Juan Ramón Jiménez
Creativity is inherently anti-authoritarian. As in: to be successfully creative, you have to shed the part of yourself that desperately wants reassurance. It’s only then that you can escape cliche and escape paradigmatic thinking.
Paul Gauguin • writing as autonomy
Rules direct us to average behaviors. If we’re aiming to create works that are exceptional, most rules don’t apply. Average is nothing to aspire to. The goal is not to fit in. If anything, it’s to amplify the differences, what doesn’t fit, the special characteristics unique to how you see the world.
Rick Rubin • The Creative Act: A Way of Being
"If we are to be original thinkers, develop an honest style, write something sticky, that leaves a mark, we can't rely on imitation, or even competition. We can only rely on our own stunted, strange, and racing minds." — Stephanie Danler