Hermann Ebbinghaus Quotes

Many a witty inspiration is like the surprising reunion of befriended thoughts after a long separation.

The hardest thing is the idea. Ideas come from somewhere but as far as we know they come from nowhere.

You don't actually have ideas; ideas have you.

It's sort of a mystery where ideas come from.

All thought is a feat of association; having what's in front of you bring up something in your mind that you almost didn't know you knew

High energy creates more energy, more energy, more energy. It kicks off synapses, I guess. It opens up your brain and you think of one thing after another thing, after another. You can really open yourself up comedically, which is fun.

When something comes to my brain, I don't ignore it. You never know what it's going to turn into.

Having imagination it takes you an hour to write a paragraph that if you were unimaginative would take you only a minute.

An idea, like a ghost, must be spoken to a little before it will explain itself.

The creative process is mysterious; a conversation, a ride in the car, or a melody can trigger something.

Ideas are all around you - everything gives you ideas. But the real source is the part of your brain that dreams.

When I have an idea, I turn down the flame, as if it were a little alcohol stove, as low as it will go. Then it explodes and that is my idea.

For me, drawing generates thinking and vice versa.

The process of creating is related to the process of dreaming although when you are writing you're doing it and when you're dreaming, it's doing you.

A thought is often original, though you have uttered it a hundred times.

Ideas come from somewhere. People don't come up with these ideas from nowhere. Something triggers your thoughts.

You know those little snow globes that you shake up? I always thought my brain was sort of like that. You know, where you just give it a shake and watch what comes out and shake it again. It's like that.

I don't know that we really think any thoughts; we think connections between thoughts. That's where the mind moves, that's what's new, and the thoughts themselves have probably been there in my head or lots of other people's heads for a long time.

Some of the best ideas I get seem to happen when I'm doing mindless manual labor or exercise. I'm not sure how that happens, but it leaves me free for remarkable ideas to occur.

You can't really think about more than one movie at a time. You're thinking about it consciously, and the subconscious is working too, and if you cram too much into your head, you don't get any ideas in the shower.

I do get obsessed with constantly thinking of ideas, all day long, but that's just how it is.

I've noticed it a lot. I'm not someone who revises. It's always the first movement, it's that. It's an instinct. Either it works straight away, or it won't ever work.

A lot of times, you have an idea, and all the things you are thinking about might fuel it. But that's not where the idea came from.

My ideas usually come not at my desk writing but in the midst of living.

I don't know how to explain it, but when you're working on something constantly, and you're digging in deep, things kind of fall in, and you grab them, and you're like, 'That one!' and 'That thing!' and it starts to build something right.