Creativity, by John Cleese

“I began to discover that, if I put the work in before going to bed, I often had a little creative idea overnight.” – pg. 15

“Creative people are much better at tolerating the vague sense of worry that we all get when we leave something unresolved. So if […] you can tolerate that anxiety, you will be able to give yourself the time to come up with a better decision.” – pg. 45

“In order to remove interruptions, […] you have to create a safe place, where you can play. This involves first creating boundaries of space, and then boundaries of time.” – pg. 49

“You go backwards and forwards between the creative mode of thinking and the analytical mode of thinking until, finally, you get to something that’s a bit special. This back-and-forth process is called iteration. It’s what creative people do all the time.” – pg. 64

“Even the very best minds seem to produce work that can divide itself into three stages. First, they produce original work as they learn their craft; second, when they’ve mastered their craft, they begin to express their mature ideas in their best works; third, there’s a tailing-off of their powers, as their insights become more familiar.” – pg. 80

“Others […] never lose their ability to come up with fresh ideas. In other words, they learn to nurture their unconscious, and to trust it. […] The great mathematician John Conway spent much of his time playing games. Playing… keeps you ‘fresh.'” – pg. 81

“Remember just one thing: ‘Brevity is the soul of wit.’ […] Remember the famous apology, ‘Sorry this is such a long letter, but I didn’t have time to write a shorter one.'” – pg. 90