Paul Smith Quotes

You can find inspiration in everything. If you can't, then you're not looking properly.

What I adore is mixing the unexpected, things you don't imagine should go together

Stop making sense. Logic is predictable. Think differently.

Don't dress for fashion, dress for yourself

Many people look but they do not see.

Fashion is about today and tomorrow. Nobody cares how good you used to be

Great stories happen all around you every day. At the time they’re happening, you don’t think of them as stories. You probably don’t think about them at all. You experience them. You enjoy them. You learn from them. You’re inspired by them. They only become stories if someone is wise enough to share them. That’s when a story is born.

Experience is the best teacher. A compelling story is a close second.

People, even children, aren't really afraid of change. They're afraid of not being prepared for change.

I'm very curious and being childlike is vital in our industry

I think I was really naïve. I had no context to think about what I wanted to do. Each step was a next stage of exploration.

When life closes a door, God opens a window.

Maybe that's what I've based my career on: getting up earlier than everyone else so I get an extra couple of hours.

The Japanese are hard to understand, but once you do the world is your oyster.

There's always an important person who helps support your interests and encourages you.

I was always busy doing something, being an only child.

I think it was interesting that when you're in those formative years you respond to things that interest you and don't always know where they lead. But they accumulate and add up to something that enriches your later life or leads you to some new experience.

When knowledge is scant or conflicting, folklore takes over.

I've always been a keen cyclist, I'm very close to the world of cycling. Not just cycling really - also walking, adventures, being a curious person, traveling to new countries.

Christianity began in Palestine as an experience, it moved to Greece and became a philosophy, it moved to Italy and became an institution, it moved to Europe and became a culture, and it moved to America and became a business! We've left the experience long behind.

I was always kind of naïve, and really needed to be given some direction.

I got the letter about becoming a Sir in 2000, the same year that Pauline asked me if we could finally get married. My assistant, Colette, called up and it turned out both the wedding and the Buck House ceremony were happening on the same day. I was knighted at 11 and married at four. She became an instant Lady.

I was always making things. I made model airplanes and did a number of hands-on activities. I liked creating in some form or another, not realizing what it was all about.

My parents never prevented me from doing anything, but they didn't have the knowledge of the arts that Mrs. Ranger had.

Charles Burchfield would look at what you were working on and not say anything for several minutes. Then he would very sensitively respond - "Well, have you thought about?" or "Might you consider?" I respected that so much because I thought he was so sensitive to my work, and didn't want to offend me, but in the right way to encourage me.