Steve Ells Quotes

I like the fact that I like to think out-of-the-box. Thinking out-of-the-box goes along with dressing out-of-the-box and living out-of-the-box. If you want to come up with a really original design idea and you want to capture a whole new design direction, perhaps the best way to arrive at that is not by acting and thinking and doing like everybody else. That's all.

I'm not gonna do the same, tired, standard 'I was born in a log cabin...' kind of book. There's so much more I want to do.

There's always that argument to make - that you're in better company historically if people don't understand what you're doing.

I think the fact that my parents weren't conventional - especially considering their position - had a big influence on the way that I conduct myself now in design and business. It had a huge impact on my wanting to do something a bit more than just designing a pretty dress and putting it on a runway and making it glamorous.

I was always excited about doing things with people that were ahead of their time, that were sort of out of sync with the rest of society.

I did not want to do things the way they are usually done in Hindi cinema.

We do things differently. You don't have to worry about being part of a particular genre. You just go for it.

If everybody thinks you're out of your mind, you just might be onto something.

I think that it was a great advantage to go into photography not knowing much about it. Not thinking. I think one of the problems with many photographers today is that they never see for themselves, but just like everybody else.

Think different in order to change the rules. By definition, if you don't change the rules you aren't a revolutionary, and if you don't think different, you won't change the rules.

I think that genius comes not just from having great mental processing power. It comes from being able to, as Steve Jobs' ad said, think different.

Your current thinking got you here. Only new thinking will get you out.

Do the things that make perfect sense to you, [and] don't be afraid to shout it from the mountain tops just because it's outside the box or against the grain in your industry. More often than not, you're probably going to be right.

The only people who get paid what they're worth are people who don't follow the instruction book, who create art, who are innovative, who work without a map.

I have a new way of doing things, and I don’t care if you think I’m crazy.

I know a famous violinist who told me he can't compose because he knows too many pieces. So, when he starts thinking of a note, an existing piece immediately comes to mind. Just starting out, one of your biggest strengths is not knowing how things are supposed to be.

I don't like to use the word 'remake', I think reinterpretation is a better word. It's just a matter of respecting the source, and then trying to make your own film, and trying not to be inhibited by being so beholden to every single thing... We respect the source, but we make changes to it.

You've got to concentrate on the business of entertaining and writing songs. Always think different from the next person. Don't ever do a song as you heard somebody else do it.

I am an artist who's just tryin' to do something different, and basically not caring about everybody's opinions and wanting to follow what everybody else is doing. At the same time, I know when to be serious, but I know when to joke.

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

I think anything you do that's different, that doesn't take the typical approach, invites differing opinions.

From the very beginning, we bucked tradition. When the experts said that something was "always done" in a certain way, we'd do it our way, which was sometimes the very opposite.

I knew naturally as a child not to forfeit my creativity to a world that's all laid out for me. I'll look at everything around me and vow to keep in mind that alla this is just someone's idea. It could have just as well been mine.

May I say that I approve of a piece that tries to remake the entire puzzle?

I don't ever want to do anything that's obvious, and I also want to find ways to do things that are extremely new and exciting and can make sense in bizarre ways. I always want things to make sense in really bizarre ways.