Brenda Ueland Quotes

There are so many funny people and so many talented people, but the one thing nobody else has is my take on the world. So, when I'm developing my show, that's going to be the focus.

If you have anything really valuable to contribute to the world it will come through the expression of your own personality, that single spark of divinity that sets you off and makes you different from every other living creature.

I'm thankful for weird people out there 'cause they're some of the most creative people.

No thesaurus can give you those words, no rhyming dictionary. They must happen out of you.

The downside of videos is that it will put my vision in front of other people, so they might not get the chance to create their own.

I have my own voice and can focus only on that. I know what I like; I find my inspirations in so many other places than just online and bring that into my work.

Forget about trying to compete with someone else. Create your own pathway. Create your own new vision.

I'm never worried about being upstaged. I love to have the best, most individual people come in and see if we hit on something.

Don't try to write what other people are writing - write what is true to you.

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

I learned early in my writing career that if I try to tailor a song for someone else, I'm usually off base. They're usually looking for something from you with your character.

Genius is essentially creative; it bears the stamp of the individual who possesses it.

Don't imitate. Write what you know about, that has to be your goal.

Be yourself. Above all, let who you are, what you are, what you believe shine through every sentence you write, every piece you finish.

I love when people have their own creative vision, when a person stands out and tries different things.

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.

My own life is wonderful, but if I had to live the life of someone else, I'd gladly choose that of Julia Child or Dr. Seuss: two outrageously original people, each of whom fashioned an idiosyncratic wisdom, passion for life, and sense of humor into an art form that anyone and everyone could savor.

Don't try to guess what it is people want and give it to them. Don't ask for a show of hands. Try your best to write what you like, what you think your friends would like and what you think your father would like and then cross your fingers... The most valuable thing you have is your own voice.

I think I have something unique that I'd like to share.

The key to artistry is being able to say stuff the way other people can't.

I am always updating and coming up with something fresh, whether it's a colour, a trend, or a design, as my uncle always taught me to be unique and different.

There are lots of artists in the world. But there's only one you. And the only person who has your point of view is you. If you decide not to make things, all you've done is deprive the world of all the stuff that only you could have brought to it.

People are always talking about originality; but what do they mean? As soon as we are born, the world begins to work upon us; and this goes on to the end. And after all, what can we call our own, except energy, strength, and will? If I could give an account of all that I owe to great predecessors and contemporaries, there would be but a small balance in my favor.

The imitator dooms himself to hopeless mediocrity. The inventor did it because it was natural to him, and so in him it has a charm. In the imitator something else is natural, and he bereaves himself of his own beauty, to come short of another man's.

The principal mark of genius is not perfection, but originality.