It took, for me, a long time to develop this idea of what to do on the radio. But from the beginning of my time in radio, I had pretty non-traditional tasks.
Ira GlassRead
I wish somebody had given me the news that ideas don't just fall on your head like fairy dust. You have to treat that like a job. You have to spend hours each day, where you're just like, 'This is the part of the day when I'm looking for an idea.'
Interpretation
What this quote means
Ideas require dedicated time and effort to cultivate, rather than coming spontaneously.
Ira Glass emphasizes the importance of actively seeking and nurturing ideas instead of waiting for them to come naturally. He suggests that creativity is a disciplined pursuit requiring consistent hours of focused effort, similar to a job.
Themes
IdeasCreativityDedicationHard WorkEffort
In practice
Example use cases
A motivational speech about the creative process in a workshop.
More from Ira Glass
All quotes →At some point, all comics have to go out and be retail salesmen doing door-to-door. And this idea of somebody who totally knows their craft having to get up for free in front of a crowd to work out some stuff they're thinking in their head, still, after as much success as you can get, is really interesting.
Ira GlassRead
I think good radio often uses the techniques of fiction: characters, scenes, a big urgent emotional question. And as in the best fiction, tone counts for a lot.
Ira GlassRead
It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions.
Ira GlassRead
It's hard to make something that's interesting. It's really, really hard. It's like a law of nature, a law of aerodynamics, that anything that's written or anything that's created wants to be mediocre. The natural state of all writing is mediocrity... So what it takes to make anything more than mediocre is such an act of will.
Ira GlassRead
I wish that someone had said to me that it's normal to feel lost for a little while.
Ira GlassRead
Similar quotes
There are two ways of exerting one's strength: one is pushing down, the other is pulling up.
Booker T. WashingtonRead
The reality is, I like imperfection. You take away from the world when you're not yourself. Whatever is unique and special about you was designed by God. And when you try to be someone else, we don't get you. Who knows what you would have contributed to the world had you just been yourself, if you had just celebrated who you are and just walked boldly?
Queen LatifahRead
The relation of patience to iman is like the relation of the head to the body. If the head is chopped off, the body becomes useless. Then he raised his voice and said: Certainly, the one who has no patience has no iman, and patience is like a riding-beast that nevers gets tired
Ali Ibn Abi TalibRead
If you can do a half-assed job of anything, you're a one-eyed man in a kingdom of the blind.
Kurt VonnegutRead
With a little time, and a little more insight, we begin to see both ourselves and our enemies in humbler profiles. We are not really as innocent as we felt when we were first hurt. And we do not usually have a gigantic monster to forgive; we have a weak, needy, and somewhat stupid human being. When you see your enemy and yourself in the weakness and silliness of the humanity you share, you will make the miracle of forgiving a little easier.
Lewis B. SmedesRead
If you have problems of conduct that are difficult and hard to settle, I will furnish you with solutions, for I not only know matters of practice and duty, but I even know them beforehand.
Apollonius Of TyanaRead