To ask at what time a man has first any ideas is to ask when he begins to perceive; having ideas and perception being the same thing.
—John Locke (1632–1704) English Philosopher, Physician
Ideas move rapidly when their time comes.
—Carolyn Gold Heilbrun (1926–2003) American Author, Literary Critic
To have good ideas, you have to have a lot of ideas.
—Linus Pauling (1901–94) American Scientist, Peace Activist
New opinions are always suspected, and usually opposed, without any other reason but because they are not already common.
—John Locke (1632–1704) English Philosopher, Physician
Are you a serial idea-starting person? The goal is to be an idea-shipping person.
—Seth Godin (b.1960) American Entrepreneur
Long is the road from conception to completion.
—Moliere (1622–73) French Playwright
The value of an idea lies in the using of it.
—Thomas Edison (1847–1931) American Inventor, Scientist, Entrepreneur
A lofty idea must be had, not of what one is doing, but of what one may someday do. Otherwise there is no point in working on.
—Edgar Degas (1834–1917) French Painter, Sculpture, Printer maker, Artist
Ideas won’t work unless you do.
—Unknown
So long as new ideas are created, sales will continue to reach new highs.
—Dorothea Brande (1893–1948) American Writer, Editor
The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips and walk out the door and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.
—Brennan Manning (1934–2013) American Theologian, Author
If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange these apples then you and I will still each have one apple. But if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas.
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish Playwright
Not just in commerce but in the world of ideas too our age is putting on a veritable clearance sale. Everything can be had so dirt cheap that one begins to wander whether in the end anyone will want to make a bid.
—Soren Kierkegaard (1813–55) Danish Philosopher, Theologian
We shouldn’t be looking for heroes, we should be looking for good ideas.
—Noam Chomsky (b.1928) American Linguist, Social Critic
When young men are beginning life, the most important period, it is often said, is that in which their habits are formed.—That is a very important period.—But the period in which the ideas of the young are formed and adopted is more important still.—For the ideal with which you go forth to measure things determines the nature, so far as you are concerned, of everything you meet.
—Henry Ward Beecher (1813–87) American Clergyman, Writer
Daring ideas are like chessmen moved forward; they may be beaten, but they may start a winning game.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
Ideas that enter the mind under fire remain there securely and for ever.
—Leon Trotsky (1879–1940) Russian Marxist Revolutionary
No matter how brilliantly an idea is stated, we will not really be moved unless we have already half-thought of it ourselves.
—Mignon McLaughlin (1913–83) American Journalist, Author
Don’t be afraid to stumble. Any inventor will tell you that you don’t follow a plan far before you strike a snag. If, out of 100 ideas you get one that works, it’s enough.
—Charles F. Kettering (1876–1958) American Inventor, Entrepreneur, Businessperson
It isn’t easy for an idea to squeeze itself into a head filled with prejudice.
—Indian Proverb
If you want to kill any idea in the world today, get a committee working on it.
—Charles F. Kettering (1876–1958) American Inventor, Entrepreneur, Businessperson
The vitality of thought is in adventure. Ideas won’t keep. Something must be done about them. When the idea is new, its custodians have fervor, live for it, and if need be, die for it.
—Alfred North Whitehead (1861–1947) English Mathematician, Philosopher
If I have a thousand ideas and only one turns out to be good, I am satisfied.
—Alfred Nobel (1833–1896) Swedish Inventor, Humanitarian
It’s a pretty good idea to be of good cheer but not all the time. Just at the most unexpected times.
—Indian Proverb
Here’s what is exciting about sharing ideas with others: if you share a new idea with ten people, they get to hear it once and you get to hear it ten times.
—Jim Rohn (1930–2009) American Entrepreneur, Author, Motivational Speaker
An idea isn’t responsible for the people who believe it.
—Don Marquis (1878–1937) American Humorist, Journalist, Author
It is a lesson which all history teaches wise men, to put trust in ideas, and not in circumstances.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
The idea is in thyself. The impediment, too, is in thyself.
—Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish Historian, Essayist
Everything begins with an idea.
—Earl Nightingale (1921–89) American Motivational Speaker, Author
It’s very good for an idea to be commonplace. The important thing is that a new idea should develop out of what is already there so that it soon becomes an old acquaintance. Old acquaintances aren’t by any means always welcome, but at least one can’t be mistaken as to who or what they are.
