black
grey
blue
red
brown
white

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

Edward de Bono

Unhappiness is best defined as the difference between our talents and our expectations.
EDWARD DE BONO

Best Definition Expectation Happiness Ourselves Talent
Simplicity before understanding is simplistic; simplicity after understanding is simple.
EDWARD DE BONO

Simplicity Understand
Creativity makes life more fun and more interesting.
EDWARD DE BONO

Creativity Fun Interest Life
Teaching thinking for just five hours to unemployed youngsters increased employment 500 percent.
EDWARD DE BONO

Employment Teaching Thinking
Possibilities play a much bigger role in thinking than most people believe. Without possibilities you cannot make progress.
EDWARD DE BONO

Play Possible Progress Thinking
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.
EDWARD DE BONO

Dreams Goal Moments
We need both information and thinking. Information is no substitute for thinking and thinking is no substitute for information.
EDWARD DE BONO

Information Need Substitute Thinking
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.
EDWARD DE BONO

Children Deal Establishment Greatness Route Work Young
The analysis of data will not by itself produce new ideas.
EDWARD DE BONO

Analysis Data Ideas Production
Our existing thinking habits are excellent, just as the rear wheels of a motor car are excellent, but not enough.
EDWARD DE BONO

Enough Excellence Existence Habit Thinking
Opportunity ideas do not lie around waiting to be discovered. Such ideas need to be produced.
EDWARD DE BONO

Discover Ideas Lying Need Opportunity Production
My thinking was taught to tribes in South Africa like the Zulus and Xhosas. At the time there were about 210 fights breaking out among them every month, but after they listened to my lessons, this fell to just four.
EDWARD DE BONO

Fight Lesson Listening Teaching Thinking Time
Language is the biggest barrier to human progress because language is an encyclopedia of ignorance. Old perceptions are frozen into language and force us to look at the world in an old fashioned way.
EDWARD DE BONO

Fashion Human Language Progress Way
Complexity means distracted effort. Simplicity means focused effort.
EDWARD DE BONO

Complex Distraction Effort Simplicity
We do not make very full value of the opportunities provided by technology because we prefer critical to constructive thinking, argument to design.
EDWARD DE BONO

Argument Criticism Design Opportunity Technology Value
Do we have the will to make poverty history?
EDWARD DE BONO

History Poverty Willing Yourself
Maybe the social value of truth is as a destination – so long as we do not assume we have arrived there.
EDWARD DE BONO

Arrival Destination Social Truth Value
Only the human brain can deliberately change perceptions, change patterns, invent concepts and tolerate ambiguity.
EDWARD DE BONO

Brain Change Concept Human Pattern Perception Tolerate
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.
EDWARD DE BONO

Creative Empowerment Learning People Production Profit Skills Thinking
We still seek to solve conflicts with ‘judgement’ instead of designing the way forwards.
EDWARD DE BONO

Design Judgement Seek
It is well known that “problem avoidance” is an important part of problem solving. Instead of solving the problem you go upstream and alter the system so that the problem does not occur in the first place.
EDWARD DE BONO

Avoidance Important Place Problem System
The image that concerns most people is the reflection they see in other people’s minds.
EDWARD DE BONO

Image Mindset People Reflection
Creativity gives the possibility of some sort of achievement to everyone.
EDWARD DE BONO

Achievement Creativity Possible
I think there is a danger with young people of being dependent in the sense that they don’t acquire any identity or self-image of themselves as thinkers.
EDWARD DE BONO

Dangerous Identity Image People Thinking Young
The winner is the chef who takes the same ingredients as everyone else and produces the best results.
EDWARD DE BONO

Best Chef Ingredient Result Win
The vertical thinker says: ‘I know what I am looking for.’ The lateral thinker says: ‘I am looking but I won’t know what I am looking for until I have found it.’
EDWARD DE BONO

Finding Philosophy Thinking
One very important aspect of motivation is the willingness to stop and to look at things that no one else has bothered to look at. This simple process of focusing on things that are normally taken for granted is a powerful source of creativity.
EDWARD DE BONO

Aspect Creativity Important Motivational Powerful Source Willing

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

Related Topics

Popular Authors

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

Related Topics

Popular Authors

More Edward de Bono Quotes