98 Quotes by Daniel Tammet

I consider social skills a bit like learning a language. I’ve been practising it for so long over so many years I’ve almost lost my accent.

I have tried to be more flexible, but I always end up feeling more uncomfortable. Retaining a sense of control is really important. I like to do things in my own time, and in my own style, so an office with targets and bureaucracy just wouldn’t work.

I’m inconsistent because I’m human.

I’m not sure I’m the only savant with high IQ or with an above average IQ. Again, it may just be that we don’t know very many of the others.

When I multiply numbers together, I see two shapes. The image starts to change and evolve, and a third shape emerges. That’s the answer. It’s mental imagery. It’s like maths without having to think.

I know from my own experience that there is much more to ‘intelligence’ than an IQ number. In fact, I hesitate to believe that any system could really reflect the complexity and uniqueness of one person’s mind, or meaningfully describe the nature of his or her potential.

My mother is not a model. She is not perfect. That awareness is part of learning to love someone. Predicting the actions of someone is an act of love. We persist, even when we get it wrong. That’s the beauty of love.

I love music. I have a fondness for Chopin, and I very much like his ‘Raindrop Prelude.’

I changed my name because it didn’t fit with the way I saw myself.