Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.

The quote separates two phases of making. “Creativity” is framed as permission to experiment without fear—accepting errors as the cost of exploration and novelty. “Art,” by contrast, is the discriminating stage: the cultivated ability to recognize which accidents, deviations, or rough ideas have expressive power and should be preserved, developed, or showcased. Implicitly, it argues that quality is less about never erring than about editing—turning raw output into coherent form. The line also demystifies artistry: what looks like effortless genius often results from many discarded attempts and a strong sense of selection.

“Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.”
“Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes; art is knowing which ones to keep.”
“Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.” (often circulated without attribution or with alternate attributions)