Paul Arden Quotes

Everybody wants to be good, but not many are prepared to make the sacrifices it takes to be great. To many people, being nice in order to be liked is more important. There's equal merit in that, but you must not confuse being good with being liked.

If you always make the right decision, the safe decision,
the one most people make, you will be the same as everyone else.

It's better to regret what you have done than what you haven't.

Even a bad idea executed is better than a good idea undone.

I wish means: would it be nice if..
i want means: if i want it enough i will get it.

I watch TV more than I used to, and the commercials don't impress me. The standard of execution is very high, but the standard of ideas is appalling.

The more strikingly visual your presentation is, the more people will remember it. And more importantly, they will remember you.

Don't look for the next opportunity. The one you have in hand is the opportunity.

Even when we want to be timid and play it safe, we should pause for a moment to imagine what we might be missing.

Risks are a measure of people. People who won't take them are trying to preserve what they have. People who do take them often end up having more.
Some risks have a future, and some people call them wrong. But being right may be like walking backwards proving where you've been.
Being wrong isn't in the future, or in the past.
Being wrong isn't anywhere but being here.
Best place to be, eh?

Start taking bad decisions and it will take you to a place where others only dream of being.

Don't be afraid of silly ideas.

Having too many ideas is not always a good thing.

Life's all about 'me' anyway

Too many people spend too much time trying to perfect something before they actually do it. Instead of waiting for perfection, run with what you go, and fix it along the way ...

You need to aim beyond what you are capable of. You must develop a complete disregard for where your abilities end. Try to do things that you're incapable of ... If you think you're incapable of running a company, make that your aim ... Make your vision of where you want to be a reality. Nothing is impossible.

High creativity is responding to situations without critical thought.' - John Cleese

it's wrong to be right; it's right to be wrong.

I've now discovered that if you know what you want and try hard to achieve it, everyone else will try hard, too.

Do not seek praise. Seek criticism.

Your vision of where or who you want to be is the greatest asset you have. Without having a goal it's difficult to score.

Be true to your subject and you will be far more likely to create something that is timeless.

Advertising gets such a bashing from the world. At parties you are always asked, 'Aren't you just selling people things they don't want?'

It's not how good you are it's how good you want to be

Being right is based upon knowledge and experience and is often provable. Knowledge comes from the past, so it's safe. It is also out of date. It's the opposite of originality. Experience is built from solutions to old situations and problems. The old situations are probably different from the present ones, so that old solutions will have to be bent to fit new problems (and possibly fit badly). Also the likelihood is that, if you've got the experience, you'll probably use it. This is lazy. Experience is the opposite of being creative. If you can prove you're right you're set in concrete. You cannot move with the times or with other people. Being right is also being boring. Your mind is closed. You are not open to new ideas. You are rooted in your own rightness, which is arrogant. Arrogance is a valuable tool, but only if used very sparingly. Worst of all, being right has a tone of morality about it. To be anything else sounds weak or fallible, and people who are right would hate to be thought fallible. So: it's wrong to be right, because people who are right are rooted in the past, rigid-minded, dull and smug. There's no talking to them.

If you get stuck, draw with a different pen. Change your tools; it may free your thinking.

Great people have great egos; maybe that's what makes them great.

How you perceive yourself is how others will see you.

To be original, seek your inspiration from unexpected sources.

If you can't solve a problem, it's because you're playing by the rules

For a creative person starting out on a career, try not thinking about film or media or whatever. think about money.

All creative people need something to rebel against, it's what gives their lives excitement, and it's creative people who make the clients' lives exciting.

We are all advertising, all of the time. If you want to sell your car, what do you do? You clean and polish it and make it the best you can. Some people bake bread when they are trying to sell their house because the smell adds a friendly feeling. Even the priest, with all his or her fervour, is advertising God. Everybody is selling.

The point is we are all selling. We are all in advertising. It is part of life.

You will become whoever you want to be.

Don't give a speech. Put on a show.

Successful solutions are often made by people rebelling against bad briefs.

Do not covet your ideas.

Instead of waiting for perfection, run with what you've got, and fix it as you go.

Most people are reasonable. That's why they only do reasonably well.

Knowledge comes from the past, so it's safe. It is also out of date. It's the opposite of originality ... Experience is the opposite of being creative.

Nearly all rich and powerful people are not notably talented, educated, charming or good-looking. They become rich and powerful by wanting to be rich and powerful.