110+ Edward De Bono Quotes On Education, World And Be More Interesting

Edward De Bono was an English psychologist and physician who developed the concept of lateral thinking. He is best known for his books on creative thinking and problem solving. He is credited with popularizing the term "lateral thinking" and has written extensively on the subject. Following is our collection on famous quotes by Edward De Bono on education, leadership, world.

Top 10 Edward De Bono Quotes

1. 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.
2. Humor is by far the most significant activity of the human brain.
3. Creativity involves breaking out of established patterns in order to look at things in a different way.
4. A memory is what is left when something happens and does not completely unhappen.
5. Sometimes the situation is only a problem because it is looked at in a certain way. Looked at in another way, the right course of action may be so obvious that the problem no longer exists.
6. 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.
7. Most of the mistakes in thinking are inadequacies of perception rather than mistakes of logic.
8. If you never change your mind, why have one?
9. Companies that solely focus on competition will ultimately die. Those that focus on value creation will thrive.
10. Argument is meant to reveal the truth, not to create it.

Edward De Bono Short Quotes

• If you wait for opportunities to occur, you will be one of the crowd.
• If you do not design the future, someone or something else will design it for you.
• Unhappiness is best defined as the difference between our talents and our expectations.
• It's not enough to rage against the lie.. you've got to replace it with the truth.
• You can't dig a different hole by digging the same one deeper.
• The power of a car is separate from the way the car is driven.
• Effectiveness without values is a tool without a purpose.
• Opportunity ideas do not lie around waiting to be discovered. Such ideas need to be produced.
• You cannot look in a new direction by looking harder in the same direction.
• Complexity creates confusion, simplicity focus.

Edward De Bono Quotes About Education

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. — Edward De Bono

Most people...are put off science because maths is the gateway and they can't handle it. What we should be teaching is operational maths because, in general, the maths we need to carry out science is pretty straightforward. — Edward De Bono

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

Edward De Bono Quotes About World

Lateral thinking is concerned not with playing with the existing pieces but with seeking to change those very pieces. It is concerned with the perception part of thinking. This is where we organise the external world into the pieces we can then 'process'. — Edward De Bono

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

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

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. — Edward De Bono

It wouldn't cost too much to change the rules of trade so that poor countries can work their way out of poverty. But the world's leaders won't act unless they hear enough people telling them. And every day they fail to act, thousands of people die because they can't afford the basics of survival. — Edward De Bono

This is not about charity, it's about justice... The war against terror is bound up in the war against poverty - I didn't say that, Colin Powell said that . . . — Edward De Bono

In the art world, creativity involves aesthetic sensibility, emotional resonance and a gift for expression. — Edward De Bono

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

Edward De Bono Quotes About Life

Mock the devil, and he will flee from thee. — Edward De Bono

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 of achievement to everyone. Creativity makes life more fun and more interesting. — Edward De Bono

Creativity makes life more fun and more interesting. — Edward De Bono

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

Edward De Bono Quotes About Be More Interesting

Creativity is a great motivator because it mades people interested in what they are doing. — Edward De Bono

Democracy is an excellent way of ensuring that nothing much gets done. There are always interests that might get trampled upon [and no elected politician would wish to make permanent enemies by trampling upon others' interests]. — Edward De Bono

You hold onto religion, you know, rules, regulations, traditions. I think what God is interested in is people's hearts, and that's hard enough. — Edward De Bono

Edward De Bono Quotes About Creative

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

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

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. — Edward De Bono

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. — Edward De Bono

The simple process of focusing on things that are normally taken for granted is a powerful source of creativity. — 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. — Edward De Bono

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

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. — Edward De Bono

Creativity gives the possibility of some sort of achievement to everyone. — Edward De Bono

There is no doubt that creativity is the most important human resource of all. — Edward De Bono

Edward De Bono Quotes About Thinking

Intelligence is something we are born with. Thinking is a skill that must be learned. — Edward De Bono

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

Traditional thinking is all about "what is" Future thinking will also need to be about what can be. — Edward De Bono

The concept of logical thinking is selection and this is brought about by the processes of acceptance and rejection. Rejection is the basis of logical thinking. — Edward De Bono

Our existing thinking habits are excellent, just as the rear wheels of a motor car are excellent, but not enough. — Edward De Bono

Only the human brain can deliberately change perceptions, change patterns, invent concepts and tolerate ambiguity. — Edward De Bono

Thinking is the ultimate human resource. Yet we can never be satisfied with our most important skill. No matter how good we become, we should always want to be better — Edward De Bono

The quality of our thinking will determine the quality of our future — Edward De Bono

The effective thinker treats arrogance as the major sin of thinking. — Edward De Bono

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. — Edward De Bono

Edward De Bono Quotes About Problem-solving

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 not fault correction or problem solving. — Edward De Bono

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

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

Edward De Bono Quotes About Mind

The image that concerns most people is the reflection they see in other people's minds. — Edward De Bono

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. — Edward De Bono

Some people drift along like a cork on a river, feeling that they cannot do anything except drift, moment to moment. This is an attitude of mind. Everyone can be constructive even in tiny ways. — Edward De Bono

