"One night at Socko and a year of probation were no comparison to the punishment at home. My rehabilitation was one of the fastest in adolescent history. I had it coming, and it taught me that moral rehab is possible. I behaved during my term of probation and stopped all of my criminal activity. But I would always retain my strong impulse to challenge authority and to think and act on my own whenever possible. There is room for such types in America, even in the disciplined confines of the United States Army. I’m a big believer in the value of unconventional men and women. They are the innovators and risk takers. Apple, one of the world’s most creative and successful high-tech companies, lives by the vision of transformation through exception. “Here’s to the crazy ones,” Apple’s campaign says. “The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.” If you talk to my colleagues, they’ll tell you that I’m cut from the same cloth. My military biography starts badly. I was a miserable dropout in my freshman year of college , enlisted in a delayed-entry Marine Corps program, went to work as a lifeguard at a local beach, and then came the first of several miracles: an Army ROTC scholarship. Little did I know that my rebellious activities, such as skipping class and sundry other mistakes, would lead me to playing basketball with an ROTC instructor who saw something in me. Not only that, he took surprising initiative."
React to this quote
More by Michael T. Flynn
See allResonant Thoughts
"Looking back only a few years, we appreciate how rapid has been the progress of the colored people on this continent. Emancipation brought them the opportunity of which they have availed themselves. I…"
"Several times I asked myself, "Can it be that I have overlooked something, that there is something which I have failed to understand? Is it not possible that this state of despair is common to everyon…"
Explore Further
Related Quotes
"Communitarian Elements in Select Works of Martin Buber"
— Martin Buber"A key difference between a dialogue and an ordinary discussion is that, within the latter people usually ho…"
— David Bohm"There were two parts of the Greek-speaking world at this time which did not suffer from revolution and did …"
— N. G. L. Hammond"When I first started playing, everything was outdoors. They were home-made community rinks. I played one ga…"
— Andy Bathgate"All art originates in an act of intuition or vision."
— Herbert Read"Doesn't it seem as though the thrill's gone out of it? Somehow Burning Man now feels like what Christmas be…"
— Mark Pesce


