Creativity is a spark. It can be excruciating when we're rubbing two rocks together and getting nothing. And it can be intensely satisfying when the flame catches and a new idea sweeps around the world. Jonah Lehrer More Quotes by Jonah Lehrer More Quotes From Jonah Lehrer Grit is the stubborn refusal to quit. Jonah Lehrer grit quitting stubborn To have a style is to be stuck. Jonah Lehrer stuck style We travel because we need to, because distance and difference are the secret tonic of creativity. When we get home, home is still the same. But something in our mind has been changed, and that changes everything. Several new science papers suggest that getting away is an essential habit of effective thinking. When we escape from the place we spend most of our time, the mind is suddenly made aware of all those errant ideas we'd previously suppressed. We start thinking about obscure possibilitiebsthat never would have occurred to us if we'd stayed home. Jonah Lehrer distance creativity home What you discover when you look at creativity from the perspective of the brain is that it is universal. We're all creative all of the time, we can't help but be creative. Jonah Lehrer creativity perspective creative We need to be willing to risk embarrassment, ask silly questions, surround ourselves with people who don't know what we're talking about. We need to leave behind the safety of our expertise. Jonah Lehrer silly talking people In fact, the only way to remain creative over time--to not be undone by our expertise--is to experiment with ignorance, to stare at things we don't fully understand. Jonah Lehrer creative ignorance way People assume that they perceive reality as it is, that our senses accurately record the outside world. Yet the science suggests that, in important ways, people experience reality not as it is, but as they expect it to be. Jonah Lehrer important reality people While human nature largely determines how we hear the notes, it is nurture that lets us hear the music. Jonah Lehrer nurture notes human-nature When we venture beyond the edge of our knowledge, all we have is art. Jonah Lehrer venture edges art The answer will only arrive after we stop looking for it. Jonah Lehrer answers It doesn't matter if people are playing jazz or writing poetry. If they want to be successful, they need to learn how to persist and persevere and keep on working until the work is done... I bet there isn't a single highly successful person who has not depended on grit. Nobody is talented enough to not have to work hard, and that's what grit allows you to do. Jonah Lehrer hard-work success writing The inconsistency of genius is a consistent theme of creativity. Jonah Lehrer creating creativity genius So let's not pretend that travel is always fun. We don't spend 10 hours lost in the Louvre because we like it, and the view from the top of Machu Picchu probably doesn't make up for the hassle of lost luggage. (More often than not, I need a holiday after my holiday.) We travel because we need to, because distance and difference are the secret tonic of creativity. When we get home, home is still the same. But something in our mind has been changed, and that changes everything. Jonah Lehrer holiday distance fun For too long, we've assumed that there is a single template for human nature, which is why we diagnose most deviations as disorders. But the reality is that there are many different kinds of minds. And that's a very good thing. Jonah Lehrer mind long reality Rejection process is not fun. It's the red pen on the page, the discarded sketch, sometimes is the only way forward. Jonah Lehrer way-forward rejection fun The one reality science cannot reduce is the only reality we will ever know. Jonah Lehrer knows reality Creativity is not a trait that we inherit in our genes or a blessing bestowed by the angels. It's a skill. Jonah Lehrer creativity angel blessing Children can't help but create: they need to put their mind on the page, they want to paint, to sculpt, to write short stories. Jonah Lehrer mind writing children [It's] troubling because it reminds us how difficult it is to prove anything. We like to pretend that our experiments define the truth for us. But that's often not the case. Just because an idea is true doesn't mean it can be proved. And just because an idea can be proved doesn't mean it's true. When the experiments are done, we still have to choose what to believe. Jonah Lehrer mean believe ideas The imagination is unleashed by constraints. You break out of the box by stepping into shackles. Jonah Lehrer boxes break-out imagination
