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You can analyse the past, but you have to design the future.

Edward de Bono

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
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.
EDWARD DE BONO

Children Live News People
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
Every valuable creative idea must always be logical in hindsight. If it were not, we would never be able to see its value.
EDWARD DE BONO

Creativity Idea Value
Happiness is for those who don’t really need it. So I can live without happiness.
EDWARD DE BONO

Happiness Live Myself Need
We may need to solve problems not by removing the cause but by designing the way forward even if the cause remains in place.
EDWARD DE BONO

Place Problem Remove Solve
Effectiveness without values is a tool without a purpose.
EDWARD DE BONO

Effect Purpose Tools Value
Simplicity before understanding is simplistic; simplicity after understanding is simple.
EDWARD DE BONO

Simplicity Understand
What the joke displays is a switch in perception. This is important in changing the way we think.
EDWARD DE BONO

Change Display Important Joke Perception Thinking
The Church has its problems, but the older I get, the more comfort I find there.
EDWARD DE BONO

Comfort Finding Myself Old Problem
It’s not enough to rage against the lie.. you’ve got to replace it with the truth.
EDWARD DE BONO

Enough Lying Replacement Truth
An expert is someone who has succeeded in making decisions and judgements simpler through knowing what to pay attention to and what to ignore.
EDWARD DE BONO

Attention Expert Ignorance Judgement Pay Success
A discussion should be a genuine attempt to explore a subject rather than a battle between competing egos.
EDWARD DE BONO

Attempt Complete Discussion Ego Explore Genuine Subject
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.
EDWARD DE BONO

Destroy Evidence Support Way World
In the art world, creativity involves aesthetic sensibility, emotional resonance and a gift for expression.
EDWARD DE BONO

Aesthetic Art Criteria Emotional Expression Reason World
The purpose of science is not to analyze or describe but to make useful models of the world. A model is useful if it allows us to get use out of it.
EDWARD DE BONO

Allow Analysis Description Purpose Science
The quality of our thinking will determine the quality of our future.
EDWARD DE BONO

Determination Future Ourselves Quality Thinking
Mock the devil, and he will flee from thee.
EDWARD DE BONO

Devil Run
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 system will always be defended by those countless people who have enough intellect to defend but not quite enough to innovate.
EDWARD DE BONO

Count Defend Enough Innovation People System
You cannot look in a new direction by looking harder in the same direction.
EDWARD DE BONO

Direction Hard Yourself
The purpose of art is to reflect new emerging values and to define the new heroes and heroines so that people can absorb them into their perceptions.
EDWARD DE BONO

Absorb Art Perception Purpose Reflection Value
Many highly intelligent people are poor thinkers. Many people of average intelligence are skilled thinkers. The power of a car is separate from the way the car is driven.
EDWARD DE BONO

Drive Intelligence People Poor Thinking
Traditional thinking is all about “what is” Future thinking will also need to be about what can be.
EDWARD DE BONO

Future Thinking Traditional Willing
Do we have the will to make poverty history?
EDWARD DE BONO

History Poverty Willing Yourself
To deal with future we have to deal with possibilities. Analysis will only tell us what is.
EDWARD DE BONO

Analysis Deal Future Possible
Creative thinking – in terms of idea creativity – is not a mystical talent. It is a skill that can be practised and nurtured.
EDWARD DE BONO

Creativity Ideas Nurture Practice Talent Thinking

You can analyse the past, but you have to design the future.

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You can analyse the past, but you have to design the future.

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