Patrick deWitt Quotes

I don't want to be an artist that gets stuck doing one thing. I don't want to be an artist who people look back at and say, 'His early work was really great.'

The common person fears to think beyond the common.

I don't find myself so exercised by a desperation to be new.

If you're afraid of failure or getting it wrong, you'll never truly innovate or disrupt the market.

The biggest thing I've learnt is not to limit myself by the norm or what I should be doing.

Magic lies in challenging what seems impossible.

I wanted to keep exploring... I'm not about to choose a series of movies in which I can use the same bag of tricks and style that I used in the first film.

I'm in the business to push it. I'm not likely to be attracted to characters I've already done.

When I speak of drama, I'm really referring to just 'desperately trying not to be ordinary'. Trying to get something that has a little bit of friction, conflict, absurdity.

I always like to challenge myself. I never want to be put into a box.

If you are going to be progressive, then you have to make progress. And that sometimes depends on breaking a few legs.

There's no point stepping up to the golden platform if you're going to repeat yourself.

I don't aim for perfection. But I do want to try and come up with something interesting.

To me, unconventional thinking is approaching a problem and asking, 'Why not? Why can't something be done?' If someone can't give me a good reason why you can't do something, I find a way to do it.

I like being surrounded by people who have very little fear and very little respect for the past - not in a negative way, but in a positive way. They appreciate everything that's been done, but they constantly look for how to do it better.

As long as you do the best work that you can and not make it bland... because you're going down a lane that is trying to make everybody happy. You have to take an angle on these things.

Every actor wants to break out of the box that they put you in and that's where I'm heading, out of the box as fast as I can.

An idea that is not dangerous is unworthy of being called an idea at all.

If it feels like we're re-creating something rather than creating something, we don't do it.

Imagining what the possibilities are versus what is right in front of me has been the second biggest factor in defining my career.

The essence of creativity is to look beyond where you can actually see. I don't want to dwell in same place too long.

I guess I still have this motto: 'What else can I get away with?' And unpredictability in film - that's the hardest thing there is.

You can't just be a rock star by rehashing things you've seen or done before. Bring something new, which is what hip-hop does best.

I'm doing activations with companies you would never think of. Not to say this in a braggadocious way, but I'm not putting myself in a box. The only thing that goes in a box is Chinese food and your sneakers - not me.

We want to push it. We feel we are the envelope.