Japanese author Haruki Murakami has a new book of conversations with the eminent conductor Seiji Ozawa (available for pre-order, in stores November 15, 2016). In a piece promoting the book at The Guardian newspaper, he has this great quote about creative people:
Creative people have to be fundamentally egoistic. This may sound pompous, but it happens to be the truth. People who live their lives watching what goes on around them, trying not to make waves, and looking for the easy compromise, are not going to be able to do creative work, whatever their field. To build something where there was nothing requires deep individual concentration, and in most cases that kind of concentration occurs in a place unrelated to cooperation with others …
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One reply on “murakami on creativity”
Based on my own experience working here in PDX & elsewhere, what Murakami states is the spot-on truth.
Of course, such an M.O. sometimes ruffles feathers & such, but, so be it.