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Adam Savage Quotes

Powerful Adam Savage for Daily Growth

Growing up in New York, I was sort of shocked when I realized that my children are Californians. They are 14 years old, and I explain to them frequently that they will never realize the glory of a snow day. You wake up and the world says, 'Oops, it's too much fun to go to school, you've got to stay home and deal with the snow!'

- Adam Savage

Deal, Explain, Frequently, Californians

Let's get on our knees and pray. I don't know to whom. Is there a patron saint of ballistics gel?

- Adam Savage

Saint, Knees, Our, Patron

Deadlines refine the mind. They remove variables like exotic materials and processes that take too long. The closer the deadline, the more likely you'll start thinking waaay outside the box.

- Adam Savage

Mind, Variables, Likely, Materials

Mostly I make lists for projects. This can be daunting. Breaking something big into its constituent parts will help you organize your thoughts, but it can also force you to confront the depth of your ignorance and the hugeness of the task. That's OK. The project may be the lion, but the list is your whip.

- Adam Savage

Big, Projects, Mostly, Depth

I had saved a few hundred photos of dodo skeletons into my 'Creative Projects' folder - it's a repository for my brain, everything that I could possibly be interested in. Any time I have an Internet connection, there's a sluice of stuff moving into there, everything from beautiful rings to cockpit photos.

- Adam Savage

Skeletons, Projects, Hundred, Rings

I think one of the defining moments of adulthood is the realization that nobody's going to take care of you. That you have to do the heavy lifting while you're here. And when you don't, well, you suffer the consequences.

- Adam Savage

Think, Here, I Think, Defining

The skeptical community is absolutely near and dear to the 'Mythbusters' heart and there's no small reason that they've embraced us. That's our people. That's the way we like to think.

- Adam Savage

Small, Think, Reason, Our People

Walking the floor at a con dressed as Chewbacca, you might as well be Bono. I mean it's ridiculous. People just walk up and grab you and hold you, because they love Chewbacca so much.

- Adam Savage

Love, Might, Con, Bono

The fact is that the British Museum had a complete specimen of a dodo in their collection up until the 18th century - it was actually mummified, skin and all - but in a fit of space-saving zeal, they actually cut off the head and they cut off the feet and they burned the rest in a bonfire.

- Adam Savage

Feet, Fact, British Museum, 18th Century

From earliest times, humans - explorers and thinkers - have wanted to figure out the shape of their world. Forever, the way we've done that is through storytelling. It is difficult to let the truth get in the way of a good story.

- Adam Savage

Through, Good Story, Figure, Explorers

I'm always going to be making costumes. It's one of the ways I relax my brain. In addition to the pleasure of having the piece, there is a deep and abiding pleasure for me assembling something in my head - learning to know something in its totality in my head, and then putting together all the constituent parts into a cohesive whole.

- Adam Savage

Learning, Deep, Putting, Abide

There's this group online that I frequent. It's a group of prop crazies just like me called the Replica Props Forum, and it's people who trade, make and travel in information about movie props.

- Adam Savage

Movie, Like, Replica, Forum

The 'Mythbusters' crew, we monitor the Discovery boards, we look for the new ideas that are being forwarded on those boards, and we keep track of what's going on, we keep updated.

- Adam Savage

New, Going, Boards, New Ideas

Technology is usually there to let some process go on hidden in the background. For us on 'MythBusters,' we're always trying to make the process apparent. So, we have learned to try and never rely on a technological solution when an analogue one is in front of us.

- Adam Savage

Solution, Some, Hidden, Apparent

The coolest toys don't have to be bought; they can be built. In fact, sometimes the only way they'll ever exist is if you make them yourself.

- Adam Savage

Fact, Toys, Built, Coolest

Firemen have the coolest toys ever!

- Adam Savage

Toys, Ever, Firemen, Coolest

Of course, I love tools. I also love arranging them, to the point where I came up with a name for my organizing metric: first-order retrievability.

- Adam Savage

Love, Them, Also, Arranging

Lists are how I parse and manage the world.

- Adam Savage

World, How, Lists, Parse

That aesthetic of the Star Wars universe: the do-it-yourself, hotrod ethic that George Lucas exported from his childhood, is exactly the same kind of soul behind what we do and build for the show. It may not look pretty, but it gets the job done.

- Adam Savage

Behind, Aesthetic, Lucas, None

Let's blow some stuff up.

- Adam Savage

Some, Stuff, Up, Blow

In theory, cars are fairly simple. If they don't start, it's either the fuel system or the electrical system. Teach yourself about the path of each in your engine and tracing it is fairly straightforward. But at the beginning, mastering each new system seems like an unreachable shore. The car is effectively a black box.

- Adam Savage

Beginning, Straightforward, Unreachable

The idea of an ordered and elegant universe is a lovely one. One worth clinging to. But you don't need religion to appreciate the ordered existence. It's not just an idea, it's reality. We're discovering the hidden orders of the universe every day.

- Adam Savage

Lovely, Ordered, Discovering, Orders

I'm not a sculptor; I'm a hard-edged model maker. You give me a drawing, you give me a prop to replicate, you give me a crane, scaffolding, parts from 'Star Wars' - especially parts from 'Star Wars' - I can do this stuff all day long. It's exactly how I made my living for 15 years.

- Adam Savage

Long, I Can, Years, Prop

I've learned over decades of building that a deadline is a potent tool for problem-solving.

- Adam Savage

Over, Learned, Potent, Deadline

I'm a lifelong movie addict, and one of my favorite projects is making replica props and costumes. Nearly every one of these - from R2D2 to Hellboy's revolver - ends with the paint job. And it's not just cosmetic. The paint literally tells a story: what this thing is made of, where it's been, what it's been used for, and for how long.

- Adam Savage

Movie, Been, Projects, Costumes

I am incrementally a pessimist, but I see the international debate that Edward Snowden has engendered, and I think this is exactly where the discussion should be. So, I would say I'm more optimistic than pessimistic.

- Adam Savage

I See, I Think, Edward, International

I am now standing in a mixture of cooling fluid, gasoline, and cola.

- Adam Savage

I Am, Standing, Mixture, Cooling

I like to work fast. I despise not having the right tool or, worse, knowing I have it but not being able to find it. It's a pointless delay that wrecks my pace - and mood.

- Adam Savage

Mood, Pointless, Having, Wrecks

Audiences of critical thinkers are my favorite kinds of audiences. There are jokes I tell in the show that don't get laughs unless I am in front of an audience of critical thinkers. Put me in front of a crowd of science teachers or astronauts! The guileless aren't our audience - it's the critical thinkers we love.

- Adam Savage

Love, Critical, Astronauts, Jokes

I've always thought something that makes you laugh, it makes you laugh because there's a little bit of truth to it.

- Adam Savage

Thought, Always, Makes, Laugh

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