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.

there simply is no way to describe the past without lying. Our memories are not like fiction. They are fiction.

A lie told well is just as good as the truth.

In fact, the only way to remain creative over time--to not be undone by our expertise--is to experiment with ignorance, to stare at things we don't fully understand.

[It's] troubling because it reminds us how difficult it is to prove anything. We like to pretend that our experiments define the truth for us. But that's often not the case. Just because an idea is true doesn't mean it can be proved. And just because an idea can be proved doesn't mean it's true. When the experiments are done, we still have to choose what to believe.

And so we keep on thinking, because the next thought might be the answer.

By the age of 3, children from wealthier households hear, on average, about 500,000 encouragements and 80,000 discouragements. The ratio is reversed in households on welfare.