Excellence isn't about meeting the spec, it's about setting the spec.
Gifts are not favors. If you expect something in return, it's not a gift.
Art...is the intentional act of using your humanity to create a change in another person...Passion is caring enough about your art that you will do almost anything to give it away, to make it a gift, to change people.
Art is not in the ...eye of the beholder. It's in the soul of the artist.
The reason they want you to fit in... is that once you do, then they can ignore you.
It's almost impossible to have fun playing ping pong with someone who doesn't care, won't try or isn't any good.