Dana Spiotta Quotes

A lot of our creative flow comes from a place of curiosity and exploration. It often feels like we're excavating and asking questions and not just giving answers but really just exploring.

I'm always looking to make something that didn't exist before, fumbling about in the dark, not just while making a collection. The search for something new is a constant in my everyday life. But constantly searching for something new is like looking for a well in a desert.

I'm always searching for that element of discovery, whether I'm making music, or just generally.

Before there can be wonders, there must be wonder.

People inspire me. Curiosity inspires me. Mystery inspires me.

Curiosity is the key to creativity.

The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play instinct acting from inner necessity. The creative mind plays with the objects it loves.

I'm ever curious about the world. I'm driven to go out and find new things to write about. Having a vivid imagination is also a plus.

Because we imagine, we can have invention and technology. It's actually play, not necessity, that is the mother of invention.

Necessity may be the mother of invention, but play is certainly the father.

When I'm in a place like Iceland, I allow myself to take a little more time to divert off onto other paths creatively for a while and see what comes to me.

To us, the value of a work lies in its newness: the invention of new forms, or a novel combination of old forms, the discovery of unknown worlds or the exploration of unfamiliar areas in worlds already discovered - revelations, surprises.

An interest in ideas is a sign of human life. People are fascinated by what the future is going to be - and the future is going to be an accumulation of ideas.

I write what I don't know. It's way more interesting.

It is through science that we prove, but through intuition that we discover.

Fear of the unknown is a great creative partner.

What makes our world so fascinating is that continuously there are novel and creative ideas spurring people to leave old ways and try something new.

I don't have the answers. But I am asking the questions, and that's the fun part. I'm like the kid in class with his hand up, going, 'Um...' I think that's a powerful place to create from.

People ask me, 'Don't you ever run out of ideas?' Well, on the first place, I don't use ideas. Every time I have an idea, it's too limiting and usually turns out to be a disappointment. But I haven't run out of curiosity.

I try to be led by my curiosity.

I'm always trying to think of things we haven't done.

Everybody's a mad scientist, and life is their lab.

Creativity is a renewable resource. Challenge yourself every day. Be as creative as you like, as often as you want, because you can never run out. Experience and curiosity drive us to make unexpected, offbeat connections. It is these nonlinear steps that often lead to the greatest work.

...to invent is to discover that we know not, and not to recover or resummon that which we already know

If you want to be creative, go where your questions lead you.