Problem-solving asks for more than technique. It asks for resilience, humor, honesty, and the willingness to look for the hidden gift inside difficulty. As John Johnson reminds us, “There is an advantage in every disadvantage and a gift in every problem.”

When a piece gets difficult, make faces. ~ Vladimir Horowitz

Don’t dwell on what went wrong. Instead, focus on what to do next. Spend your energy moving forward toward finding the answer. ~ Denis Waitley

The real problem is what to do with problem solvers after the problem is solved. ~ Gay Talese

Always prepare secondary ways of dealing with problems. ~ Frank Herbert

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

The problem is not that there are problems. The problem is expecting otherwise and thinking that having problems is a problem. ~ Theodore Rubin

Approach each new problem not with a view of finding what you hope will be there, but to get the truth. ~ Bernard M. Baruch

I’m someone who doesn’t believe in making my problems other people’s problems. ~ Tom Cruise

All problems become smaller if you don’t dodge them, but confront them. ~ William F. Halsey

For every complex problem, there is a solution that is simple, neat, and wrong. ~ H. L. Mencken

There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you in its hands. You seek problems because you need their gifts. ~ Richard Bach

I’m an old man who has known a great many problems, most of which never happened. ~ Mark Twain

The greatest and most important problems of life are all in a certain sense insoluble. They can never be solved, but only outgrown. ~ Carl Jung