Mitski Quotes

There's a real danger in trying to stay king of the mountain. You stop taking risks, you stop being as creative, because you're trying to maintain a position. Apart from anything else that really takes the fun out of it.

I feel every day that everything I create - everything I do - I want it to be a risk. I think when you take the big swings - and I've done plenty of big swings that I was told were never going to work - those are always the things that break through.

Risk is essential. There is not growth of inspiration in staying within what is safe and comfortable. Once you find out what you do best, why not try something else?

In life, a lot of great ideas sound insane or absurd at first.

If you're not failing every now and again, it's a sign you're not doing anything very innovative.

You have to be willing to be afraid if you're going to be an artist.

There's a real cowardice in the movie business. If you don't meet the right crazy people, you can't do it.

You need a little bit of insanity to do great things.

People tend to play in their comfort zone, so the best things are achieved in a state of surprise, actually.

When you innovate, you've got to be prepared for everyone telling you you're nuts.

Originality is dangerous.

I have a real interest in pushing some of the limits of things that studios don't want to make.

And I hate to see artists who are real safe. I love to see artists swing for the fences sometimes.

I think when you take the big swings - and I've done plenty of big swings that I was told were never going to work - those are always the things that break through.

The thing I'm most proud of about - not all of our movies, but a lot of our movies - is that you might love 'em, you might hate 'em, but most of the time, they're trying to be different or trying new things, which I think is really important.

I remember on my very first film, which Steven Soderberg executive-produced, he said, 'Try not to repeat yourself. Do things that scare you.' Even if it's a challenge, I want people to say that this guy tried this thing. Hopefully he learned from it.

A great artist has to be ready to fail.

My job is to have new ideas and take risks every day, so I'm always looking forward to the next thing being done or making the next thing that I haven't yet gotten to. That's sort of the constant in my life.

It's fun to be on the edge. I think you do your best work when you take chances, when you're not safe, when you're not in the middle of the road, at least for me, anyway.

Some of the screen's best moments were realized because a director went against all reason, all logic. No matter how incredible a story seems, it can be made credible. If you feel an insane idea strongly enough, you've usually got something.

I believe that a creative career is only as good as the risks that you take with it.

I love to play things that are out-of-the-box. It's just that I don't always get the chance to do it!

It was actually the enormous risks I took with my pictures, skating right up to the edge of non-acceptance, that paid off so handsomely.

Our responsibility as artists is to challenge ourselves.

In professional work - certainly in the arts and graphics - 99% of people have zero courage. They blow with the wind.