Linus Pauling

"Satisfaction of one's curiosity is one of the greatest sources of happiness in life."

— Linus Pauling

American Scientist

1901 - 1994

Are you curious about the world around you?  Are you searching for new information and ideas?  Are you asking questions and looking for answers?  Creative leaders seek out new ideas and new ways of seeing the world.  We want answers to our questions.  Part of our thrill in life is learning something new — figuring out something we didn't know.

Creative leaders need a strong sense of curiosity about the world they inhabit.  They are not satisfied with the pat answers of the past.  The challenge is in finding new answers to the age old questions.

Marquis de Vauvenargues

"Great thoughts always come from the heart."

— Marquis de Vauvenargues

French Writer

1715 - 1747

The heart is powerful, intelligent and intuitive.  Most of us have been taught that our intelligence resides in our brain, but this is only partially true.  Logical and analytical thinking occurs in the brain.  Intuitive, sensitive and compassionate thinking occurs in the heart.  Often, though, we let our brain override our heart.  We need to learn to listen to voice of our heart as it reveals a deeper truth.  Reason may dominate our thinking, but compassion should govern our actions.  While the brain is busy analyzing the options, the heart knows intuitively what road to take. 

Years of experience have taught me that my heart knows the answer often before the brain has finished its analysis.   I have learned that it is better to trust the small voice inside my heart then the loud voice inside my head.  Do you trust your intuition?  Are you listening to the voice within your heart?

Giorgio de Chirico

"To become truly immortal, a work of art must escape all human limits: logic and common sense will only interfere.  But once those barriers are broken, it will enter the realms of childhood visions and dreams."

— Giorgio de Chirico

Italian Painter

1888 - 1978

The Disquieting Muses (1916)

The way we see the world impacts our ability to be creative.  Logic, reason and even common sense can hold us back from where as an artist and creative leader we need to go.  Logic and reason can be chains around our wrists and ankles, preventing us from escaping the boundaries of human existence, forcing us to paint what is, not what is meant to be.  Logic and reason are the tools of the editor in our head telling us that we are not good enough, that the words we write don't make sense, that the sentence structure is wrong, that the story is unrealistic.  Logic and reason are the tools of the judge in our hearts telling us that the work we have created is not good enough.  We must break the chains that bind us and become as little children — able to see the world with eyes of wonder.