On Surprise

‘It is not the surprises in life that are so debilitating. The truly crushing force is being surprised that you are surprised .’
— Darryl Conner

‘No other area offers richer opportunities for successful innovation than the unexpected success.’
— Peter F. Drucker

‘Once they are through the process of education, most people lose the capacity of wondering, of being surprised . They feel they ought to know everything, and hence that it is a sign of ignorance to be surprised or puzzled by anything.’
— Erich Fromm

‘Time changes everything except something within us which is always surprised by change.’
— Thomas Hardy

‘The real artist’s work is a surprise to himself.’
— Robert Henri

‘If you do not expect the unexpected, you will not find it, for it is not to be reached by search or trail.’
— Heraclitus

‘If it’s surprising, it’s useful .’
— Tom Hirshfield

‘Ideally, I’d like to be the eternal novice, for then only the surprises would be endless.’
— Keith Jarrett

‘Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.’
— George S. Patton

‘Innovation has a lot to do with your ability to recognise surprising and unusual phenomena.’
— Herbert Simon