Every great advance in science had issued from a new audacity of imagination.
—John Dewey, 1929
The scientist, if he is to be more than a plodding gatherer of bits of information, needs to
exercise an active imagination.
—Linus Pauling, 1943
Imagination comes first in both artistic and scientific creations, but in science there is only
one answer and that has to be correct.
—James Watson, 1987
Every now and then, a man’s mind is stretched by a new idea or sensation, and never
shrinks to its former dimensions.
—Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr., 1858
Lack of money is no obstacle. Lack of an idea is an obstacle.
—Ken Hakuta, 1988
Be less curious about people and more curious about ideas.
—Marie Curie
5
If you want to have good ideas you mush have many ideas. Most of them will be wrong,
and what you have to learn is which ones to throw away.
—Linus Pauling, 1995
There are well-dressed foolish ideas - just as there are well-dressed fools.
—Nicolas Chamfort
6
For an idea ever to be fashionable is ominous, since it must afterwards be always
old-fashioned.
—George Santayana, 1913
Whenever sleep seized me I would see those very problems in my dreams; and many
questions became clear to me in my sleep.
—Avicenna
7
No one has ever had an idea in a dress suit.
—Frederick Banting, 1922
Beware of all enterprises that require new clothes.
—Henry David Thoreau, 1854
Be regular and orderly in your life […], so that you may be violent and original in your
work.
—Gustave Flaubert, 1876
5
As quoted, without a date, by E. Curie Labouisse in 1937.
6
As quoted, without a date, by William G. Hutchinson in 1902.
7
As quoted, without a date, by W. E. Goldman in 1974.
On Discoveries, Problems, and Solutions
5
—John Dewey, 1929
The scientist, if he is to be more than a plodding gatherer of bits of information, needs to
exercise an active imagination.
—Linus Pauling, 1943
Imagination comes first in both artistic and scientific creations, but in science there is only
one answer and that has to be correct.
—James Watson, 1987
Every now and then, a man’s mind is stretched by a new idea or sensation, and never
shrinks to its former dimensions.
—Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr., 1858
Lack of money is no obstacle. Lack of an idea is an obstacle.
—Ken Hakuta, 1988
Be less curious about people and more curious about ideas.
—Marie Curie
5
If you want to have good ideas you mush have many ideas. Most of them will be wrong,
and what you have to learn is which ones to throw away.
—Linus Pauling, 1995
There are well-dressed foolish ideas - just as there are well-dressed fools.
—Nicolas Chamfort
6
For an idea ever to be fashionable is ominous, since it must afterwards be always
old-fashioned.
—George Santayana, 1913
Whenever sleep seized me I would see those very problems in my dreams; and many
questions became clear to me in my sleep.
—Avicenna
7
No one has ever had an idea in a dress suit.
—Frederick Banting, 1922
Beware of all enterprises that require new clothes.
—Henry David Thoreau, 1854
Be regular and orderly in your life […], so that you may be violent and original in your
work.
—Gustave Flaubert, 1876
5
As quoted, without a date, by E. Curie Labouisse in 1937.
6
As quoted, without a date, by William G. Hutchinson in 1902.
7
As quoted, without a date, by W. E. Goldman in 1974.
On Discoveries, Problems, and Solutions
5