--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Big ideas don't make them selves known as…" description: "\"Big ideas don't make them selves known as big. They begin with the little, ridiculous ideas that most people would discard or reject. Every successful ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fcc/wolfgang-tillmans-15537_big-idea_big-ideas-don-t-make-them-selves-known-a_2328946.jpg" --- # Big ideas don't make them selves known as big. They begin… ![“Big ideas don't make them selves known as big. They begin with the little, ridiculous ideas that most people would discard or reject. Every successful picture I've done has really been based on taking a very flimsy, fleeting little idea, grabbing hold of it, and taking it seriously.” quote by Wolfgang Tillmans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fcc/wolfgang-tillmans-15537_big-idea_big-ideas-don-t-make-them-selves-known-a_2328946.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fcc/wolfgang-tillmans-15537_big-idea_big-ideas-don-t-make-them-selves-known-a_2328946.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fcc/wolfgang-tillmans-15537_big-idea_big-ideas-don-t-make-them-selves-known-a_2328946.jpg) > “Big ideas don't make them selves known as big. They begin with the little, ridiculous ideas that most people would discard or reject. Every successful picture I've done has really been based on taking a very flimsy, fleeting little idea, grabbing hold of it, and taking it seriously.” [Wolfgang Tillmans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-tillmans/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Great ideas start as tiny, absurd concepts that most dismiss, yet they can become successful when taken seriously. **In simple terms:** Big successes begin with small, odd ideas. Key Takeaway Take odd ideas seriously. Themes creativity innovation risk Mood inspirational thoughtful Type philosophical creative When to use this quote - artistic practice - entrepreneurship Key Concepts idea incubation creative process artistic development Questions to Reflect On - What ridiculous idea could you nurture? - How do you protect fragile ideas? A Different Perspective Ideas may be dismissed before they mature. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Big Begin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/big-begin-3104337/) [Big idea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/big-idea/) [Big ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/big-ideas/) [Done](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/done/) [Every Success](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/every-success/) [Idea Grabbing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/idea-grabbing-5595087/) [Ideas People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas-people/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Photography](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/photography/) [Ridiculous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ridiculous/) [Successful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/successful/) [Successful Picture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/successful-picture-3399405/) ## Related quotes > [Almost inevitably there are tensions in the picture, tensions between the outside world and the inside world. For me, a successful picture resolves these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-siskind/almost-inevitably-there-are-tensions-in-the-picture-tensions-between/) [Aaron Siskind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-siskind/) > [Don't wait till you are big before you begin building your brand. Build a brand from scratch alongside your business.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-branson/don-t-wait-till-you-are-big-before-you-begin-building-your-brand/) [Richard Branson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-branson/) > [Why is it that when we lose something big, we begin to lose everything else along with it?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-freitas/why-is-it-that-when-we-lose-something-big-we-begin-to-lose-everything/) [Donna Freitas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-freitas/) > [The more successful the villain, the more successful the picture.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-hitchcock/the-more-successful-the-villain-the-more-successful-the-picture/) [Alfred Hitchcock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-hitchcock/) > [“There is a current perception is that science has overtaken Philosophy and in effect rendered Philosophy irrelevant. Science, when sufficiently abstracted, approaches Philosophy in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-golway/there-is-a-current-perception-is-that-science-has-overtaken/) [Tom Golway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-golway/) > [The job of the leader is to get the big ideas right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-petraeus/the-job-of-the-leader-is-to-get-the-big-ideas-right/) [David Petraeus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-petraeus/) > [You never know when some small thing will lead to a big idea. Travel is very inspirational - but it's in the ordinary that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adriana-trigiani/you-never-know-when-some-small-thing-will-lead-to-a-big-idea-travel/) [Adriana Trigiani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adriana-trigiani/) > [I've never been shy about big ideas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-x-suarez/i-ve-never-been-shy-about-big-ideas/) [Francis X. Suarez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-x-suarez/) > [All the big ideas for getting us onto a lower carbon trajectory involve a lot of people doing a lot of work, and that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-jones/all-the-big-ideas-for-getting-us-onto-a-lower-carbon-trajectory/) [Van Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-jones/) > [People