Quote of the Day: Steven Berlin Johnson

“The patterns are simple, but followed together, they make for a whole that is wiser than the sum of its parts. Go for a walk; cultivate hunches; write everything down, but keep your folders messy; embrace serendipity; make generative mistakes; take on multiple hobbies; frequent coffeehouses and other liquid networks; follow the links; let others build on your ideas; borrow, recycle; reinvent. Build a tangled bank.” 

— Steven Berlin Johnson

 (Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation)

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Quote of the Day: To Write is to Live Forever?

Tina Fey: “It has been said that to write is to live forever.”

Steve Martin: “The man who said that is dead.”

Fey: “Yet, we all know the importance of writing, because every great movie begins with a great screenplay.”

Martin: “Or, a very good idea for the poster. But usually, with a screenplay.”

Fey: “And every writer starts with a blank page.”

Martin: “And every blank page was once a tree.”

Fey: “And every tree was once a tiny seed.”

Martin: “And every tiny seed on Earth was placed here by the alien king Rondelay, to foster our titrates and fuel our positive transfers!”

— Tina Fey & Steve Martin, 2009 Academy Awards

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• Steve Martin on Twitter (barbsblast.wordpress.com)
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Quote of the Day: Madeline L’Engle

“You have to write the book that wants to be written. And if the book will be too difficult for grown-ups, then you write it for children.”

— Madeleine L’Engle

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