We worry so much about the blank page or the blank canvas. But research suggests that placing too high a premium on originality can actually be a creativity killer. When we feel we have to be original, we become self-conscious, and self-consciousness is the enemy of creativity.
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The river itself has no beginning or end. In its beginning, it is not yet the river; in its end, it is no longer the river. What we call the headwaters is only a convention of cartographers.
Loren Eiseley — The Immense Journey
There's an arrangement trick that he does in 'Do You Feel Like We Do' that I lifted for Rage Against the Machine. And it's basically where there's a long breakdown where the rock power goes away, the title of the song is said over and over again, then it comes crashing in with a completely monstrous rock power that raises the hairs on your arms and makes you want to jump around the room. Well, that's the formula for pretty much every Rage Against the Machine song.
Tom Morello
When we can take green from grass, blue from heaven, and red from blood, we have already an enchanter's power — upon one plane; and the desire to wield that power in the world external to our minds awakes. It does not follow that we shall use that power well upon any plane.
J.R.R. Tolkien