“When the story of these times gets written, we want it to say that we did all we could, and it was more than anyone could have imagined.”

Do we have the will to make poverty history?

Lateral thinking is the process of using information to bring about creativity and insight restructuring. Lateral thinking can be learned, practised and used. It is possible to acquire skill in it just as it is possible to acquire skill in mathematics.

Perception is real even when it is not reality.

Creativity gives hope that there can be a worthwhile idea.

People should realize we’re jerks just like them.

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.

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.

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.

Studies have shown that 90% of error in thinking is due to error in perception. If you can change your perception, you can change your emotion and this can lead to new ideas.

In the future, instead of striving to be right at a high cost, it will be more appropriate to be flexible and plural at a lower cost. If you cannot accurately predict the future then you must flexibly be prepared to deal with various possible futures.

The need to be right all the time is the biggest bar to new ideas.

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

Complexity creates confusion, simplicity focus.

Simplicity before understanding is simplistic; simplicity after understanding is simple.

Western traditions of education have emphasized knowledge analysis, description and debate. They all have a part to play, but today there is a whole vast aspect of doing that has just been left out. Operacy is what keeps society going.

We need both information and thinking. Information is no substitute for thinking and thinking is no substitute for information.