Quotes on Creativity

More and more, I think the thing our descendants will find most quaint and old-fashioned about us is the trouble we still take to make that distinction, between the virtual and the “real.” I think that will seem sort of Victorian to them

Remember something about attention. Yes, it’s possible to buy, grab, or even steal it. But it’s far better to earn it.

I think we, at a fundamental level, need to redefine the success metrics of capitalism. That they include three key ingredients: 1. Business, successful business, making money. The traditional form of success. 2. You have to be making a difference in the world, you have to be contributing in some way. 3. I think you need to be emotionally engaged in the work. You need to love the work. These three things aren’t, right now, considered the success metrics for capitalism

When you look in the mirror and see no change, and still keep faith, knowing that in time you will get there if you stay focused and on track, that’s the difference between those who succeed and those who fail.

You build on failure. You use it as a stepping stone. Close the door on the past. You don’t try to forget the mistakes, but you don’t dwell on it. You don’t let it have any of your energy, or any of your time, or any of your space.

We can either have competition, which would solve a lot of these problems, or we can have regulation. What Comcast is trying is to have neither. It’s insanity, and we keep lying to ourselves about it. It’s time to start thinking about ways to actually do something.

Until a year ago, I felt that I wasn’t fully able to perform my job as a kind of project leader for inspiration, because my time was not really my own. Like many people, I was hyper-scheduled, often in depressingly small chunks of time, at one meeting after another, with very little time in between. I remember one particular day when I had a different appointment or task every 10 minutes. My brain almost exploded. Creative people thrive on serendipity, spontaneous interactions, moments of ribald humor, intense debate or just simple eye contact, and I felt as if I was losing myself. I decided that it was time to act. So I tried an experiment. I just stopped saying yes and started saying no to things. Actually, there was a bit more method to my madness. I started a ritual that I still use today: I sit down and look at my calendar every Sunday night, pore through my coming week’s meetings and cancel a bunch of them — redundant ones where I don’t need to be “in the loop,” ones where there is an opportunity for someone else to make a decision, ones that don’t particularly inspire me, or ones where I can’t really add value. My overarching goal right now, wherever possible, is to give myself more time to simply be.

He who works with his hands is a laborer. He who works with his hands and his head is a craftsman. He who works with his hands and his head and his heart is an artist.