Quotes from Smart Thinking: Three Essential Keys to Solve Problems, Innovate, and Get Things Done

“It is fine to take a break from an effortful task every once in a while but your learning experience will be diminished without sustained effort.”
― Art Markman, quote from Smart Thinking: Three Essential Keys to Solve Problems, Innovate, and Get Things Done

“If I have seen farther,” he said, “it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants.”
― Art Markman, quote from Smart Thinking: Three Essential Keys to Solve Problems, Innovate, and Get Things Done

“that the best way to learn something is to teach it to someone else.”
― Art Markman, quote from Smart Thinking: Three Essential Keys to Solve Problems, Innovate, and Get Things Done

“When you are engaged in deep causal learning or putting in effort to redescribe a difficult problem, then multitasking can only hurt your chances of success.”
― Art Markman, quote from Smart Thinking: Three Essential Keys to Solve Problems, Innovate, and Get Things Done

“When you’ve completed the book or article or at the end of a meeting, write down the three (or so) main points.”
― Art Markman, quote from Smart Thinking: Three Essential Keys to Solve Problems, Innovate, and Get Things Done

“it is important that people treat any gaps they identify in their knowledge as invitations to learn more.”
― Art Markman, quote from Smart Thinking: Three Essential Keys to Solve Problems, Innovate, and Get Things Done

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“The lost, the lonely, the bicultural misfits with a foot in two worlds and a place in neither.”
― Don Winslow, quote from The Power of the Dog

“Why do we bury our dead?” His nose was dented in at the bridge like a sphinx; the cause of which I could only imagine had been a freak archaeological accident.
I thought about my parents. They had requested in their will that they be buried side by side in a tiny cemetery a few miles from our house. “Because it’s respectful?”
He shook his head. “That’s true, but that’s not the reason we do it.”
But that was the reason we buried people, wasn’t it? After gazing at him in confusion, I raised my hand, determined to get the right answer. “Because leaving people out in the open is unsanitary.”
Mr. B. shook his head and scratched the stubble on his neck.
I glared at him, annoyed at his ignorance and certain that my responses were correct. “Because it’s the best way to dispose of a body?”
Mr. B. laughed. “Oh, but that’s not true. Think of all the creative ways mass murderers have dealt with body disposal. Surely eating someone would be more practical than the coffin, the ceremony, the tombstone.”
Eleanor grimaced at the morbid image, and the mention of mass murderers seemed to wake the rest of the class up. Still, no one had an answer. I’d heard Mr. B. was a quack, but this was just insulting. How dare he presume that I didn’t know what burials meant? I’d watched them bury my parents, hadn’t I? “Because that’s just what we do,” I blurted out. “We bury people when they die. Why does there have to be a reason for everything?”
“Exactly!” Mr. B. grabbed the pencil from behind his ear and began gesticulating with it. “We’ve forgotten why we bury people.
“Imagine you’re living in ancient times. Your father dies. Would you randomly decide to put him inside a six-sided wooden box, nail it shut, then bury it six feet below the earth? These decisions aren’t arbitrary, people. Why a six-sided box? And why six feet below the earth? And why a box in the first place? And why did every society throughout history create a specific, ritualistic way of disposing of their dead?”
No one answered.
But just as Mr. B. was about to continue, there was a knock on the door. Everyone turned to see Mrs. Lynch poke her head in. “Professor Bliss, the headmistress would like to see Brett Steyers in her office. As a matter of urgency.”
Professor Bliss nodded, and Brett grabbed his bag and stood up, his chair scraping against the floor as he left.
After the door closed, Mr. B. drew a terrible picture of a mummy on the board, which looked more like a hairy stick figure. “The Egyptians used to remove the brains of their dead before mummification. Now, why on earth would they do that?”
There was a vacant silence.
“Think, people! There must be a reason. Why the brain? What were they trying to preserve?”
When no one answered, he answered his own question.
“The mind!” he said, exasperated. “The soul!”
As much as I had planned on paying attention and participating in class, I spent the majority of the period passing notes with Eleanor. For all of his enthusiasm, Professor Bliss was repetitive and obsessed with death and immortality. When he faced the board to draw the hieroglyphic symbol for Ra, I read the note Eleanor had written me.

Who is cuter?
A. Professor Bliss
B. Brett Steyers
C. Dante Berlin
D. The mummy

I laughed. My hand wavered between B and C for the briefest moment. I wasn’t sure if you could really call Dante cute. Devastatingly handsome and mysterious would be the more appropriate description. Instead I circled option D. Next to it I wrote Obviously! and tossed it onto her desk when no one was looking.”
― Yvonne Woon, quote from Dead Beautiful

“The first step towards knowledge is to accept your own ignorance.”
― Joseph Delaney, quote from Curse of the Bane

“By my soul, I can neither eat, drink, nor sleep; nor, what's still worse, love any woman in the world but her.”
― Samuel Richardson, quote from Clarissa, or, the History of a Young Lady

“I seriously think I could have sat in the middle of the kitchen floor rubbing two sticks together over a pile of dynamite blocks and gasoline cans, and my parents would be oblivious, as long as I was keeping myself occupied.”
― Jordan Sonnenblick, quote from Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie

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BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.

We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.

Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.