Ludwig von Mises Quotes

Genius is the capacity for productive reaction against one's training.

I'm so proud to be on a Kate Bush record; she's always marched to the beat of her own drum.

Towering genius disdains a beaten path. It seeks regions hitherto unexplored.

Whatever you think can’t be done, somebody will come along and do it. A genius is the one most like himself.

As human beings we have unlimited potential and imagination. The worst thing you can do is be a conformist and buy into conformity. It's the worst possible thing. It's better to be outrageous. It's better to hang out with the sages, the people open to possibilities, even the psychotics. You never know where you'll find the geniuses of our society.

Improvement makes strait roads, but the crooked roads without Improvement, are roads of Genius.

Innovators and creative geniuses cannot be reared in schools. They are precisely the men who defy what the school has taught them.

Towering genius disdains a beaten path ... It scorns to tread in the footsteps of any predecessor, however illustrious. It thirsts for distinction.

Creativity is the greatest rebellion in existence.

One must indeed be ignorant of the methods of genius to suppose that it allows itself to be cramped by forms. Forms are for mediocrity, and it is fortunate that mediocrity can act only according to routine. Ability takes its flight unhindered.

Genius does not care much for a set of explicit regulations, but that does not mean that genius is lawless.

I have created a life by stepping out of the box of people's limitations. I call it zigging when others are zagging.

I remember when I was in art classes, I hated following the assignments. And I would get in trouble for doing something totally different or taking it in a weird direction.

I get a kick out of being an outsider constantly. It allows me to be creative.

Thank goodness I was never sent to school; it would have rubbed off some of the originality.

There is no great genius without some touch of madness.

We allow no geniuses around our Studio.

I'm not following anybody's tracks, I'm making my own baby.

One of the strongest characteristics of genius is the power of lighting its own fire.

To be able to create fully, it's maybe fine that you learn the rules, but you have to forget and to rebel against those rules.

Rules and models destroy genius and art.

What is genius but the power of expressing a new individuality?

If you are going to do something truly innovative, you have to be someone who does not value social approval. You can't need social approval to go forward. Otherwise, how would you ever do the thing that you are doing?

Nature is the master of talents; genius is the master of nature.

From an early age I didn't buy into the value systems of working hard in a nine-to-five job. I thought creativity, friendship and loyalty and pushing the boundaries of what was acceptable was much more interesting.