Noah Hawley Quotes

We all feel that if we have a crazy idea that might get laughed at, there's nothing wrong with seeing if there's a crazy writer out there who agrees with us and can take it to a crazy network and somehow bring something that's a little bit daft and edgy to life.

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

If you're going to fail, you might as well fail at the big ones.

The greatest risk is really to take no risk at all. You've got to go out there, jump off the cliff, and take chances.

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

I think that if you've got 5 million people that enjoy drama and invest in characters, you must take the time to not worry about your job and getting sacked and just go for it and hit it again.

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

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.

I think we shouldn't buckle up our creativity. You've got to experiment!

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.

To take intellectual risks is to think about something that can't be done, that doesn't make any sense, and go for it responsibly.

I think it's very dangerous as an artist to be comfortable.

Working in network sitcom arenas, whenever you decide to depart from the norm and tell a story that's not typical, I think you're always a little bit nervous.

I like to try and be outside of the box or do things that other people aren't doing.

I don't know what genre out there that I would be afraid to do. If I am afraid to do it, that's not my cup of tea. It ain't much that's not my cup of tea.

Most innovative things are not obvious to other people at the time. You have to believe in yourself. If you've got a good idea, follow it even though others tell you it's not.

If you're making a smaller movie, you're almost obligated to do something unexpected and surprising.

What's on the edge? What's next? That's where I think I do my best work - if I push my whole team to the edge.

If you don't take risks you won't achieve anything.

I believe in taking big risks. If you encourage new people, they want to prove themselves. They give their best. This is not possible with established stars, who treat their job casually most of the time.

There's a risk to everything you do. You can take off on a one-foot wave and get hurt; you can take off on a ten-foot wave and get hurt. You just don't think about it at all. You just go for it. When you kick out of a really big wave, it feels pretty damn good. You want to do it again.

You do have to challenge yourself. I think scared is a good thing.

You can't afford to be afraid of failure in this business.

You never know who you will meet along life's journey. You have to be open to risks, but calculated risks, open to winning.

There's always risk in life's most rewarding pursuits, isn't there?