada api
Origin: Indonesia
English Translation: “Every why has wherefore,” or there is no effect without a cause
Haters Gon’ Hate
20. Bakahashinanakyanaoranai
Origin: Japan
English Translation: “Unless an idiot dies, he won’t be cured”
21. Aki nasubi wa yome ni kuwasu na
Origin: Japan
English Translation: “Don’t let your daughter-in-law eat your autumn eggplants,” a charmingly strange way to warn someone against being taken advantage of
22. He who swallows a complete coconut has absolute trust in his anus
Origin: possibly President Robert Mugabe of Ghana
Translation: a colorful insult for the delusional
23. Govoriti resnico, ampak pustite takoj
Origin: Slovenia
English Translation: “Speak the truth, but leave immediately after”
Eat, Pray and Photograph the World
24. An té a bhíónn siúlach, bíonn scéalach
Origin: Ireland (Gaelic)
English Translation: “He who travels has stories to tell”
25. Kusafiri ni kujifunza
Origin: Kenya
English Translation: “Traveling is learning”