I try to absorb all types of style and design. I don't try and

“I try to absorb all types of style and design. I don’t try and restrict my thinking. I enjoy the old and the new. You need that broad perspective to create something different.” — Chad Hurley

In these open and visionary words, Chad Hurley, the co-founder of YouTube and a designer at heart, speaks not only about creativity but about the art of perception. When he says, “I try to absorb all types of style and design,” he reveals the mindset of the true creator — one who does not limit his vision to a single school of thought, but drinks deeply from every source of inspiration. Hurley reminds us that innovation is not born from isolation, but from integration — from the meeting of the ancient and the modern, the classical and the experimental. In this simple truth lies the eternal formula for greatness: the broad perspective that allows one to see not just what is, but what could be.

To understand this wisdom, we must first understand the man who spoke it. Chad Hurley began his journey not as a businessman seeking profit, but as a designer seeking connection. His passion for form and function — for the meeting of beauty and utility — led him to co-found YouTube, a creation that reshaped how humanity shares its stories. His vision was not confined by the trends of his time; it drew from the entire lineage of human communication, from the earliest carvings and paintings to the most modern forms of digital expression. By embracing both the old and the new, Hurley built something timeless — a platform that, like language itself, continues to evolve and reflect the hearts of its users.

This idea — that creativity demands openness — is as old as art itself. The greatest minds of history have always drawn strength from many sources. The Renaissance masters, for example, did not worship the past blindly, nor did they reject it. They revived the wisdom of Greece and Rome while blending it with the bold spirit of their own age. Leonardo da Vinci, both artist and engineer, studied not only the anatomy of men but the flight of birds, the flow of rivers, and the geometry of stars. He absorbed everything, from science to poetry, from observation to imagination — and from that vast storehouse of knowledge, he created wonders that still stir the soul today. Like Hurley, he knew that to create something truly different, one must first learn to see the unity within diversity.

The ancients themselves taught this. Heraclitus said, “The road up and the road down are one and the same.” The wise of old knew that opposites — the old and the new, the traditional and the radical — are not enemies but partners in the dance of creation. To restrict one’s thinking, as Hurley warns against, is to blind oneself to half of existence. For every age, even the most modern, stands upon the shoulders of those before it. And every tradition, however revered, must eventually open its doors to the winds of change. Thus, the path of the creator is the path of the bridge-builder — one who honors the past and welcomes the future in equal measure.

There is a story from the realm of design that echoes this truth: the story of Frank Lloyd Wright, the great American architect. When others built homes that imitated Europe, he looked to nature — to the lines of rivers, to the flow of wind, to the structure of trees. His designs drew from ancient Japanese simplicity and modern American freedom, merging both into something wholly new. His masterpiece, Fallingwater, seems to grow from the very rock it stands upon. Like Hurley, Wright absorbed widely and thought freely — and by doing so, he changed how humanity sees the relationship between shelter and soul.

In Hurley’s words lies not only the wisdom of design but the wisdom of life itself. To live well is to live unconfined — to listen to many voices, to learn from both triumph and failure, to walk among the ruins of the old and the dreams of the new. The narrow mind seeks safety in certainty, but the creative mind finds strength in curiosity. Those who fear difference stagnate; those who embrace it evolve. To see beauty in the contrast of eras, ideas, and styles is to live with the vision of the artist — awake, receptive, alive to the ever-changing harmony of the world.

Lesson:
From Chad Hurley’s insight, we learn that openness of mind is the foundation of originality. To create anything of worth — be it art, invention, or life itself — we must first learn to absorb without prejudice. Study the old, for it holds wisdom; embrace the new, for it holds possibility. Do not fear contradiction, for in it lies creativity. The artist, the leader, the thinker — all must become like the river, flowing through landscapes ancient and fresh, carrying with them all that nourishes the imagination. For when the mind grows vast enough to hold both history and horizon, the heart becomes capable of creating something truly different — and everlasting.