James Acaster Quotes

People who cannot invent and reinvent themselves must be content with borrowed postures, secondhand ideas, fitting in instead of standing out.

I just wanted to play tennis. I started because I wanted to pick up another sport and then as I was slowly getting better I wanted to see how far I can go but I always wanted to be myself. I wanted to be original. I didn't want to copy anybody's style.

My biggest challenge in my career is not looking or sounding like anybody.

I have to be ahead of myself so I don't just fit into the realm of everybody who sounds like me.

I pattern my actions and life after what I want. No two people are alike. You might admire attributes in others, but use these only as a guide in improving yourself in your own unique way. I don't go for carbon copies. Individualism is sacred!

I stay true to myself and my style, and I am always pushing myself to be aware of that and be original.

I always try to improve, to find new ways of expressing myself, to keep looking for truth and originality.

I guess if you have an original take on life, or something about you is original, you don't have to study people who came before you. You don't have to mimic anybody. You just have a gut feeling inside, an instinct that tells you what's right for you, and you can't do it in any other way.

I never said to be like me, I say to be like you and make a difference.

I'm constantly trying to be as original as I can.

To me, searching for perfection isn't anywhere near as interesting as trying to find your own voice.

Everyone should pursue whatever is original in oneself. That's the way for a long life in music.

I feel like the biggest key to longevity is maintaining what's special about yourself but always presenting it in a new way. That way, people can never get tired of you.

I just try to do things that make me excited. If I can find a way to surprise myself, then that's when I'm really excited to share something and really can stand behind it.

Sometimes when I get asked by younger wrestlers, 'Do you have any advice for me? What do you think you can help me on?' and I tell them I think the best advice is to try and outdo yourself. Always be unique, always be creative. I think that was part of my success. I never wanted anybody to be on top of me. I always wanted to be number one.

Beauty can grow as a whole, since you shouldn't copy other people.

Write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself.

No one will ever be as good at being you as you. So start there. Perfect is boring.

Originality is being different from oneself, not others.

He misses the feeling of creating something out of something. That’s right — something out of something. Because something out of nothing is when you make something up out of thin air, in which case it has no value. Anybody can do that. But something out of something means it was really there the whole time, inside you, and you discover it as part of something new, that’s never happened before.

Lifestyle is the art of discovering ways to live uniquely.

Don’t be different just to be different. Be different to be better.

What Kierkegaard said about love is also true of creativity: every person must start at the beginning.

Competition impedes creativity because you present yourself in a way that's going to been seen by somebody outside of you. You're not very much yourself and it limits you.

Not that everybody needs to be Georges St-Pierre, but it would be cool if everybody was just themselves.