David Sanborn Quotes

Being vital means knowing the rules and being brave enough to break them.

My goal is to be myself, and to challenge stereotypes, and to follow the rules, and break them, and make new rules. It's not about doing something that's already been done. That would be silly.

I like to step outside of what people's idea of me might be. I suppose that makes me a bit of a rule-breaker. I like to take chances.

I always wanted to go against hat grain because it was too restricting.

All I really want to do is things I haven't done. 'I'm gonna put a paper bag on my head and be on the cover of 'Billboard,' see what I can get away with - if they'll let me.' And they let me. And I am literally giggling inside for, like, a month that I got away with it.

I am very into making up my own rules.

Some people play it safe in the world of drag - I'm guilty of it myself, sometimes - but I hope to always be a voice that encourages people to buck trends, follow their instincts, and do good in the world.

Question everything. Don't try to emulate someone else's path. Look at what you have, the tools you have, the place you're in; know the rules, and break them.

I have always been rebellious, but that is because I've wanted to do different things, try out new things.

I like more the fact that I like to think out of the box. Thinking out of the box goes along with dressing out of the box and living out of the box.

It is impossible to be a maverick or a true original if you're too well behaved and don't want to break the rules. You have to think outside the box. That's what I believe. After all, what is the point of being on this earth if all you want to do is be liked by everyone and avoid trouble?

You've got to know the rules to break them.

Break rules. Leave the world more interesting for your being here.

By all means break the rules.

An artist is someone who uses bravery, insight, creativity, and boldness to challenge the status quo. And an artist takes it personally.

I always try to be a trend setter. That's what I always tell young people when I'm giving them advice. To go with their heart and don't follow the trends.

I was seen in earlier years by family members and people of authority as somebody wasting his time. I had trouble with the restrictions of conformity. It made me edgy.

Do what you are not supposed to do, like wear white shoes all year round.

I really think that being yourself, being original, being outside the box is starting to be appealing to people.

I was always a rebel in the sense that I always wanted to go my own road and do something that nobody else has done.

We can raise our sights high when we're willing to break free from being conformists who live a conventional life simply because we are too afraid to express our uniqueness.

In the U.S., you have to be a deviant or die of boredom.

Pushing the boundaries of what's acceptable - to me, that's something I'm definitely interested in and want to pursue.

I find that the very things that I get criticized for, which is usually being different and just doing my own thing and just being original, is the very thing that's making me successful.

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