—Penelope Fitzgerald (1916–2000) British Novelist, Short-Story Writer, Biographer
Nearly every man who develops an idea works at it up to the point where it looks impossible, and then gets discouraged. That’s not the place to become discouraged.
—Thomas Edison (1847–1931) American Inventor, Scientist, Entrepreneur
But how shall I get ideas? Keep your wits open! Observe! Observe! Study! Study! But above all, Think! Think! And when a noble image is indelibly impressed upon the mind—Act!
—Orison Swett Marden (1850–1924) American New Thought Writer, Physician, Entrepreneur
If you wish to find, you must search. Rarely does a good idea interrupt you.
—Jim Rohn (1930–2009) American Entrepreneur, Author, Motivational Speaker
My mind contains many good ideas, but it’s not always easy to squeeze one out.
—Ashleigh Brilliant (b.1933) British Cartoonist, Author
If the ancients left us ideas, to our credit be it spoken, we moderns are building houses for them.
—Amos Bronson Alcott (1799–1888) American Teacher, Writer, Philosopher
There’s no correlation between how good your idea is and how likely your organization will be to embrace it.
—Seth Godin (b.1960) American Entrepreneur
Of course all life is a process of breaking down, but the blows that do the dramatic side of the work – the big sudden blows that come, or seem to come, from outside – the ones you remember and blame things on and, in moments of weakness, tell your friends about, don’t show their effect all at once. There is another sort of blow that comes from within – that you don’t feel until it’s too late to do anything about it, until you realize with finality that in some regard you will never be as good a man again. The first sort of breakage seems to happen quick – the second kind happens almost without your knowing it but is realized suddenly indeed. Before I go on with this short history, let me make a general observation – the test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function. One should, for example, be able to see that things are hopeless and yet be determined to make them otherwise.
—F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896–1940) American Novelist
Although words exist for the most part for the transmission of ideas, there are some which produce such violent disturbance in our feelings that the role they play in the transmission of ideas is lost in the background.
—Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born Physicist
Very simple ideas lie within the reach only of complex minds.
—Remy de Gourmont (1858–1915) French Poet, Novelist, Critic
Believe in something larger than yourself… Get involved in the big ideas of your time.
—Barbara Bush (1925–2018) American First Lady
Our land is not more the recipient of the men of all countries than of their ideas.
—George Bancroft (1800–91) American Historian, Politician
If a man loves the labor of his trade, apart from any question of success or fame, the gods have called him.
—Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–94) Scottish Novelist
A pile of rocks ceases to be a rock when somebody contemplates it with the idea of a cathedral in mind.
—Antoine de Saint-Exupery (1900–44) French Novelist, Aviator
Our ideas, like orange-plants, spread out in proportion to the size of the box which imprisons the roots.
—Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton (1803–73) British Novelist, Poet, Politician
How do you treat ideas?
Treat them TENDERLY—they can be killed quickly.
Treat them GENTLY—they can be bruised in infancy.
Treat them RESPECTFULLY—they could be the most valuable thing that ever came into your life.
Treat them PROTECTIVELY—don’t let them get away.
Treat them NUTRITIONALLY—feed them and feed them well.
Treat them ANTISEPTICALLY—don’t let them get infected with the germs of negative thoughts.
Treat them RESPONSIBLY—Respond! Act! Do something with them! Decide to decide!
—Anonymous
Ideas in the mind are the transcript of the world; words are the transcript of ideas; and writing and printing are the transcript of words.
—Joseph Addison (1672–1719) English Essayist, Poet, Playwright, Politician
The ideas I stand for are not mine. I borrowed them from Socrates. I swiped them from Chesterfield. I stole them from Jesus. And I put them in a book. If you don’t like their rules, whose would you use?
—Dale Carnegie (1888–1955) American Self-Help Author
Little words hurt big ideas.
—Howard W. Newton
Ideas too are a life and a world.
—Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (1742–99) German Philosopher, Physicist
Opportunity ideas do not lie around waiting to be discovered. Such ideas need to be produced.
—Edward de Bono (1933–2021) Maltese-British Psychologist, Writer