Nothing defines humans better than their willingness to do irrational things in the pursuit of phenomenally unlikely payoffs. This is the principle behind lotteries, dating, and religion.
Scott AdamsRead
Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.
Interpretation
Creativity involves freedom to make mistakes, while art is the skill of discerning valuable ones.
This quote by Scott Adams emphasizes the dual aspects of creativity and art. It suggests that true creativity comes from the willingness to explore and make mistakes without fear, but to be an artist requires the ability to recognize which of those mistakes hold value, ultimately shaping the final piece of work. This reflects the nuanced process of creation where both experimentation and critical judgment play essential roles.
In practice
This quote could inspire young artists in a workshop about the creative process.
Nothing defines humans better than their willingness to do irrational things in the pursuit of phenomenally unlikely payoffs. This is the principle behind lotteries, dating, and religion.
If you want to kill an idea without being identified as the assassin, suggest that the legal department take a look at it.
My failed corporate career became the fodder for the 'Dilbert' comic. Once it became clear I would not be climbing any higher on the corporate ladder, it freed me to mock managers without worrying that it would stall my career. Most failures create some sort of unplanned freedom. I took full advantage of mine.
What does it mean to be yourself?” he asked. “If it means to do what you think you ought to do, then you’re doing that already. If it means to act like you’re exempt from society’s influence, that’s the worst advice in the world; you would probably stop bathing and wearing clothes. The advice to ‘be yourself’ is obviously nonsense. But our brains accept this tripe as wisdom because it is more comfortable to believe we have a strategy for life than to believe we have no idea how to behave.
As far as I can recall, the initial shiver of inspiration [for Lolita] was somehow prompted by a newspaper story about an ape in the Jardin des Plantes, who, after months of coaxing by a scientist, produced the first drawing ever charcoaled by an animal: this sketch showed the bars of the poor creature's cage.
Sometimes just to paint a head you have to give up the whole figure. To paint a leaf, you have to sacrifice the whole landscape. It might seem like you're limiting yourself at first, but after a while you realize that having a quarter of an inch of something you have a better chance of holding on to a certain feeling of the universe than if you pretended to be doing the whole sky.
The real test of a musician is live performance. It's one thing to spend a long time learning how to play well in the studio, but to do it in front of people is what keeps me coming back to touring.
I have never thought of writing for reputation and honor. What I have in my heart must come out; that is the reason why I compose.
The great thing about the arts, and especially popular music, is that it really does cut across genres and races and classes.
I believe in the city as a natural human environment, but we must humanize it. It's art that will re-define public space in the 21st Century. We can make our cities diverse, inspirational places by putting art, dance and performance in all its forms into the matrix of street life.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.