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Thought Merchants / Provocation

Provocation.

Ideas that challenge conventional thinking.

48 collected quotes

The collection

Latest first

  1. You can get as high as you like in my museum, just don't touch anything.

    Anonymous LACMA ExecutiveView quote
  2. There are three ways to make a living: lie to people who want to be lied to, and you'll get rich; tell the truth to those who want the truth, and you'll make a living; tell the truth to those who want to be lied to, and you'll go broke. The rest is commentary.

    Irving J. ZweigView quote
  3. Delight without deluding.

    Michael SalerView quote
  4. Study hard what interests you the most in the most undisciplined, irreverent and original manner possible.

    Richard FeynmanView quote
  5. It seems necessary to me, then, that all people at a session be willing to sound foolish and listen to others sound foolish.

    Isaac AsimovView quote
  6. Creativity is just deviance put to good use.

    Adam MastroianniView quote
  7. Simplicity is a great virtue, but it requires hard work to achieve and education to appreciate. And to make matters worse, complexity sells better.

    Edsger DijkstraView quote
  8. What I cannot create, I do not understand.

    Richard FeynmanView quote
  9. A goal without a plan is just a wish.

    Antoine de Saint-ExupéryView quote
  10. All the best ideas come out of the process; they come out of the work itself.

    Chuck CloseView quote
  11. Art is useless by definition. If it was useful, it would be a tool.

    Derek SiversView quote
  12. Data absent the ability to draw insights from is like cholesterol in your arteries, it just takes up space and does nothing to help you be healthy.

    Chuck ReedView quote
  13. Good design is obvious. Great design is transparent.

    Joe SparanoView quote
  14. If you have a feed you are being fed.

    Ryan FindleyView quote
  15. Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.

    Leonardo da VinciView quote
  16. The art of art, the glory of expression, is simplicity.

    Walt WhitmanView quote
  17. The role of the designer is that of a good, thoughtful host anticipating the needs of his guests.

    Charles EamesView quote
  18. You don't need more intensity, you need more consistency. Intensity impresses; consistency transforms.

    Shane ParrishView quote
  19. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you.

    Ira GlassView quote
  20. Imagination does not become great until human beings, given the courage and strength, use it to create.

    Maria MontessoriView quote
  21. Measure what is important, don't make important what you can measure.

    Robert McNamaraView quote
  22. One must wait until the evening to see how splendid the day has been.

    SophoclesView quote
  23. The history of organizations (and of nations) is littered with the corpses of enterprises which failed to respond appropriately to the demands of change.

    Saul BassView quote
  24. The mind, in discovering truths, acts in the same manner as it acts through the eye in discovering objects; when once any object has been seen, it is impossible to put the mind back to the same condition it was in before it saw it.

    Thomas PaineView quote
  25. The opposite of play is not work, it's depression.

    Stuart BrownView quote
  26. There’s an old saying in Tennessee — I know it’s in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can’t get fooled again.

    George W. BushView quote
  27. Tip the world on its side and everything loose will land in Los Angeles.

    Frank Lloyd WrightView quote
  28. When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure.

    Goodhart's LawView quote
  29. All too much of the man-made is ugly, inefficient, depressing chaos.

    Dieter RamsView quote
  30. AM/FM Principal: Actual Machines vs Fucking Magic.

    UnknownView quote
  31. Chance favors the prepared mind.

    Louis PasteurView quote
  32. Humans solve problems by adding complexity, even when it’s against our best interests.

    Paul TaylorView quote
  33. Instructions are the list of things you designed incorrectly.

    UnknownView quote
  34. Less, but better.

    Dieter RamsView quote
  35. Question everything generally thought to be obvious.

    Dieter RamsView quote
  36. Quiet is better than loud.

    Dieter RamsView quote
  37. Simplicity is not the goal. It is the by-product of a good idea and modest expectations.

    Paul RandView quote
  38. You will learn most things by looking, but reading gives understanding. Reading will make you free.

    Paul RandView quote
  39. Chop your own wood, and it will warm you twice.

    Henry FordView quote
  40. It’s in the valley of failure that we sow the seeds of success.

    Jason AltucherView quote
  41. Joy is a well-made object, equaled only by the joy of making it.

    Bill ReidView quote
  42. Ninety percent of everything is crap.

    Sturgeon's LawView quote
  43. Nobody reads advertising. People read what interests them, and sometimes it's an ad.

    Howard GossageView quote
  44. Not everything is design. But design is about everything. So do yourself a favor: be ready for anything.

    Michael BierutView quote
  45. The very best news is bad news delivered early enough to fix it.

    Lindy Elkins-TantonView quote
  46. To be interesting, be interested.

    Dale CarnegieView quote
  47. Trust arrives on foot, but leaves on horseback.

    Dutch ProverbView quote
  48. Work? It’s just serious play.

    Saul BassView quote