There are no guarantees, but being ready sure beats being taken by surprise
Always stay open to surprise.
Mystery is at the heart of creativity. That, and surprise.
You're always under the microscope, you don't know which mission you're going to get. It's a surprise.
I don't like to be constrained to any one medium. I like to surprise and amuse - and indeed, torture - myself by weaving back and forth between images and words of all sorts, and trying to create work in the end that feels "of a piece. " This is why I resist calling myself a "cartoonist. " It doesn't seem to describe what I do.
Death in its way comes just as much of a surprise as birth.
With writing music, as a general rule I'm looking for something that surprises me, that doesn't fall within what's easy for me.
What a surprise to find you could shift the contents of your head like rearranging furniture in a room.
It may come as a surprise to some academics, but there is a marked relationship between economic power and political power.
It almost takes people by surprise when I'm not a big talker. Because I'm known as being sort of a loud mouth. I have a lot to say. But I try to be more thoughtful with my comments or reactions, unless it's something witty or hysterical that I just can't keep myself from blurting or tweeting!
It isn't enough to shock. It's easy to shock. Real surprise is what I'm after.
I honestly don't remember the book well enough to register any surprise about anything. I don't remember anything being shocking to me.
Genuine witticisms surprise those who say them as much as those who listen to them; they arise in us in spite of us, or, at least, without our participation,--like everything inspired.
. . . when demand is being destroyed by expensive oil just as expensive oil is incentivising increased production - it should come as no surprise that at some point the markets would react.
For me, if you distill comedy down, it is surprise and the unexpected. That has to be it on its most base level, in any form.
Islamic State is following a clear strategy. First, it wants to solidify its power in Iraq and Syria. Then, their fighters will try to advance to Syria's Mediterranean coast. If they are successful, that will be seen as their next great triumph. And then, their target will be Jordan, where things will be easy for them. Already, Islamic State has broad support in many cities there. And when they get there, it will once again come as a great surprise to everybody.
To me, the biggest surprise is that Google still functions despite the explosion in the number of sites.
If you expect greatness, greatness shouldn't surprise you.
But chance runs like a river through all our lives, and being prepared for surprise is the best we can do.
I want people to surprise themselves. Instead of saying "Oh, god, didn't we already do this 17 times?"