Eric Maskin Quotes

I decided to be an inventor when I was five. My parents had given me a few various enrichment toys like erector sets, and for some reason I had the idea that if I put things together just the right way, I could create the intended effect.

Even when I was young, I would build things with Lego or make 'robots' out of cereal boxes - long before I learned metalwork. The desire to build was always there.

Inventing is something that has always come very natural to me. As a child, I was always fiddling with things, making contraptions. I'd see something, go home, and try to make something even better.

Enthusiasm is not the same as just being excited. One gets excited about going on a roller coaster. One becomes enthusiastic about creating and building a roller coaster.

As a child, I wanted to know how things worked and to control them. With a friend, I built a number of complicated models that I could control.

My training and my inclination is to invent.

I'm wary of the word 'inventing,' because in the British psyche the word 'inventor' is immediately linked with 'mad'. For me, inventing is problem-solving.

I think of myself as more of a maker than a thinker.

It's really fun and challenging to build things that have never been built before.

It's easier to destroy than it is to create, but I've always enjoyed the creative aspect of the game.

Nothing in the world can be more exciting than to create something and see it work.

Life is composed of different inventions. I have continued to work at different things and rebuilt my home all by myself. I did it for the sake of satisfaction at doing something.

To me, it's all about inspiration. What gets me creatively excited is a challenge.

I think I'd be quite good at Builder, like designer, construction... I've always liked making things. I'm quite good with my hands. So I think I'd be quite good at designing new inventions.

When I studied graphic design, I learned a valuable lesson: There's no perfect answer to the puzzle, and creativity is a renewable resource.

Any creative process is about being in a territory which isn't secure, isn't necessarily familiar, and isn't convenient in any sort of way. And that's the excitement of it.

I use my mind to solve problems and invent things.

I always look for a challenge and something that's different.

I liked to work in a shop down in the basement and invent things and build gadgets.

For as long as I can remember, I have been fascinated by things large and small. I wanted to know what made my watch tick, my radio play, and my house stand. I wanted to know who invented the bottle cap and who designed the bridge. I guess from early on I wanted to be an engineer.

You should make something. You should bring something into the world that wasn't in the world before. It doesn't matter what it is. It doesn't matter if it's a table or a film or gardening-everyone should create. You should do something, then sit back and say, 'I did that.'

My explorations of the technical world started with Legos, with which I was quite creative in constructing moving objects with the basic building blocks that were then available.

I love the new technology. New things give you a reason to want to go to the studio. New challenges mean you have to keep up, you know?

Ever since I was young I loved making things and being part of the design process.

I used to be an amateur inventor when I was a kid; I'm always inventing something.