Knowing that I could be painfully wrong and curiosity about why other smart people saw things differently prompted me to look at things through the eyes of others as well as my own. This allowed me to see many more dimensions than if I saw things just through my own eyes.

The Entomologist who broadens the horizon of his observations becomes better able to grasp and comprehend the great problems presented to him.

I guess I was always looking beyond what was right in front of me. I wanted to listen and play music that wasn't the normal Texas thing. More than that, I wanted to see the world beyond my hometown.

"When you are in the position privileged access, like a system administrator, you are exposed to a lot more information on a broader scale then the average employee...

I'll be more enthusiastic about encouraging thinking outside the box when there's evidence of any thinking going on inside it.

Well, it’s always important for any administrator, executive — whether in the private sector, or in government, or a college campus — to be talking with all members of the organization, the rank and file, to really understand what their issues are, and what their dreams and aspirations are, and what their frustrations are.

And while I stood there I saw more than I can tell and I understood more than I saw; for I was seeing in a manner the shapes of all things as they must live together like one being

I wanted to find a field in which I could be sure my freedom of thought would not be limited

Expand your mind by thinking with your feet on a walk or with your hand in a notebook. Think outside your brain.

I like friends who have independent minds because they tend to make you see problems from all angles.

As I grew into boyhood, I extended the range of my observations. My holiday afternoons were spent in rambles about the surrounding country. I made myself familiar with all its places famous in history or fable. I knew every spot where a murder or robbery had been committed, or a ghost seen. I visited the neighboring villages, and added greatly to my stock of knowledge, by noting their habits and customs, and conversing with their sages and great men. I even journeyed one long summer's day to the summit of the most distant hill, whence I stretched my eye over many a mile of terra incognita, and was astonished to find how vast a globe I inhabited.

[Public education] gave me a broader exposure to people and that, I hope, makes me a better judge.

And ultimately, the more you allow yourself to be present outside of your comfort zone and open up to varying experiences and people, the richer and more informed your views and perceptions become

But mainly I learned, in approaching the measurement of new phenomena, not just to consider using existing apparatus but to allow the mind to wander freely and invent new ways of doing the job.