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Edward de Bono Quotes

1933–2021 England

Edward Charles Francis Publius de Bono (19 May 1933, in Malta – 9 June 2021) was a British physician, author, inventor, and consultant. He was most famous as the originator of the term lateral thinking (structured creativity) and a leading proponent of the deliberate teaching of thinking in schools.

England
Philosophers
Physicians
Psychologists

Also known as: De Bono, Edward, Edward De Bono

Random Edward de Bono quote

26 quotes

Rightness is what matters in vertical thinking. Richness is what matters in lateral thinking.

Lateral Thinking : Creativity Step by Step (1970)

Lateral thinking is closely related to insight, creativity and humour.

Lateral Thinking : Creativity Step by Step (1970)

With lateral thinking one goes on generating as many approaches as one can even after one has found a promising one.

Lateral Thinking : Creativity Step by Step (1970)

Design is really a special case of problem solving.

Lateral Thinking : Creativity Step by Step (1970)

You cannot dig a hole in a different place by digging the same hole deeper.

Lateral Thinking : Creativity Step by Step (1970)

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

The concept of lateral thinking is insight restructuring and this is brought about through the rearrangement of information.

Lateral Thinking : Creativity Step by Step (1970)

Creativity involves breaking out of established patterns in order to look at things in a different way.

The rejection process is incorporated in the concept of the negative. The negative is a judgement device.

Lateral Thinking : Creativity Step by Step (1970)

A memory is what is left behind when something happens and does not completely unhappen.

The Mechanism of Mind (1969)

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.

Lateral Thinking : Creativity Step by Step (1970)

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.

Teaching Thinking (1991)

At school the emphasis has traditionally always been on vertical thinking which is effective but incomplete. This selective type of thinking needs to be supplemented with the generative qualities of creative thinking.

Lateral Thinking : Creativity Step by Step (1970)

As a result, design and perceptual thinking was never developed.

Iraq? They just need to think it through (2007)

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

Usually in an argument, I can see the other person's point of view.

Iraq? They just need to think it through (2007)

Vertical thinking is selection by exclusion. One works within a frame of reference and throws out what is not relevant. With lateral thinking one realizes that a pattern cannot be restructured from within itself but only as the result of some outside influence.

Lateral Thinking : Creativity Step by Step (1970)

Creative thinking — in terms of idea creativity — is not a mystical talent. It is a skill that can be practised and nurtured.

Iraq? They just need to think it through (2007)

Philosophers may look out at the world from a stained-glass window, but after a while they stop looking at the world and start looking at the stained glass.

Iraq? They just need to think it through (2007)

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.

Serious Creativity: Using the Power of Lateral Thinking to Create New Ideas (1992)

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: Edward de Bono (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.