Leo Ornstein Quotes

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

I don't want ever to be guilty of what my critics claim: doing formula without original elements.

Those who do not want to imitate anything, produce nothing.

A mere copier of nature can never produce anything great.

Everything that I've ever made in my life is from my instinct.

I hope that the things that I sing about will be an inspiration for people to be original.

But I do nothing that I don't like, such as "inventing" up to the arty or "down" to the corny. I happen to relish a certain type of corn. What I think is the really dangerous approach is the "let's be artistic" attitude. I know that artistry just happens.

I don't think anybody came into the movie business to be unoriginal and plagiarising and not having an original idea in their brain.

For me, it would be pointless to write a novel that I knew I could complete within a specific length of time. I could do that only by repeating something I had done before, and I've never wanted to do that.

We call ourselves creators and we just copy.

To create something you must be something.

To copy others is necessary, but to copy oneself is pathetic.

Creativity is the greatest expression of liberty.

Originality is a thing we constantly clamour for, and constantly quarrel with.

I'm constantly trying to be as original as I can.

It's so important to me that I feel like I'm doing something that's never been done before, whether that's in the show, or I'm writing a song. I can exist in this little box here, but I have to do something new with it.

It is always possible to create something original.

I always say that I'm at my best when there's no example of what the character is supposed to be. I thrive when there's not much and I have to create it.

I've got nothing very original to say myself.

A lot of people forget how important it is to be creative. We get caught up in getting ahead and in day-to-day minutiae. But creativity is a fundamental mode of expression, as is being tenacious and standing by your own convictions and passions, even if it's not the 'popular' choice.

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

I've worked with people who wanted to be creative every day: it was like a goal to arrive with something very special. Sometimes it's just disturbing, because special is good when it's needed. But when it's not needed, it's confusing, and you go away from the authenticity by a strong desire to be unique and singular.

Relevance, for me, is about being creative and doing things that you believe in, whether that's music or acting or painting a picture, or whatever that is.

I've always been creating, no one had to teach me how to create, I always made things.

Never try to copy other writers, and never try to have a formula. It has to come from your heart and soul.