Sometimes we all need a little inspiration. Luckily, for people with ADHD and their loved ones, there have been quite a few inspirational figures with ADHD who have spoken about the condition.

Their words capture the up and the downs, the challenges facing an ADHD sufferer and the sense of accomplishment felt when those challenges are overcome. Below is a collection of some of our favorites and range in topics from focus to creativity.

On ADHD

I prefer to distinguish ADD as attention abundance disorder. Everything is just so interesting . . . remarkably at the same time. ― Frank Coppola

If we run every class the way we run it for kids with ADHD, we’d probably have a much stronger education system. ― Robert Reid

ADD is like going through life, carrying a one-man band contraption with a broken strap. ― Julia Smith-Ruetz

I’m ADD and psychic. I know things ahead of time but lose track of which is which. ― S. Kelley Harrell

ADHD is not about knowing what to do, but about doing what one knows. ― Dr. Russell Barkley

On Hyperactivity

It is better to be high-spirited even though one makes more mistakes, than to be narrow-minded and all too prudent. ― Vincent Van Gogh

On Inattention

I’m sorry…I wasn’t paying attention to what I was thinking. ― Shelley Curtiss

I was trying to daydream but my mind kept wandering. ― Steven Wright

I am not absentminded. It is the presence of mind that makes me unaware of everything else. ― G.K. Chesterton

It is difficult to instruct children because of their natural inattention; the true mode, of course, is to first make our modes interesting to them. – John Locke

In the power of fixing the attention lies the most precious of the intellectual habits. — Robert Hall

On Creativity

To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk. — Thomas Edison

Anxiety is the hand maiden of creativity. ― T. S. Eliot

Creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties. ― Erich Fromm

Creativity makes a leap, then looks to see where it is. ― Mason Cooley

On Organization

My room may be a mess but it’s an organized mess. I know right where everything is. ― Brandon Curtiss

They say a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind. What then is an empty desk a sign of? ― Albert Einstein

On Innovation

Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible. — Frank Zappa

The best way to have a good idea is to have a lot of ideas. — Dr. Linus Pauling

To have a great idea, have a lot of them. — Thomas Edison