If I can get you to laugh with me, you like me better, which makes you open to my ideas
John CleeseRead
The really good idea is always traceable back quite a long way, often to a not very good idea which sparked off another idea that was only slightly better, which somebody else misunderstood in such a way that they then said something which was really rather interesting.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Great ideas often emerge from a series of misunderstandings and incremental improvements on previous concepts.
This quote by John Cleese highlights the nature of creativity and idea generation, suggesting that even the best ideas are the result of a collaborative process. It emphasizes the importance of allowing early, imperfect ideas to evolve through discussion and reinterpretation, leading to innovative outcomes that may not have been initially obvious.
Themes
CreativityInnovationIdeasImprovementCollaboration
In practice
Example use cases
In a brainstorming session, when discussing how a simple concept evolved into a successful product, one could conclude with this quote to remind everyone of the nature of good ideas.
More from John Cleese
All quotes →Because, as we all know, it’s easier to do trivial things that are urgent than it is to do important things that are not urgent, like thinking. And it’s also easier to do little things we know we can do than to start on big things that we’re not so sure about.
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If you are leaping a ravine, the moment of takeoff is a bad time to be considering alternative strategies.
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In Britain, girls seem to be either bright or attractive. In America, that's not the case. They're both.
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I used to desire many, many things, but now I have just one desire, and that's to get rid of all my other desires.
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When the target audience is American teenage kids, you can have problems. My generation prized really fine acting and writing. Sometimes you have to go back to the basic principles which underpin great visual comedy.
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