laugh at me because I use big words. But if you have big ideas, you have to use big words to express them,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/people-laugh-at-me-because-i-use-big-words-but-if-you-have-big-ideas/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [You will never win fame and fortune unless you invent big ideas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-ogilvy/you-will-never-win-fame-and-fortune-unless-you-invent-big-ideas/) [David Ogilvy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-ogilvy/) > [The only big ideas I've ever had came from daydreaming, but modern life keeps people from daydreaming. Every moment of the day your mind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-maccready/the-only-big-ideas-i-ve-ever-had-came-from-daydreaming-but-modern/) [Paul MacCready](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-maccready/) > [“You want the story of my life? Big ideas, small results.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-stanwyck/you-want-the-story-of-my-life-big-ideas-small-results/) [Barbara Stanwyck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-stanwyck/) > [Believe in something larger than yourself... get involved in the big ideas of your time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-bush/believe-in-something-larger-than-yourself-get-involved-in-the-big/) [Barbara Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-bush/) > [I am not going to make promises I can't keep. I am not going to talk about big ideas like single-payer and then not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/i-am-not-going-to-make-promises-i-can-t-keep-i-am-not-going-to-talk/) [Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/) ## More by Wolfgang Tillmans > [This coincided with the fall of the Berlin Wall and Europe coming closer together, and nightlife and techno and ecstasy culture seemed like a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-tillmans/this-coincided-with-the-fall-of-the-berlin-wall-and-europe-coming/) [Wolfgang Tillmans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-tillmans/) > [There is this looking at the world as shapes and patterns and colors that have meaning, and you can't deny the superficial because the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-tillmans/there-is-this-looking-at-the-world-as-shapes-and-patterns-and-colors/) [Wolfgang Tillmans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-tillmans/) > [I think there is something very consoling in feeling lost in space but also feeling grounded, and seeing that all of this is part…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-tillmans/i-think-there-is-something-very-consoling-in-feeling-lost-in-space/) [Wolfgang Tillmans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-tillmans/) > [What most artists using photography feel that they need to do is to show that they are serious, that they are not taking snapshots.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-tillmans/what-most-artists-using-photography-feel-that-they-need-to-do-is-to/) [Wolfgang Tillmans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-tillmans/) > [Whatever pictures are put into the world, the balance needs to be readdressed, it needs to be observed. That's why I am also really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-tillmans/whatever-pictures-are-put-into-the-world-the-balance-needs-to-be/) [Wolfgang Tillmans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-tillmans/) > [A photocopier is a camera in its own right. I was fortunate to grow up in the time and culture that I did. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-tillmans/a-photocopier-is-a-camera-in-its-own-right-i-was-fortunate-to-grow-up/) [Wolfgang Tillmans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-tillmans/) > [I heard this wonderful quote - "Only the brave show what they love." It's so-embarrassing to approach somebody and say you want to look…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-tillmans/i-heard-this-wonderful-quote-only-the-brave-show-what-they-love-it-s/) [Wolfgang Tillmans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-tillmans/) > [I am interested not in individual readings, but in constructing networks of images and meanings capable of reflecting the complexity of the subject.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-tillmans/i-am-interested-not-in-individual-readings-but-in-constructing/) [Wolfgang Tillmans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-tillmans/) > [Books have this function that help me to understand the work I've done, to wrap it up. Once it's done, fortunately, it doesn't mean…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-tillmans/books-have-this-function-that-help-me-to-understand-the-work-i-ve/) [Wolfgang Tillmans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-tillmans/) > [For me, a good portrait shows the fragility and humility of the person, and at the same time a strength, a resting in themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-tillmans/for-me-a-good-portrait-shows-the-fragility-and-humility-of-the-person/) [Wolfgang Tillmans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-tillmans/) > [I want the pictures to be working in both directions. I accept that they speak about me, and yet at the same time, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-tillmans/i-want-the-pictures-to-be-working-in-both-directions-i-accept-that/) [Wolfgang Tillmans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-tillmans/) > [This ongoing coexistence which makes life sensational. The eyes have this ability to flip around what they see from one second to another, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-tillmans/this-ongoing-coexistence-which-makes-life-sensational-the-eyes-have/) [Wolfgang Tillmans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-tillmans/) > [My staged work looks so real that people