“But Andrew was right about one thing. Human beings need to tell stories. Historically, it's the quickest way we have for transmitting useful information to other members of our species. Stories are not simply nice things to have; they are essential survival tools. And yes, the stories we tell ourselves are just as important as the stories we tell other people.”
Hugh MacLeod“The price of being a sheep is boredom. The price of being a wolf is loneliness. Choose one or the other with great care.”
Hugh MacLeod“Your idea doesn't have to be big. It just has to be yours alone. The more the idea is yours alone, the more freedom you have to do something really amazing. The more amazing, the more people will click with your idea. The more people click with your idea, the more it will change the world.”
Hugh MacLeod“The only people who can change the world are people who want to. And not everybody does.”
Hugh MacLeod“YOU DON’T KNOW IF YOUR IDEA IS ANY GOOD the moment it’s created. Neither does anyone else. The most you can hope for is a strong gut feeling that it is. And trusting your feelings isnot as easy as the optimists say it is. There’s a reason why feelings scare us—because what they tell us and what the rest of the world tells us are often two different things.”
Hugh MacLeod, Ignore Everybody: and 39 Other Keys to Creativity“If you’re creative, if you can think independently, if you can articulate passion, if you can override the fear of being wrong, then your company needs you more than it ever did. And now your company can no longer afford to pretend that isn’t the case. So dust off your horn and start tooting.”
Hugh MacLeod, Ignore Everybody: and 39 Other Keys to Creativity“GOOD IDEAS ALTER THE BALANCE IN RELATIONSHIPS. THAT IS WHY GOOD IDEAS ARE ALWAYS INITIALLY RESISTED.”
Hugh MacLeod, Ignore Everybody: and 39 Other Keys to Creativity“They're only crayons. You didn't fear them in Kindergarten, why fear them now?”
Hugh MacLeod, Ignore Everybody: and 39 Other Keys to Creativity“Anyone can be an idealist. Anyone can be a cynic. The hard part lies somewhere in the middle—that is, being human.”
Hugh MacLeod, Ignore Everybody: and 39 Other Keys to Creativity“Art suffers the moment other people start paying for it.”
Hugh MacLeod, Ignore Everybody: and 39 Other Keys to Creativity“You have to find your own shtick. A Picasso always looks like Picasso painted it. Hemingway always sounds like Hemingway. A Beethoven symphony always sounds like a Beethoven symphony. Part of being a master is learning how to sing in nobody else's voice but your own.”
Hugh MacLeod, Ignore Everybody: and 39 Other Keys to Creativity