I had always seen myself as a star; I wanted to be a galaxy.

I was valedictorian. Did I enjoy going to school? I hated it. It wasn't a choice on my part, it was expected.

Skill is how you close the gap between what you can see in your mind's eye and what you can produce; the more skill you have, the more sophisticated and accomplished your ideas can be. With absolute skill comes absolute confidence.

Our ability to grow is directly proportional to an ability to entertain the uncomfortable.

When you're in a rut, you have to question everything except your ability to get out of it.

In the end, there is no ideal condition for creativity. What works for one person is useless for another. The only criterion is this: Make it easy on yourself. Find a working environment where the prospect of wrestling with your muse doesn't scare you, doesn't shut you down. It should make you want to be there, and once you find it, stick with it. To get the creative habit, you need a working environment that's habit-forming. All preferred working states, no matter how eccentric, have one thing in common: When you enter into them, they compel you to get started.

I have a sort of tactility about music. I go into record stores and just run my fingers over it, the spines.