Creativity Quote by Steven Tyler

Steven Tyler’s line takes a comfy piece of American advice and flips it into a warning label. “Good things come to those who wait” is the kind of slogan that flatters patience as a virtue. Tyler’s revision keeps the sing-song rhythm but swaps the payoff: what arrives after you’ve waited might not be a prize at all, just leftovers. It’s a joke with teeth, the sort of backstage wisdom that sounds breezy until you picture the scene - the buffet table after the headliners have eaten.

The intent is less about mocking patience than puncturing complacency. Waiting, in Tyler’s framing, isn’t neutral; it’s a decision to cede the first move to someone else. That “may be” matters: he’s not claiming all patience is foolish, he’s injecting doubt into the morality tale. The subtext is hustle culture before it had a name: opportunities are time-sensitive, and the world rewards the person willing to show up early, take the risk, grab the slot.

Contextually it fits a rock frontman who came up in an industry where being “there first” can mean getting the riff, the contract, the headline, the cultural moment. Aerosmith’s era prized swagger and momentum, not quiet virtue. Tyler’s voice carries a performer’s suspicion of passive virtue-signaling: waiting can be a story we tell ourselves to make hesitation sound noble.

What makes the line work is its petty realism. It doesn’t preach ambition; it paints a small, slightly grim image - and lets your pride do the rest.