Quotes by Edward de Bono

“We need creativity in order to break free from the temporary structures that have been set up by a particular sequence of experience.”

“There is no doubt that creativity is the most important human resource of all. Without creativity, there would be no progress, and we would be forever repeating the same patterns.”

“Creativity is a great motivator because it makes people interested in what they are doing. Creativity gives hope that there can be a worthwhile idea. Creativity gives the possibility of some sort o...”

“Creativity involves provocation, exploration and risk taking. Creativity involves "thought experiments." You cannot tell in advance how the experiment is going to turn out. But you want to be able ...”

“When the positive revolution takes hold it will no longer be enough for politicians to gain points through attack or being negative. Politicians will be expected to be constructive.”

“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 r...”

“The image that concerns most people is the reflection they see in other people's minds.”

“It is not the logical part of thinking that changes emotions but the perceptual part. If we see something differently, our emotions may alter with the altered perception. (p64)”

“Most of the mistakes in thinking are inadequacies of perception rather than mistakes of logic.”

“The need to be right all the time is the biggest bar to new ideas. It is better to have enough ideas for some of them to be wrong than to be always right by having no ideas at all. ”

“There may be more danger in prejudices which are apparently founded in logic than in those which are acknowledged as emotions. (p69)”

“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.”

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

“Removing the faults in a stage-coach may produce a perfect stage-coach, but it is unlikely to produce the first motor car.”

“To be successful you have to be lucky, or a little mad, or very talented, or find yourself in a rapid growth field.”

“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.”

“Logic will never change emotion or perception.”

“If you never change your mind, why have one?”

“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 flexi...”

“We may have a perfectly adequate way of doing something, but that does not mean there cannot be a better way. So we set out to find an alternative way. This is the basis of any improvement that is ...”