actually take it for documentary. But, in fact, that is my intention, to disguise the manufacturedness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-tillmans/my-staged-work-looks-so-real-that-people-actually-take-it-for/) [Wolfgang Tillmans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-tillmans/) > [For example, you now look at pictures from 1968, they are hugely misleading in terms of standing in as an absolute image of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-tillmans/for-example-you-now-look-at-pictures-from-1968-they-are-hugely/) [Wolfgang Tillmans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-tillmans/) > [Now there is such a closed loop between realness and commercialism that one has to question why do more and more and more of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-tillmans/now-there-is-such-a-closed-loop-between-realness-and-commercialism/) [Wolfgang Tillmans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-tillmans/) [Explore all 43 Wolfgang Tillmans quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-tillmans/) ## More Big idea quotes > [I am not going to make promises I can't keep. I am not going to talk about big ideas like single-payer and then not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/i-am-not-going-to-make-promises-i-can-t-keep-i-am-not-going-to-talk/) [Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/) > [I really like Kickstarter because you don't have to be a Medici to fund the arts and sciences or to get behind a big…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-gansky/i-really-like-kickstarter-because-you-don-t-have-to-be-a-medici-to/) [Lisa Gansky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-gansky/) > [Believe in something larger than yourself... get involved in the big ideas of your time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-bush/believe-in-something-larger-than-yourself-get-involved-in-the-big/) [Barbara Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-bush/) > [“You want the story of my life? Big ideas, small results.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-stanwyck/you-want-the-story-of-my-life-big-ideas-small-results/) [Barbara Stanwyck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-stanwyck/) > [It takes a big idea to attract the attention of consumers and get them to buy your product. Unless your advertising contains a big…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-ogilvy/it-takes-a-big-idea-to-attract-the-attention-of-consumers-and-get/) [David Ogilvy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-ogilvy/) > [The only big ideas I've ever had came from daydreaming, but modern life keeps people from daydreaming. Every moment of the day your mind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-maccready/the-only-big-ideas-i-ve-ever-had-came-from-daydreaming-but-modern/) [Paul MacCready](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-maccready/) > [You will never win fame and fortune unless you invent big ideas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-ogilvy/you-will-never-win-fame-and-fortune-unless-you-invent-big-ideas/) [David Ogilvy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-ogilvy/) > [People laugh at me because I use big words. But if you have big ideas, you have to use big words to express them,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/people-laugh-at-me-because-i-use-big-words-but-if-you-have-big-ideas/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [All the big ideas for getting us onto a lower carbon trajectory involve a lot of people doing a lot of work, and that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-jones/all-the-big-ideas-for-getting-us-onto-a-lower-carbon-trajectory/) [Van Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-jones/) > [I've never been shy about big ideas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-x-suarez/i-ve-never-been-shy-about-big-ideas/) [Francis X. Suarez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-x-suarez/) > [“The path to success involves two parts. Part One is all about imagination and dreaming up a big idea. Part Two is all about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clay-clark/the-path-to-success-involves-two-parts-part-one-is-all-about/) [Clay Clark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clay-clark/) > [You never know when some small thing will lead to a big idea. Travel is very inspirational - but it's in the ordinary that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adriana-trigiani/you-never-know-when-some-small-thing-will-lead-to-a-big-idea-travel/) [Adriana Trigiani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adriana-trigiani/) > [The job of the leader is to get the big ideas right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-petraeus/the-job-of-the-leader-is-to-get-the-big-ideas-right/) [David Petraeus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-petraeus/) > [“There is a current perception is that science has overtaken Philosophy and in effect rendered Philosophy irrelevant. Science, when sufficiently abstracted, approaches Philosophy in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-golway/there-is-a-current-perception-is-that-science-has-overtaken/) [Tom Golway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-golway/) > [I always tell people that revelling in big ideas for me is kind of like an antidote to existential angst.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-silva/i-always-tell-people-that-revelling-in-big-ideas-for-me-is-kind-of/) [Jason Silva](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-silva/) [Browse all 254 Big idea quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/big-idea/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Big ideas don't make them selves known as big. They begin with the little, ridiculous ideas that most people would discard or reject. 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