--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: To create, and to confront, one has to be…" description: "\"“To create, and to confront, one has to be an outcast.”\" — Masha Gessen" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/604/masha-gessen-2322_art_to-create-and-to-confront-one-has-to-be_2100700.png" --- # To create, and to confront, one has to be an outcast. ![“To create, and to confront, one has to be an outcast.” quote by Masha Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/604/masha-gessen-2322_art_to-create-and-to-confront-one-has-to-be_2100700.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/604/masha-gessen-2322_art_to-create-and-to-confront-one-has-to-be_2100700.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/604/masha-gessen-2322_art_to-create-and-to-confront-one-has-to-be_2100700.png) > ““To create, and to confront, one has to be an outcast.”” [Masha Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masha-gessen/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Creating and confronting require outsider status, highlighting the link between creativity and nonconformity. **In simple terms:** Being an outcast fuels creativity and challenge. Key Takeaway Embrace nonconformity to innovate. Themes creativity confrontation outsider Mood inspirational serious Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - artistic projects - social activism - writing - public speaking Key Concepts identity cultural critique Questions to Reflect On - How can you find community while staying unconventional? - What risks does being an outcast entail? A Different Perspective Outsider status can isolate and limit resources. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Confront](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/confront/) [Confront Outcast](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/confront-outcast-4195616/) [Create](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/create/) [Create Confront](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/create-confront-4195618/) [Creativity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creativity/) [Outcast](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/outcast/) [Outcasts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/outcasts/) ## Related quotes > [“As an oracle to the goddess, the female outcast speaks as prophetess of times to come, interpreter of dreams of an unrevealed future. Outcasts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/florence-farr/as-an-oracle-to-the-goddess-the-female-outcast-speaks-as-prophetess/) [Florence Farr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/florence-farr/) > [“Outcasts, callused from being in exile for too long, learn to thrive on being the hated; the attention and infamy of our actions fuel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-norton/outcasts-callused-from-being-in-exile-for-too-long-learn-to-thrive-on/) [Mike Norton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-norton/) > [In losing stewardship we lose fellowship; we become outcasts from the great neighborhood of creation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/in-losing-stewardship-we-lose-fellowship-we-become-outcasts-from-the/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [A vacant mind invites dangerous inmates, as a deserted mansion tempts wandering outcasts to enter and take up their abode in its desolate apartments.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-stillman-hillard/a-vacant-mind-invites-dangerous-inmates-as-a-deserted-mansion-tempts/) [George Stillman Hillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-stillman-hillard/) > [Leaders when not leading are outcasts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-klemp/leaders-when-not-leading-are-outcasts/) [Harold Klemp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-klemp/) > [I was a founding member of the 'Dungeons and Dragons' club at my high school. I was in chorus, I was in swing choir.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-c-reilly/i-was-a-founding-member-of-the-dungeons-and-dragons-club-at-my-high/) [John C. Reilly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-c-reilly/) > [I always preferred to hang out with the outcasts, 'cause they were cooler; they had better taste in music, for one thing, I guess…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hughes/i-always-preferred-to-hang-out-with-the-outcasts-cause-they-were/) [John Hughes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hughes/) > [Crowded hallways, are the loneliest places, for outcasts and rebels,or anyone who just dares to be different.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hunter-hayes/crowded-hallways-are-the-loneliest-places-for-outcasts-and-rebels-or-2/) [Hunter Hayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hunter-hayes/) > [When you play so many outcasts and derelicts, or even a murderer, you need to play someone healthy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-sanderson/when-you-play-so-many-outcasts-and-derelicts-or-even-a-murderer-you/) [William Sanderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-sanderson/) > [We are the outcasts, we are the ones that are different, we are the ones that never got along with anyone else, we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bert-mccracken/we-are-the-outcasts-we-are-the-ones-that-are-different-we-are-the/) [Bert McCracken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bert-mccracken/) > [Outcasts may grow up to be novelists and filmmakers and computer tycoons, but they will never be the athletic ruling class.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-klosterman/outcasts-may-grow-up-to-be-novelists-and-filmmakers-and-computer/) [Chuck Klosterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-klosterman/) > [Having seen TED from a distance, I always thought if ever there was a place for someone like me, the outcasts, people who maintained…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shane-koyczan/having-seen-ted-from-a-distance-i-always-thought-if-ever-there-was-a/) [Shane Koyczan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shane-koyczan/) > [I learned early in life not to judge others. We outcasts are very happy and content to leave that job to our social superiors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ethel-waters/i-learned-early-in-life-not-to-judge-others-we-outcasts-are-very/) [Ethel Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ethel-waters/) > [A sea-green sky: lamps blossoming white. This is marginal land: fields of strung wire, of treadless tyres in ditches, fridges dead on their backs,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mantel/a-sea-green-sky-lamps-blossoming-white-this-is-marginal-land-fields/) [Hilary Mantel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mantel/) > [Outcasts of war, misfits, rebellious souls, Seekers of some vague kingdom in the stars - They hide out in the hills and stir up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-vincent-benet/outcasts-of-war-misfits-rebellious-souls-seekers-of-some-vague/) [Stephen Vincent Benet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-vincent-benet/) ## More by Masha Gessen > [There's this American pretense, which is the pretense of the journalist with the view from nowhere - which has somehow morphed into the journalist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masha-gessen/there-s-this-american-pretense-which-is-the-pretense-of-the/) [Masha Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masha-gessen/) > [Where incompetence is prized, it is ever-present.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masha-gessen/where-incompetence-is-prized-it-is-ever-present/) [Masha Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masha-gessen/) > [Pussy Riot have certainly changed some people's assumptions about the role of political art and the relationship between the intelligentsia and the church. 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They voted for him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masha-gessen/i-think-donald-trump-was-brought-to-power-by-americans-they-voted-for/) [Masha Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masha-gessen/) > [In the 1990s, there was a lot of reform, and there was a lot of forward movement on a lot of fronts in Russia.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masha-gessen/in-the-1990s-there-was-a-lot-of-reform-and-there-was-a-lot-of-forward/) [Masha Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masha-gessen/) > [Poverty and scarcity are actually very good for totalitarian societies. They maintain that sense of mobilization that's essential for totalitarian societies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masha-gessen/poverty-and-scarcity-are-actually-very-good-for-totalitarian/) [Masha Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masha-gessen/) > [I think that Putin's strategy has been throwing a lot of money, fairly haphazardly, at a lot of projects aimed at disrupting Western relations…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masha-gessen/i-think-that-putin-s-strategy-has-been-throwing-a-lot-of-money-fairly/) [Masha Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masha-gessen/) > [Both Trump and Putin use language primarily to communicate not facts or opinions but power: it's not what the words mean that matters but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masha-gessen/both-trump-and-putin-use-language-primarily-to-communicate-not-facts/) [Masha Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masha-gessen/) > [I worked both as a Russian journalist and an American journalist and ran a bunch of magazines in Moscow over the course of about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masha-gessen/i-worked-both-as-a-russian-journalist-and-an-american-journalist-and/) [Masha Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masha-gessen/) > [I have no doubt that there are Russian efforts to disturb the fabric of American democracy, but they're disruption efforts. 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