20 Awesome Quotes on Humor, Play, and Creativity

1. “To stimulate creativity one must develop childlike inclination for play and the childlike desire for recognition.” – Albert Einstein
2. “If you want creative workers, give them enough time to play.” – John Cleese
3. “If you lose the power to laugh, you lose the power to think.” – Clarence Darrow
4. “The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect, but by the play instinct arising from inner necessity. The creative mind plays with the object it loves.” – Carl Jung
5. “The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not ‘Eureka!’ but ‘That’s funny!'” – Isaac Asimov
6. “Serious play is not an oxymoron; it is the essence of innovation.” – Michael Schrage
7. “Common sense and a sense of humor are the same thing, moving at different speeds. A sense of humor is just common sense, dancing.” – William James
8. “Humor has bailed me out of more tight situations than I can think of. If you go with your instincts and keep your humor, creativity follows. With luck, success comes, too.” – Jimmy Buffett
9. “Keep your sense of humor, my friend; if you don’t have a sense of humor it just isn’t funny anymore.” – Wavy Gravy
10. “Humor is the great thing, the saving thing. The minute it crops up, all our irritations and resentments slip away and a sunny spirit takes their place.” – Mark Twain
11. “Play so that you may be serious.” – Anarchasis
12. “When truly creative people come up with a new idea they don’t reject it immediately because of its flaws. They play with it, looking for strengths and sliding over weaknesses.” – David Campbell
13. “I’ll play it first and tell you what it is later.” – Miles Davis
14. “All work and no play doesn’t just make Jill and Jack dull, it kills the potential of discovery, mastery, and openness to change and flexibility and it hinders innovation and invention.” – Joline Godfrey
15. “If I had no sense of humor, I would have long ago committed suicide.” – Mahatma Ghandi
16. “Humor is by far the most significant activity of the human brain.” – Edward de Bono
17. “Comedy is simply a funny way of being serious.” – Peter Ustinov
18. “The number one premise of business is that it need not be boring or dull. It ought to be fun. If it’s not fun, you’re wasting your life.” – Tom Peters
19. “It’s no accident that AHA and HAHA are spelled almost the same way.” – Mitch Ditkoff
20. “What if everything is an illusion and nothing exists? In that case, I definitely overpaid for my carpet.” – Woody Allen

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Mitch Ditkoff is the Co-Founder and President of Idea Champions and the author of “Awake at the Wheel”, as well as the very popular Heart of Innovation blog.