From ‘Did you spot the gorilla? How to recognize hidden opportunities’ by Richard Wiseman

The hardest thing to do is see what is right in front of your eyes.

-          Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German poet and novelist

Four things never come back: the spoken word, the spent arrow, the past and the neglected opportunity

-          Omar Idn Al-Halif, Arab scholar

Opportunities multiply as they are seized

-          Sun Tzu, Chinese general and the Author of the ‘Art of War’

In the fields of observation, chance favours the prepared mind

-          Louis Pasteur, French bacteriologist

What we see depends mainly on what we look for.

-          Sir John Lubbock British Scientist

People only see what they are prepared to see.

-          Ralph Waldo Emerson. American poet and philosopher.

Originality is simply a fresh pair of eyes.

-          Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States of America 1913-1921

Don’t think you’re on the right road just because it’s a well-beaten path

-          Anon

To succeed, jump as quickly at opportunities as you do at conclusions

-          Benjamin Franklin, American statesman and scientist

Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect

-          Mark Twain, American novelist

We do not stop playing because we grow old. We grow old because we stop playing

-          Anon

Fish are the last to recognize water.

-          Anon

The world will not perish for want of wonders, but for want of wonder

-          J B S Haldane, British scientist.

I am neither especially clever nor especially gifted. I am only very, very curious

-          Albert Einstein. Physicist and Mathematician

The less routine the more life

-          Amos Bronson Alcott, American educator and social reformer