Quotes

In his dreadful lassitude and objectless rage, Cobain seemed to have give wearied voice to the despondency of the generation that had come after history, whose every move was anticipated, tracked, bought and sold before it had even happened. Cobain knew he was just another piece of spectacle, that nothing runs better on MTV than a protest against MTV; knew that his every move was a cliché scripted in advance, knew that even realizing it is a cliché. The impasse that paralyzed Cobain in precisely the one that Fredric Jameson described: like postmodern culture in general, Cobain found himself in ‘a world in which stylistic innovation is no longer possible, where all that is left is to imitate dead styles in the imaginary museum.

Fault! Asperger’s isn’t a fault. It’s a variant. It’s potentially a major advantage. Asperger’s syndrome is associated with organization, focus, innovative thinking, and rational detachment.

It ought to be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things. Because the innovator has for enemies all those who have done well under the old conditions, and lukewarm defenders in those who may do well under the new. This coolness arises partly from fear of the opponents, who have the laws on their side, and partly from the incredulity of men, who do not readily believe in new things until they have had a long experience of them.

History is filled with brilliant people who wanted to fix things and just made them worse.

People think focus means saying yes to the thing you've got to focus on. But that's not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are. You have to pick carefully. I'm actually as proud of the things we haven't done as the things I have done. Innovation is saying no to 1,000 things.

Musical innovation is full of danger to the State, for when modes of music change, the fundamental laws of the State always change with them.

There are not more than five musical notes, yet the combinations of these five give rise to more melodies than can ever be heard.

Our wretched species is so made that those who walk on the well-trodden path always throw stones at those who are showing a new road.

If you want to rebel, rebel from inside the system. That's much more powerful than rebelling outside the system.

We must be free not because we claim freedom, but because we practice it.

We need to revitalize the American spirit. People are always asking 'What would the Founding Fathers do?,' but I have yet to witness a single séance.

What a mighty nation, we will be, if we encourage one another?