It’s Not How Good You Are, It’s How Good You Want To Be

I found Paul Arden’s book at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art last year when we were on the West Coast visiting Micah & Ashlee, our son and his wife. The book appears to be a collection of insights and lessons about creativity, originality and success. Though written by a man in the ad agency scene, the book has much that is applicable to almost anyone in any career. What follows are a few thoughts which especially resonated with me.

“Everybody wants to be good, but not many are prepared to make the sacrifices it takes to be great.”

“There is no instant solution, the only way to learn is through experience and mistakes.”

“Failures and false starts are a pre-condition for success.”

“You can achieve the unachievable. Try to do the things you are not capable of.”

At one point he recommended James Webb-Young's excellent little volume, A Technique for Producing Ideas, which I read about ten years ago and would happily loan to anyone interested in an important summary of the creative process.

At the end of the book Arden shared some of his favorite quotes from other authors, a few of which are reproduced here.

“It’s better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation.” ~ Herman Melville

“Success is going from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.” ~ Winston Churchill

“Early to bed. Early to rise. Work like hell and advertise.” ~ Dr. Scholl

“There are no short cuts to any place worth going.” ~ Beverly Sills

“You can lead a horse to water, but a pencil must be lead.” ~ Stan Laurel

“Those who lack courage will always find a philosophy to justify it.” ~ Albert Camus

“Some people take no mental exercise apart from jumping to conclusions.” ~ Harold Acton

“Show me a sane man and I will cure him for you.” ~ C.G.Jung

“If everything seems under control you’re not going fast enough.” ~ Mario Andretti

Just thought a few of you might enjoy this little handful of seeds from a mind farm.