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Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.
Scott Adams
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Creativity involves freedom to make mistakes, while art is the skill of discerning valuable ones.

This quote by Scott Adams emphasizes the dual aspects of creativity and art. It suggests that true creativity comes from the willingness to explore and make mistakes without fear, but to be an artist requires the ability to recognize which of those mistakes hold value, ultimately shaping the final piece of work. This reflects the nuanced process of creation where both experimentation and critical judgment play essential roles.

Themes

CreativityArtMistakesExpressionInnovation

In practice

Example use cases

This quote could inspire young artists in a workshop about the creative process.

More from Scott Adams

Nothing defines humans better than their willingness to do irrational things in the pursuit of phenomenally unlikely payoffs. This is the principle behind lotteries, dating, and religion.
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If you want to kill an idea without being identified as the assassin, suggest that the legal department take a look at it.
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My failed corporate career became the fodder for the 'Dilbert' comic. Once it became clear I would not be climbing any higher on the corporate ladder, it freed me to mock managers without worrying that it would stall my career. Most failures create some sort of unplanned freedom. I took full advantage of mine.
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What does it mean to be yourself?” he asked. “If it means to do what you think you ought to do, then you’re doing that already. If it means to act like you’re exempt from society’s influence, that’s the worst advice in the world; you would probably stop bathing and wearing clothes. The advice to ‘be yourself’ is obviously nonsense. But our brains accept this tripe as wisdom because it is more comfortable to believe we have a strategy for life than to believe we have no idea how to behave.
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