Thomas Merton Quotes

The distance between insanity and genius is measured only by success.

Genius is often called crazy, but crazy is never called genius. So you just have to put out the work and let the chips fall where they may.

There were many who went in huddled procession,They knew not wither,But, at any rate, success or calamityWould attend all in equality.There was one who sought a new road,He went into direful thickets,And ultimately he died thus, alone;But they said he had courage.

... imperfection would get me farther than perfection.

I don't care whether I succeed or whether I fail as long as I am trying. I hope that I succeed.

The imitator dooms himself to hopeless mediocrity.

Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently.

I like seeing how people have succeeded when others would have presumed they would have failed, and others just go along with whatever everyone else does.

If failure is not an option, neither is success. Innovation is just repeated failure till you come up with something that works.

I can't think of one great human being in the arts, or in history generally, who conformed, who succeeded, as education experts tell us children must succeed, with his peer group.

I still come closest to success with drawing.

the mad have a grace all their own

I got on a high believing everything I would produce was going to sell at the rate I wanted.

They think I'm crazy and maybe I am. But maybe I'm a genius.

I would tell anyone, pick the person you love the most, the musician, the actor, public figure, whatever, and watch a bunch of their interviews and find ones where they talk about all the times they've failed, all the times they weren't good enough, and watch those on the regular. It's a very unique type of inspiration. It's almost like spiritual jumper cables for your inner drive.

The creative man with an insight into human nature, with the artistry to touch and move people, will succeed. Without them he will fail.

All young people want to kick up their heels and defy convention; most of them would prefer to do it at a not too heavy cost.

Failure comes part and parcel with invention. It’s not optional.

I've done far too many things that I felt were going to be genius that weren't and I've done some things that I didn't think were going to be much that really connected with people. So expectations are left at the door. But hope exists all the time.

Never change for the mainstream—stay in your lane, and if you’re talented and resilient enough the mainstream will come to you.

The tiny cost of failure...is dwarfed by the huge cost of not trying.

Long, flat expanses of professionalism bother me. I'd rather have a band that could explode at any time.

God help the troubadour who tries to be a star. The more that you try to find success, the more that you will fail.

I made 5,127 prototypes of my vaccum before I got it right. There were 5,126 failures. But I learned from each one. That’s how I came up with a solution. So I don’t mind failure.