Jonah Lehrer's Quotes

Children can't help but create: they need to put their mind on the page, they want to paint, to sculpt, to write short stories.

Creativity is not a trait that we inherit in our genes or a blessing bestowed by the angels. It's a skill.

Every creative story is different. And yet every creative story is the same: There was nothing, now there is something. It's almost like magic.

Creativity is a spark. It can be excruciating when we're rubbing two rocks together and getting nothing. And it can be intensely satisfying when the flame catches and a new idea sweeps around the world.

I always wanted to be a scientist, I always thought I'd be a scientist, that was the narrative I was carrying around. I worked in a neuroscience lab as an undergraduate and then after, almost five years in total, but I realized I just wasn't good at science. I didn't have the discipline for it.

I want to give people theories, I want to expose them to scientific stories that force them to re-evaluate the way they use these three pounds of meat inside their head.

If you're trying to be more creative, one of the most important things you can do is increase the volume and diversity of the information to which you are exposed.

What you discover when you look at creativity from the perspective of the brain is that it is universal. We're all creative all of the time, we can't help but be creative.