Ambiguity

Here are some of the most insightful quotes from Margaret Heffernan on embracing uncertainty, creativity, and the role of artists in navigating turbulent times:

🎨 On Creativity and Originality

“One of the things that I tell myself to console myself when I get worried about whether I’m writing anything original is that there isn’t anything original. It’s all building on something else.”

“What’s crucial is that your ideas may not be new, but you’re speaking to a new audience in a new time in a way that connects with them, and that’s what counts.”

— Margaret Heffernan

🤖 On Technology and AI

“There’s an awful lot of propaganda out there about what AI can do… It can do some stuff brilliantly—stuff that’s complicated, repeatable drudgery. It handles magnificently.”

— Margaret Heffernan

“I’m genuinely puzzled and made uncomfortable by the rhetoric coming out of Silicon Valley that says humans are fallible, but we will be able to make machines that don’t make mistakes and therefore create a world that’s perfect. I cannot imagine anything as dull.”

— Margaret Heffernan

🌱 On Embracing Uncertainty

“Uncertainty is where you discover stuff… The whole point of a detective novel or a horror film is its fantastic uncertainty. It wouldn’t be interesting otherwise.”

— Margaret Heffernan

“Artists live with uncertainty constantly—but instead of waiting for the future, they run towards making it, with agency and freedom.”

— Margaret Heffernan

💡 On the Role of Artists

“At a time when algorithms promise to extinguish all doubt, Heffernan makes a compelling case for uncertainty as humanity’s greatest resource. Her deep examination of how artists work offers an inspired and inspiring model for thriving in an unpredictable world.”

— Daniel H. Pink

“A call to creativity, written as a response to the deadening effects of tech-enabled managerialism. This long-overdue book invites readers of whatever stripe to learn from the way artists work, to see uncertainty for what it is: ‘the great propulsive power behind curiosity, learning, discovery and invention – the essence of being human’.”

— Tracey Camilleri

For a deeper exploration of these themes, you can watch the full interview with Margaret Heffernan on the London Writers’ Salon website: .