Life & Wisdom Quote by Mark Millar

Millar’s line lands like a gentle insult aimed straight at the romantic myth of the artist-as-lightning-bolt. It’s not anti-art; it’s anti-self-deception. “No matter how good their intentions” is the tell: he grants the purity of motive, then calmly strips it of power. Intentions don’t outrun process. They don’t beat deadlines. They don’t magically turn taste into execution.

The bite comes from the phrase “slower than they think.” It’s a double exposure of ego and time. Artists tend to measure progress by internal velocity - the rush of an idea, the certainty of a vision, the private feeling of being on the brink. Millar punctures that with a practical truth: craft moves at the speed of revision, problem-solving, and resistance. The mind drafts in montage; the work arrives one stubborn sentence, panel, brushstroke at a time.

Context matters: Millar writes inside industrial storytelling, where art is both personal expression and production pipeline. Comics, film, and TV aren’t just about inspiration; they’re about collaboration, continuity, and the calendar. In that world, “good intentions” can become an excuse for lateness, scope creep, and endless tinkering - especially when you’re convinced your pace is heroic rather than human.

The subtext is bracing and oddly compassionate: if you accept you’re slower than your self-image, you stop bargaining with time and start building habits. The quote works because it reframes slowness not as failure, but as the baseline reality creativity keeps trying to deny.