5 Arthur Koestler Quotes on Creativity

Arthur Koestler quotes on creativity

1. Einstein's space is no closer to reality than Van Gogh's sky. The glory of science is not in a truth more absolute than the truth of Bach or Tolstoy, but in the act of creation itself. The scientist's discoveries impose his own order on chaos, as the composer or painter imposes his; an order that always refers to limited aspects of reality, and is based on the observer's frame of reference, which differs from period to period as a Rembrant nude differs from a nude by Manet. (Source: The Act of Creation by Arthur Koestler, London, 1970, p. 253)

6. 'Without the hard little bits of marble which are called 'facts' or 'data' one cannot compose a mosaic; what matters, however, are not so much the individual bits, but the successive patterns into which you arrange them, then break them up and rearrange them.' (Source: The Act of Creation)

12. 'Creative activity could be described as a type of learning process where teacher and pupil are located in the same individual.'

20. 'The principle mark of genius is not perfection but originality, the opening of new frontiers.'

21. 'True creativity often starts where language ends.'