{"author":"Hugh MacLeod","author_id":"Hugh+MacLeod","total_quotes":19,"quotes":[{"text":"But Andrew was right about one thing. Human beings need to tell stories. Historically, it's the quickest way we have for transmitting useful information to other members of our species. Stories are not simply nice things to have; they are essential survival tools. And yes, the stories we tell ourselves are just as important as the stories we tell other people.","author":"Hugh MacLeod","tags":["stories","storytelling"],"id":886,"author_id":"Hugh+MacLeod"},{"text":"They're only crayons. You didn't fear them in Kindergarten, why fear them now?","author":"Hugh MacLeod","tags":["crayons","creativity"],"id":14070,"author_id":"Hugh+MacLeod"},{"text":"You do not own the molecules. They are stardust. They belong to God. What you do own is your soul. Nobody can take that away from you.","author":"Hugh MacLeod","tags":["inspirational","wisdom"],"id":20130,"author_id":"Hugh+MacLeod"},{"text":"Anyone can be an idealist. Anyone can be a cynic. The hard part lies somewhere in the middle—that is, being human.","author":"Hugh MacLeod","tags":["cynicism","humanity","idealism","truth"],"id":43382,"author_id":"Hugh+MacLeod"},{"text":"Writer's block is just a symptom of feeling like you have nothing to say, combined with the rather weird idea that you should feel the need to say something. Why? If you have something to say, then say it. If not, enjoy the silence while it lasts. The noise will return soon enough.","author":"Hugh MacLeod","tags":["advice","humor","writing"],"id":94037,"author_id":"Hugh+MacLeod"},{"text":"People are fond of spouting out the old cliché about how Van Gogh never sold a painting in his lifetime. Somehow his example serves to justify to us, decades later, that there is merit in utter failure.Perhaps, but the man did commit suicide. The market for his work took off big-time shortly after his death. Had he decided to stick around another few decades he most likely would’ve entered old age quite prosperous. And sadly for failures everywhere, the cliché would have lost a lot of its power.The fact is, the old clichés work for us in abstract terms, but they never work out in real life quite the same way. Life is messy; clichés are clean and tidy.","author":"Hugh MacLeod","tags":["art","clichés","creativity","failure","success","van-gogh"],"id":112670,"author_id":"Hugh+MacLeod"},{"text":"Everyone is born creative; everyone is given a box of crayons in kindergarten. Then when you hit puberty they take the crayons away and replace them with dry, uninspiring books on algebra, history, etc. Being suddenly hit years later with the 'creative bug' is just a wee voice telling you, 'I'd like my crayons back, please.","author":"Hugh MacLeod","tags":["advice","art","crayons","creativity","humor","writing"],"id":120878,"author_id":"Hugh+MacLeod"},{"text":"The only people who can change the world are people who want to. And not everybody does.","author":"Hugh MacLeod","tags":["change-the-world","dreams","inspirational","people"],"id":153482,"author_id":"Hugh+MacLeod"},{"text":"The price of being a sheep is boredom. The price of being a wolf is loneliness. Choose one or the other with great care.","author":"Hugh MacLeod","tags":["boredom","individuality","loneliness"],"id":159331,"author_id":"Hugh+MacLeod"},{"text":"Art suffers the moment other people start paying for it.","author":"Hugh MacLeod","tags":["art","creativity"],"id":178526,"author_id":"Hugh+MacLeod"}],"pagination":{"page":1,"page_size":10,"total":19,"pages":2,"next":"?page=2\u0026page_size=10"}}