Words to Start the Week (Jan. 13, 2025)
Nuggets from past notes
“I am supposed to be one of the more fertile inventors of big ideas, but in my long career as a copywriter I have not had more than 20, if that. Big ideas come from the unconscious. This is true in art, in science and in advertising. But your unconscious has to be well informed, or your idea will be irrelevant. Stuff your conscious mind with information, then unhook your rational thought process. You can help this process by going for a long walk, or taking a hot bath, or drinking half a pint of claret. Suddenly, if the telephone line from your unconscious is open, a big idea wells up within you”
“It’s not that difficult to reach set targets if you do not have to count the costs. Any designer can design a desk that costs 5,000 kronor, but only the most skilled can design a good functional desk that will cost 100 kronor. Expensive solutions to any problem is the work of mediocrity. We have no respect for a solution until we know what it costs. Before choosing a solution, set it in relation to its cost. Only then can you full determine its worth.”
“Someone who procrastinates is not irrational; it is his environment that is irrational , and the psychologist or economist calling irrational is the one who is beyond irrational”
“Fear is the foe of the faddist, but the friend of the fundamentalist”
“If you do not know history, you think short term. If you know history, you think medium and long term.”