An idea is nothing more nor less than a new combination of old elements.

Thus, words being symbols of ideas, we can collect ideas by collecting words. The fellow who said he tried reading the dictionary but couldn't get the hang of the story simply missed the point: namely, that it is a collection of short stories.

We tend to forget that words are, themselves, ideas. They might be called ideas in a state of suspended animation. When the words are mastered the ideas tend to come alive again.

Particular bits of knowledge are nothing, because they are made up of what Dr. Robert Hutchins once called rapidly aging facts. Principles and method are everything.

Drop the whole subject and put it out of your mind and let your subconscious do its thing.

An idea is nothing more nor less than a new combination of old elements.

The habit of mind which leads to a search for relationships between facts becomes of the highest importance in the production of ideas.