Advertising Quote by James Webb Young
“Every really good creative person in advertising has always had two noticeable characteristics. First, there was no subject he could not easily get interested in...Second, he was an extensive browser in all sorts of fields of information. For it is with the advertising man as with the cow: no browsing, no milk.”
About This Quote
Source Book: How to Become a Advertising Creative by James Webb Young, 1970
Creative success in advertising hinges on curiosity and breadth of knowledge across many domains.
In simple terms: Great advertisers are endlessly curious and well‑read.
Key Takeaway
Cultivate diverse interests and stay inquisitive.
Themes
creativity
advertising
curiosity
Mood
inspired
analytical
Type
advice
motivational
When to use this quote
- campaign brainstorming
- market research
- trend spotting
- personal development
Key Concepts
interdisciplinary learning
knowledge breadth
Questions to Reflect On
- How do you balance depth and breadth?
- Which fields spark your most ideas?
A Different Perspective
Too much breadth can dilute focus on core expertise.
![“Convenient though it would be if it were true, Mozilla [Netscape 1.0] is not big because it's full of useless crap. Mozilla is big because your needs are big. Your needs are big because the Internet is big. There are lots of small, lean web browsers out there that, incidentally, do almost nothing…” quote by Jamie Zawinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/f72/jamie-zawinski-16110_bigs_convenient-though-it-would-be-if-it-were_523414.jpg)
