Rick Rubin Quotes

“Are you leading? Or following? And does it matter?”

“Art without meaning is just decoration.

The art is in the idea.”

“Aspiring artists have a desire to be seen. Established artists face the pressure of knowing they'll be seen.”

“Avoid thinking of your old work as being better or worse than your new work. It's always different – a new reflection of a new you, the result of more time.”

“Creativity can't be taught but it can be learned.”

“Follow your own excitement, not the audience's.”

“Get in the habit of just making things for fun. Not for anyone else. No stakes. No consequences. Only for yourself.”

“Identifying the problem can be as integral as finding the solution.”

“If you're listening or speaking, either way you're participating in the conversation.”

“In a collaboration, if the best idea gets picked, you win, regardless of whose idea it is.”

“Inspiration tends to show up in play.”

“Make art that lives up to the exception.”

“Maybe in fifty years, the work you like best ends up being people's favorite of yours as well.”

“Most of the things you're worried about will not be notable to most others.”

“Nobody knows what anyone else is going to like.”

“Not everything is for everybody.”

“Once it becomes hard to tell the difference between one choice and another, it's probably a less essential decision.”

“Quality over deadlines.”

“Recognizing what you don't know may be your greatest strength.”

“Sometimes thinking about it undermines the process.”

“Success tends to bolster ego. This can effectively take away the edge you had before an audience was paying attention.”

“Test your rules.”

“The best way to serve the audience is to ignore them.”

“The challenge is to grow along with what you're creating.”

“The energy of a group is as important, if not more important, than the talent of the individuals.”

“The goal is always to get closer to your true self.”

“The reason to finish is to start something new.”

“The work is to dance between the fun and seriousness of the material.”

“The work reveals itself as you go. It tells you what it wants to be.”

“Think less, do more.”