Gary Shteyngart Quotes

When you write from your gut and let the stuff stay flawed and don't let anybody tell you to make it better, it can end up looking like nothing else.

The will to originality is not the will to be peculiar and unlike anybody else; it means the desire to derive one's consciousness from its primary source.

We are free when our actions emanate from our total personality, when they express it, when they resemble it in the indefinable way a work of art sometimes does the artist.

A man who writes well writes not as others write, but as he himself writes; it is often in speaking badly that he speaks well.

I feel like the point of being an artist is to have your own voice: to do it the way you would do it and not the way anyone else would do it. If you're a strong enough writer, then that voice is going to come out all the time, and I can't stop it from coming out, no matter what I do.

The most original thing a writer can do is write like himself. It is also his most difficult task.

I think the key to great art and great artists is to just fully be yourself and not be scared of that, and be the extremes of your personality. Show the extremes of your personality and embrace the imperfections. Embrace the things about yourself that you might not like.

To be a true artist, I have to be true to who I am now and write that way.

When I teach writing, I have a mantra: 'Be a first-rate version of yourself, and not a second-rate version of another writer.'

When someone comes along and expresses him or herself as freely as they think, people flock to it. They enjoy it.

To me, what makes an artist is a unique personality that they're not afraid to let show.

I thought I was clever enough to write as well as these people and I didn't realize that there is something called originality and your own voice.

I've always been super expressive, and I've always liked to express myself any way I can.

I don't want to be the cliche American Idol dude. I want to be different, you know - that's the whole goal, me and music. It's about being yourself and being unique.

If you write, write about what you do and who you are, and you can't be wrong. Don't lie about anything. You are very similar to everybody else in the world. You love, you hate, you have friends, you have enemies. Be who you are.

Covers are always so fun to do, but there's nothing like telling your own story.

You should be able to do you. That's what differentiates an artist from a singer.

As a creative, you have to be your truest form. You can't worry about fitting into whatever boxes people want to put you in.

For me, the best way to be as an artist is to be completely yourself, letting that vulnerability come through.

I feel like I have a unique voice that's true and authentic, and we need more of that. If I can inspire more of that, I need to do that in as many places as possible.

Artists can be themselves. They don't have to pretend to be somebody they're not.

As long as you're being yourself and putting out what you want to put out, it'll be the best thing you could do.

A good writer does not write as people write, but as he writes.

You can write anything you want to,--a six-act blank verse, symbolic tragedy or a vulgar short, short story. Just so that you write it with honesty and gusto, and do not try to make somebody believe that you are smarter than you are. What's the use? You can never be smarter than you are.

I admire anybody who has the guts to write anything at all.