Most executives, many scientists, and almost all business school graduates believe that if you analyze data, this will give you new ideas. Unfortunately, this belief is totally wrong. The mind can only see what it is prepared to see. — Edward De Bono

The mind can only see what it is prepared to see. — Edward De Bono

It has always surprised me how little attention philosophers have paid to humor, since it is a more significant process of mind than reason. Reason can only sort out perceptions, but the humor process is involved in changing them. — Edward De Bono

Edward De Bono Quotes About Creativity

Creativity gives hope that there can be a worthwhile idea. — Edward De Bono

Man owes his success to his creativity. No one doubts the need for it. It is most useful in good times and essential in bad. — Edward De Bono

Creativity and lateral thinking have exactly the same basis as humour. — Edward De Bono

They enjoy thinking. They enjoy being creative. They enjoy having ideas. Most people do not enjoy thinking at all. — Edward De Bono

Edward De Bono Quotes About People

People should realize we're jerks just like them. — Edward De Bono

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

Possibilities play a much bigger role in thinking than most people believe. Without possibilities you cannot make progress. — Edward De Bono

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

Edward De Bono Famous Quotes And Sayings

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

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

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. — Edward De Bono

Sometimes the situation is only a problem because it is looked at in a certain subjective, negative, ungrateful way. — Edward De Bono

I used to think that one day I'd be able to resolve the different drives I have in different directions, the tensions between the different people I am. Now I realize that is who I am. I do feel I'm getting closer to the song in my head. I wasn't looking for grace. But luckily grace was looking for me. — Edward De Bono

You do not go out into the street in your underwear, although usually you are wearing underwear. The underwear is not visible but it is there all the time. It is the same with concepts. They are there. They underlie practical things we do- even when we are not conscious of them. — Edward De Bono

Perception is real even when it is not reality. — Edward De Bono

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. — Edward De Bono

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. — Edward De Bono

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. — Edward De Bono

On trade, our hypocrisy is at its most appalling. Trade reform isn't about charity, it's about justice, and this campaign, Trade Justice is an unstoppable idea. — Edward De Bono

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. — Edward De Bono

Maybe the social value of truth is as a destination - so long as we do not assume we have arrived there. — Edward De Bono

The analysis of data will not by itself produce new ideas. — Edward De Bono

To deal with future we have to deal with possibilities. Analysis will only tell us what is. — Edward De Bono

What is urgent will always take precedence over what is important. — Edward De Bono

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. — Edward De Bono

The solid wealth of insurance companies and the success of those who organsie gambling are some indication of the profits to be derived from the efficient use of chance. — Edward De Bono

(...) 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. — Edward De Bono

Everyone has the right to doubt everything as often as he pleases and the duty to do it at least once. No way of looking at things is too sacred to be reconsidered. No way of doing things is beyond improvement. — Edward De Bono

Don't criticise a hypothesis, come up with a better one. — Edward De Bono

You cannot dig a hole in a different place by digging the same hole deeper — Edward De Bono

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

The weapons of the positive revolution are not bullets and bombs but simple human perceptions. Bullets and bombs may offer physical power but eventually will only work if they change perceptions and values. Why not go the direct route and work with perceptions and values? — Edward De Bono

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. — Edward De Bono

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. — Edward De Bono

Simplicity before understanding is simplistic; simplicity after understanding is simple. — Edward De Bono

I think school is a place where thinking should be taught. — Edward De Bono

Complexity means distracted effort. Simplicity means focused effort. — Edward De Bono

This new meta-system is very much in favor of the self, but a self that is based on a proper sense of dignity, not on an inflated ego. A person who dare not admit he is wrong inflates his ego but weakens his self. — Edward De Bono

We need both information and thinking. Information is no substitute for thinking and thinking is no substitute for information. — Edward De Bono

I'm a very loyal and unreliable friend. — Edward De Bono

Unfortunately, our existing traditional thinking habits insist that you must attack something and show it to be bad before you can suggest a change. It is more difficult to acknowledge that something is excellent and then to ask for change because although it is excellent, it is not enough. — Edward De Bono

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

I must say, I don't feel very qualified to be a pop star. I feel very awkward at times in the role. — Edward De Bono

Some people are aware of another sort of thinking which... leads to those simple ideas that are obvious only after they have been thought of... the term 'lateral thinking' has been coined to describe this orther sort of thinking; 'vertical thinking' is used to denote the conventional logical process. — Edward De Bono

A question is a polite way of demanding something. — Edward De Bono

The music that really turns me on is either running toward God or away from God. Both recognize the pivot, that God is at the center of the jaunt. — Edward De Bono

Once a new idea springs into existence, it cannot be unthought. There is a sense of immortality in a new idea. — Edward De Bono

You can analyse the past, but you need to design the future. That is the difference between suffering the future and enjoying it. — Edward De Bono

Do we have the will to make poverty history? — Edward De Bono

The awful thing is that you can never be aware of what you are not aware of. — Edward De Bono

Life Lessons by Edward De Bono

1. Edward De Bono teaches the importance of thinking outside the box and challenging assumptions in order to come up with creative solutions.
2. He emphasizes the need for lateral thinking, which involves looking at a problem from different angles and considering unconventional solutions.
3. He also encourages people to be open-minded and to embrace the idea of making mistakes in order to learn and grow.