Washington Allston Quotes

What is genius but the power of expressing a new individuality?

Agents and publishers are always looking for something 'different,' a fresh viewpoint and a new voice, not just re-hashed versions of stuff that's gone before.

To be an artist, you have to nurture the things that most people discard.

If at first the idea is not absurd, then there is no hope for it.

...one of the traits of genius is not to drag its thought through the rut worn by vulgar minds.

One of the things I did learn from 'The Epic' was that we don't have to feel so much pressure to conform to set formats. A song doesn't have to be three minutes and 30 seconds.

You may confuse a lot of people when going against the grain of conventional thinking, and that's perfectly okay. As an entrepreneur, standing up for your vision to your family and friends might possibly be the best practice you will get for the life that awaits you.

You do not move forward by following convention. You celebrate those who are different, who are not burdened by 'normality.'

There is no point in playing safe, because the audiences love different quirks: something that is crazy and out-of-the-box. I think that's what my space is, and if you are going to have your own space in the industry, this is where I want to be.

I've always tried to do things a little bit before they were being done by the mainstream. I challenge myself to do that in stand-up also, to talk about things that I'm not hearing anybody talk about onstage and in the media.

Eccentricity is not, as some would believe, a form of madness. It is often a kind of innocent pride, and the man of genius and the aristocrat are frequently regarded as eccentrics because genius and aristocrat are entirely unafraid of and uninfluenced by the opinions and vagaries of the crowd.

I am one of those who are made for exceptions, not for laws.

Talent warms-up the given (as they say in cookery) and makes it apparent; genius brings something new. But our time lets talent pass for genius. They want to abolish the genius, deify the genius, and let talent forge ahead.

Never follow the crowd in what you do; the crowd has never produced anything of lasting quality, value or beauty.

All invention and progress comes from finding a link between two ideas that have never met.

The truly creative mind in any field is no more than this: A human creature born abnormally, inhumanly sensitive.

Eccentricity is originality that leads nowhere.

All new ideas begin in a non-conforming mind that questions some tenet of the conventional wisdom.

Originality is something that is easily exaggerated, especially by authors contemplating their own work.

In exploring new and doubtful tracts of speculation, the mind strikes out true and original views; as a drop of water hesitates at first what direction it will take, but afterwards follows its own course.

The true painter must be able, with the most usual things, to have the most unusual ideas.

Stay Weird, Stay Different.

Do the things that make perfect sense to you, [and] don't be afraid to shout it from the mountain tops just because it's outside the box or against the grain in your industry. More often than not, you're probably going to be right.

If someone asks me what inspires me, I always say, "That which is missing," because I don't want to copy everything that's already happening. I feel like when you copy, you blend in, and when you blend in, you get lost.