When you are famous it is hard to work on small problems. This is what did Shannon in. After information theory, what do you do for an encore? The great scientists often make this error. They fail to continue to plant the little acorns from which the mighty oak trees grow. They try to get the big thing right off. And that isn't the way things go. So that is another reason why you find that when you get early recognition it seems to sterilize you.

What you learn from others you can use to follow.What you learn for yourself you can use to lead.

Beware of finding what you're looking for.[A favorite aphorism he often used.]

I need to discuss science vs. engineering. Put glibly:In science if you know what you are doing you should not be doing it.In engineering if you do not know what you are doing you should not be doing it.

It is better to do the right problem the wrong way than the wrong problem the right way.

There are wavelengths that people cannot see, there are sounds that people cannot hear, and maybe computers have thoughts that people cannot think.

Newton said, "If I have seen further than others, it is because I've stood on the shoulders of giants." These days we stand on each other's feet!