Quotes About Originality

Every writer from Montaigne to William S. Burroughs has pasted and cut from previous work. Every artist, whether it's Warhol or, you know, Dangermouse or whoever.

William Regal is an obvious influence, as is Fit Finlay - you can see that in my style of wrestling - but I try not to copy too much of what I see now as that was part of my problem early on.

I could have took the easy way and just been a cowboy, looking good, trying to make my money off Hank Williams and being this clean-cut guy. But I always wanted to be myself and go against the grain.

No other Hank Williams has ever screamed like I have. I guess that's my way of officially being me.

I want to establish myself as the first Eric Davis, not the next Willie Mays.

It's like Willie Nelson. You're an artist and you have different styles inside of you.

Rules are made for people who aren't willing to make up their own.

I've never tried to be accepted. When everyone is doing one thing, I've always had the instinct to go the other way. I don't understand how an individual with their own mind, their own values, and their own beliefs can be so willing to just follow what everybody else is doing. How can you make history doing what everybody else is doing?

When you choose your fields of labor go where nobody else is willing to go.

To be a good actor you have to be something like a criminal, to be willing to break the rules to strive for something new.

My dad has sometimes felt that I grew up a little lacking in sufficient eccentricity - in the sense that I'm willing to live as an adult in a house with walls that are parallel to each other, that sort of thing.

Don't commit to being a columnist unless you're willing to do it right. Report your behind off, so you have something original and useful to say. Say it in a way that will interest someone other than you, your family and your sources.

If you're willing to put two thoughts into a picture then you're already ahead of the game.

I know I'm never going to be a big pop star, because I'm not willing to conform.

I miss the willingness to go your own path and be original.

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.

The key to me is being different not for the sake of being different, but being the most authentic version of what you do. And definitely it takes a willingness to be different, because there was resistance for me early on, and I feel like that's usually the case when there's a certain paradigm or trend happening, and you step outside of that.

I'm from the Bob Wills and the Little Richard school of music. Bob Wills did what the hell he thought, Little Richard did what he thought, and those were my big influences.

I'll never be August Wilson - but what I can be is more of myself.

I'm not one of those pop guys. That's for wimps like Vanilla Ice.

You have to be unique in your own ways and the ways that you play to find a way to win. You can't always go with the trend that's going on. Sometimes you have to create the trend yourself and be confident in it.

You can drive yourself crazy and tie yourself in knots trying to anticipate what someone's going to like or not like, and doing test screenings and opinion polls. But pay too much mind to that, and you'll wind up with a big pile of mush.

I know I'm not the kind of person who's gonna wind up a walking jukebox, like many rock 'n' roll artists. They just play their hits and that's it. That doesn't appeal to me.

Earth, Wind & Fire was something new. I wanted to bring something innovative to the music. It was out of a desire to create excitement with music that was pleasurable to play and listen to.