Seth Godin inspires me with his short, insightful daily blog which lands in my email inbox at about 11am most mornings.

Here are a few choice quotes from last night’s Seth Godin live event where I saw the blogger, entrepreneur and marketer talk about the the decline of the industrial economy, power of art and why we can all be artists if we choose. He covered the way that we’ve been taught that following instructions is the best route to become slightly more comfortable, to own a bit more stuff and be a bit happier. Seth argued that in the new economy, the safe zone is creativity, connection and art.

I also received two copies of his new book, The Icarus Deception – one for myself and one to give to the person whom reading it would spark the most awkward conversation with. Penguin are also going to send a free copy to someone of my choosing in the UK using twitter.

The format of the show also involved five brave people coming on stage for 140 seconds each to talk about their art – the highlight was definitely a magician who popped a black balloon to reveal a bottle of red wine.

So, here are some of those quotes:

“Value is created when people are connected and trust each other.”

“The value created by the connection economy trumps the value created by the industrial economy.”

“Don’t invest in flocks but in a bird in a flock.”

“You will never succeed by being more average than everyone else.”

“If you make art that resonates then people will clap in rhythm.”

“In case of fire, exit building before tweeting about it.”

“Hard work is doing the work we’d rather not be doing.”

“Art is travelling without a map.”

Instead of spending time getting your ducks in a row “doing something with your ducks is the point.”