Jeff Lemire Quotes

I just thought I'd take a break from publishing for a while.

When we sit down to work, we become like a magnetized rod that attracts iron filings. Ideas come. Insights accrete.

Genius is rarely able to give any account of its own processes.

I write about two hours a day, and I write in fits and spurts - 45 minutes here, a half-hour there - and when I get stuck, which happens often, I take the dogs for a walk. But during the time when I'm not actually writing, I'm thinking.

I like to work on a number of things simultaneously. If you're working on a variety of projects and if you get stuck on one of them, you can move to another without grinding your gears indefinitely.

Imagination decides everything.

We must use time creatively.

My insights come in periods of working. There are wonderful moments of surprise, but I'm superstitious enough not to want to talk about them.

If you want creative workers, give them enough time to play.

Creativity is a habit, and the best creativity is the result of good work habits.

Most people have their best ideas when they take their minds away from problems they're trying to solve.

If there is time to reflect, slowing down is likely to be a good idea.

Maybe some people have written us off, but I think the new music today has also invigorated us.

You've got to have a young element in a show. Any project needs youth and dynamism as well old codgerdom and experience.

I don't know how to explain it, but when you're working on something constantly, and you're digging in deep, things kind of fall in, and you grab them, and you're like, 'That one!' and 'That thing!' and it starts to build something right.

What I do, basically, is look at things from different angles. That is what I do on stage comedically, and that is what I do in art. I was always fascinated by the structure of things, why things work this way and not that way. So I like to see how things behave if you change the point of view.

People say, 'How does having kids change your writing? Do you see the world through their eyes?' No - you just become a faster songwriter... In the old days, you'd be like, 'Oh I'm gonna work on this song for a few days.'

Sometimes the best ideas will come in the least inspiring places.

You can be stuck for two weeks on a problem, and then you get the right couple of people in a room, and in five minutes, you get a great answer.

I always try, if I can, to travel before I start a writing project. For me, travelling is my education. It inspires me, and it clears my mind and allows me to come back with a cleansed palate.

The fact is that creativity is everywhere. It's just about the way that you look at things.

It should take you 15 minutes to make a song, and then get out of there.

Coming up with ideas isn't hard. The real challenge is finding the time to actually build something and then finding a home for it.

When I give talks, I often quote from a button I received at a Google event: Always Be Creative. I use it to illustrate how important creativity is in technology and business.