Best 141 quotes of Edward De Bono on MyQuotes

A characteristic of intuitive solutions and new ideas is that of being obvious once they are discovered.

A good design is not a democratic consensus.

A good listener is very nearly as attractive as a good talker. You cannot have a beautiful mind if you do not know how to listen.

A memory is what is left when something happens and does not completely unhappen.

Although feelings are not supposed to intrude on business discussions, they do anyway - we just disguise them as logic.

America is an idea, but it's an idea that brings with it some baggage, like power brings responsibility. It's an idea that brings with it equality, but equality even though it's the highest calling, is the hardest to reach. The idea that anything is possible, that's one of the reasons why I'm a fan of America. It's like hey, look there's the moon up there, let's take a walk on it, bring back a piece of it. That's the kind of America that I'm a fan of.

America is not just a country, it's an idea.

A myth is a fixed way of looking at the world which cannot be destroyed because, looked at through the myth, all evidence supports the myth.

Analysis is simplifying, breaking down things into parts, picking out strands and elements. Analysis is comparing unknown things with things that are known. Analysis also involves picking out relationships and putting them back together as a whole.

An expert is someone who has succeeded in making decisions and judgements simpler through knowing what to pay attention to and what to ignore.

An idea that is developed and put into action is more important than an idea that exists only as an idea.

A person who knows all the answers, has an opinion on everything, has a certainty backed up by rational argument, has very little possibility of further progress. Such a person is unlikely to walk away from a discussion with anything more than a reaffirmation of how right he or she has been all along.

A question is a polite way of demanding something.

Argument is meant to reveal the truth, not to create it.

As competition intensifies, the need for creative thinking increases. It is no longer enough to do the same thing better . . . no longer enough to be efficient and solve problems.

Asking a question is the simplest way of focusing thinking...asking the right question may be the most important part of thinking.

(...) being right all the time acquires a huge importance in education, and there is this terror of being wrong. The ego is so tied to being right that later on in life you are reluctant to accept that you are ever wrong, because you are defending not the idea but your self-esteem. (...) this terror of being wrong means that people have enormous difficulties in changing ideas.

Being right is not too difficult. Your choose your perception. You select your information. You leave out what does not suit you. You drag in some general-purpose value words. You throw in a sneer or two about the opposition, and you are a fine fellow who made a fine speech.

Complexity creates confusion, simplicity focus.

Child mortality since 2000 is down by 2.65 million a year. That's a rate of 7,256 children's lives saved each day. ... It drives me nuts that most people don't seem to know this news.

Companies that solely focus on competition will ultimately die. Those that focus on value creation will thrive.

Creativity makes life more fun and more interesting.

Complacency with our traditional judgement based thinking methods is not enough. Our existing thinking habits are excellent just as the rear wheel of a motor car is excellent but not enough. We need to put far more emphasis on creative and design thinking. Judgement and analysis are not enough.

Complexity means distracted effort. Simplicity means focused effort.

Creative thinking - in terms of idea creativity - is not a mystical talent. It is a skill that can be practised and nurtured.

Creative thinking is not a talent, it is a skill that can be learned. It empowers people by adding strength to their natural abilities which improves teamwork, productivity and, where appropriate, profits.

Creativity and lateral thinking have exactly the same basis as humour.

Creativity can be learned like basketball, which does not mean we will all be NBA stars.

Creativity gives hope that there can be a worthwhile idea.

Creativity gives the possibility of some sort of achievement to everyone.

Creativity involves breaking out of established patterns in order to look at things in a different way.

Critical thinking does seem a superior sort of thinking because it seems as though the critic is actually going beyond the scope of what is being criticized in order to criticize it. That is only rarely a true assumption because, most often, the critic will seize on some little aspect that he or she understands and tackle only that.

Dealing with complexity is an inefficient and unnecessary waste of time, attention and mental energy. There is never any justification for things being complex when they could be simple.

Don't criticise a hypothesis, come up with a better one.

Effectiveness without values is a tool without a purpose.

Every valuable creative idea must always be logical in hindsight. If it were not, we would never be able to see its value.

Everywhere I go, I see very much the same thing. I see the same compassion for people who live half a world away. I see the same concern about events beyond these borders. And, increasingly, I see the same conviction that we can and we must join together to stop the scourge of AIDS and poverty.

Explaining belief has alwayas been difficult. How do you explain a love and a logic at the heart of the universe when the world is so out of whack? Explaining faith is impossible - vision over visibility - instinct over intellect - a songwriter plays a chore with the faith that he will hear the next one in his head.

Humor is by far the most significant activity of the human brain.

Humor is probably the most significant characteristics of the human mind. Far more significant than reason. In fact, reason is actually a very cheap commodity.

I do a great deal of work with young children, and if you give a child a problem, he may come up with a highly original solution, because he doesn't have the established route to it.

If you do not design the future, someone or something else will design it for you.

If you never change your mind, why have one?

If you wait for opportunities to occur, you will be one of the crowd.

I know it aches, how your heart it breaks. You can only take so much. Walk on.

I'm a very loyal and unreliable friend.

I'm in love with this country called "America." I'm a huge fan of America. I'm one of those annoying fans - you know, the ones that read the cd notes and follow you into bathrooms and ask you all kinds of annoying questions about why you didn't live up to that. I'm that kind of fan. I've read the Declaration of Independence, and I've read the Constitution of the United States, and they are some liner notes, dude.

I'm tired of dreaming. I'm into doing at the moment. It's, like, let's only have goals that we can go after.

In a sense, words are encyclopedias of ignorance because they freeze perceptions at one moment in history and then insist we continue to use these frozen perceptions when we should be doing better.

Intelligence is something we are born with. Thinking is a skill that must be learned.