Mark Billingham Quotes

There is no great genius without some touch of madness.

If your mind is at work, we're in danger of reproducing another cliche. If we can keep our minds out of it and our thoughts out of it, maybe we'll come up with something original.

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

No great genius has ever existed without some touch of madness.

There was never a genius without a tincture of madness.

There are no original ideas. There are only original people.

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

To be a surrealist means barring from your mind all remembrance of what you have seen, and being always on the lookout for what has never been.

One very important aspect of motivation is the willingness to stop and to look at things that no one else has bothered to look at. This simple process of focusing on things that are normally taken for granted is a powerful source of creativity.

Before I do anything, I think, well what hasn't been seen. Sometimes, that turns out to be something ghastly and not fit for society. And sometimes that inspiration becomes something that's really worthwhile.

The best things that capture your imagination are ones you hadn't thought of before and that aren't talked about in the news all the time.

… there is a correlation between the creative and the screwball. So we must suffer the screwball gladly.

I like when things are completely absurd. I like when people take risks. I want to be able to challenge myself and challenge the viewer and challenge the back of our mind - the subconscious mind.

I always imagine, and try to be on the lookout, for new things, for references that can inspire me creatively so I can showcase things that people haven't done before or that are new.

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

Stay loyal to your creativity because it's a gift.

The simple process of focusing on things that are normally taken for granted is a powerful source of creativity.

If there's an original thought out there, I could use one right now.

Imagination? It is the one thing beside honesty that a good writer must have. The more he learns from experience the more he can imagine.

Originality is the only thing that counts. But the originator uses material and ideas that occur round him and pass through him. And out of his experience comes the original creation.

Proximity to the crowd, to the majority view, spells the death of creativity. For a soul can create only when alone, and some are chosen for the flowering that takes place in the dark avenues of night.

People frequently believe the creative life is grounded in fantasy. The more difficult truth is that creativity is grounded in reality, in the particular, the focused, the well observed or specifically imagined.

Imagination is the beginning of creation.

do what only a true artist can do ... pounce upon the forgotten butterfly of revelation

To be an artist, you have to nurture the things that most people discard.