p.15 an idea is nothing more nor less than a new combination of old elements.
p.16 the capacity to bring old elements into new combinations depends largely on the ability to
see relationships. Here, I suspect, is where minds differ to the greatest degree when it comes to the production
of ideas.
p.18 the habit of mind which leads to a search for relationships between facts becomes of the highest importance
in the production of ideas.
p.20 there is a technique for the use of the mind for this purpose [JLJ - the production
of ideas]; that whenever an idea is produced this technique is followed, consciously or unconsciously;
and that this technique can consciously be cultivated and the ability of the mind to produce ideas thereby increased. [JLJ
- okay, I'm listening... describe your idea machine, Mr. Young]
p.20,21 The first of these steps is for the mind to gather its raw material... The
materials which must be gathered are of two kinds: they are specific and they are general.
p.24 Every really good creative person in advertising whom I have ever known has always
had two noticeable characteristics. First, there was no subject under the sun in which he could not easily get interested...
Second, he was an extensive browser in all sorts of fields of information.
p.24,25 In advertising an idea results from a new combination of specific knowledge about products
and people with general knowledge about life and events.
p.29 what is the next part of the process that the mind must go through? It is the process of masticating
[JLJ - chewing] these materials, as you would food that you are preparing for digestion.
p.32 In this third stage you make absolutely no effort of a direct nature. You drop the whole subject
and put the problem out of your mind as completely as you can.
p.34 if you have really done your part in these three stages of the process you will almost surely
experience the fourth. Out of nowhere the Idea will appear.
p.38,39 One more stage you have to pass through to complete the idea-producing process...
In this stage you have to take your little newborn idea out into the world of reality. And when you do you
usually find that it is not quite the marvelous child it seemed when you first gave birth to it... Do not make the mistake
of holding your idea close to your chest at this stage. Submit it to the criticism of the judicious.
p.39-40 This, then, is the whole process or method by which ideas are produced:
First, the gathering of raw materials - both the materials of your immediate problem
and the materials which come from a constant enrichment of your store of general knowledge.
Second, the working over of these materials in you mind.
Third, the incubation stage, where you let something beside the conscious mind do
the work of synthesis.
Fourth, the actual birth of the Idea - the "Eureka! I have found it!" stage.
And fifth, the final shaping and development of the idea to practical usefulness.
p.41 Let me express my gratification at the number of letters which have come to me from readers
of the earlier editions. The most gratifying have come from people who say "It works!" - that they have followed
the prescription and gotten results.
