Frederick Buechner Quotes

The way I work is not the way that you work, and the whole point of any creative act is that. What I have to offer is me, what you have to offer is you, and if you offer yourself with authenticity and generosity I will be moved.

Be yourself. An original is always worth more than a copy.

I'm not even sure I have a style! All I know for sure is I don't want to look like everyone else.

If you have anything really valuable to contribute to the world it will come through the expression of your own personality, that single spark of divinity that sets you off and makes you different from every other living creature.

When I teach writing, I have a mantra: 'Be a first-rate version of yourself, and not a second-rate version of another writer.'

I think everybody has their own unique style.

The one thing that you have that nobody else has is you. Your voice, your mind, your story, your vision. So write and draw and build and play and dance and live as only you can.

I want everyone to express themselves in a unique way.

Everybody has their own style.

The biggest thing is, when I was coming up, the thing that made you wonderful was your uniqueness. People celebrated that.

I want to encourage people to be themselves and express themselves however they want.

Everyone has their own style. It's unique; no one person's style is wrong.

The best way to be original is to be yourself.

There are lots of artists in the world. But there's only one you. And the only person who has your point of view is you. If you decide not to make things, all you've done is deprive the world of all the stuff that only you could have brought to it.

Born Originals, how comes it to pass that we die Copies?

You can sing only what you are. You can paint only what you are. You must be what your experiences, your environment, and your heredity have made you. For better or for worse, you must play your own little instrument in the orchestra of life.

Bring individuality into things, do not just be an imitator. To imitate is to miss life.

When everyone starts sounding the same, that's when you know the words and phrases have become clichés. Instead of speaking in clichés, I encourage people just to be themselves, let their passion burn brightly, and go work on things they love spending their time on.

I'm going forward, so my clothing line is kind of the physicalization of that. The idea of diversity, of uniqueness, of individuality - that's what this is all about.

Don't worry about your originality. You couldn't get rid of it even if you wanted to. It will stick with you and show up for better or worse in spite of all you or anyone else can do.

My style is personal, my style of writing is personal, and I believe in that. I believe what comes out of me is an individual thing, and that's why I, I believe in the individual.

I'm a smart enough person to know that I don't want everyone to be cookie-cutter versions of the nine guys who wear Converse sneakers.

The essence of a sound style is that it cannot be reduced to rules-that it is a living and breathing thing with something of the devilish in it-that it fits its proprietor tightly yet ever so loosely, as his skin fits him. It is, in fact, quite as seriously an integral part of him as that skin is. . . . In brief, a style is always the outward and visible symbol of a man, and cannot be anything else.

I didn't want to feel like I was mimicking or copying someone else's performance, whether it's subconscious or not.

Art is great only when it bears the stamp of the individual.