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19 Quotes to Help You Solve Problems

Problems come in all shapes and sizes. Some are small and easily solved, while others stretch to a global scale and require many minds working on a solution. Indeed, problem-solving is such an integral part of life that humans often choose to tackle problems for fun or for a mental challenge — take, for example, the worldwide popularity of crosswords and sudoku puzzles.

Some problems present opportunities: If an inventor can solve a particular problem that helps a whole swath of society, that innovation might change the world for the better. Other problems, of course, are very much unforeseen and unwanted. But even then, a positive attitude can go a long way to mitigate a tricky situation. As the eighth-century Indian philosopher Shantideva wrote, “If you can solve your problem, then what is the need of worrying? If you cannot solve it, then what is the use of worrying?”

Here are some more wise quotes about solving problems, from philosophers, authors, business leaders, and more.

No problem can withstand the assault of sustained thinking.
Voltaire

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Each problem that I solved became a rule, which served afterwards to solve other problems.
René Descartes, philosopher and mathematician

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A problem thoroughly understood is always fairly simple. Found your opinions on facts, not prejudices. We know too many things that are not true.
Charles Kettering, inventor

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There is always a well-known solution to every human problem — neat, plausible, and wrong.
H.L. Mencken, journalist

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The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.
Albert Einstein

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If knowledge can create problems, it is not through ignorance that we can solve them.
Isaac Asimov, writer

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Every problem has in it the seeds of its own solution. If you don't have any problems, you don't get any seeds.
Norman Vincent Peale, clergyman and author

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If we want to solve a problem that we have never solved before, we must leave the door to the unknown ajar.
Richard Feynman, theoretical physicist

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Never let a problem to be solved become more important than a person to be loved.
Barbara Johnson, literary critic

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Too often we give children answers to remember rather than problems to solve.
Roger Lewin, anthropologist and science writer

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We are continually faced by great opportunities brilliantly disguised as insoluble problems.
Lee Iacocca, automobile executive

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It is well known that “problem avoidance" is an important part of problem solving. Instead of solving the problem you go upstream and alter the system so that the problem does not occur in the first place.
Edward de Bono, psychologist and author

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Whatever creativity is, it is in part a solution to a problem.
Brian Aldiss, author

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Leadership is solving problems.
Colin Powell

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To launch a business means successfully solving problems. Solving problems means listening.
Richard Branson

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Our best problem-solving resource is peace. Solutions arise easily and naturally out of a peaceful state.
Melody Beattie, author

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To solve any problem, there are three questions to ask yourself: First, what could I do? Second, what could I read? And third, who could I ask?
Jim Rohn, entrepreneur and author

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Too many problem-solving sessions become battlegrounds where decisions are made based on power rather than intelligence.
Margaret J. Wheatley, writer and management consultant

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Every problem has a solution, although it may not be the outcome that was originally hoped for or expected.
Alice Hoffman, author

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Photo credit: Bettmann via Getty Images

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About the Author
Tony Dunnell
Tony is an English writer of non-fiction and fiction living on the edge of the Amazon jungle.
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