"Once a new idea springs into existence, it cannot be unthought. There is a sense of immortality in a new idea." (Edward de Bono, "New Think: The Use of Lateral Thinking in the Generation of New Ideas", 1967)
"Pouncing on an idea as soon as it appears kills the idea. Too early and too enthusiastic logical attention either freezes the idea or forces it into the old moulds. Concentration on an idea isolates it from its surroundings and arrests its growth. The glare of attention inhibits the fertile semi-conscious processes that go to develop an idea." (Edward de Bono, "New Think: The Use of Lateral Thinking in the Generation of New Ideas", 1967)
"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." (Edward de Bono, "The use of lateral thinking", 1967)
"Design is really a special case of problem solving. One wants to bring about a desired state of affairs. Occasionally one wants to remedy some fault but more usually one wants to bring about something new. For that reason design is more open ended than problem solving. It requires more creativity. It is not so much a matter of linking up a clearly defined objective with a clearly defined starting position (as in problem solving) but more a matter of starting out from a general position in the direction of a general objective." (Edward de Bono, "Lateral Thinking: Creativity Step by Step", 1970)
"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, "Lateral Thinking: Creativity Step by Step", 1970)
"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: Creativity Step by Step", 1970)
"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, "Lateral Thinking: Creativity Step by Step", 1970)
"Rightness is what matters in vertical thinking. Richness is what matters in lateral thinking. Vertical thinking selects a pathway by excluding other pathways. Lateral thinking does not select but seeks to open up other pathways. With vertical thinking one selects the most promising approach to a problem, the best way of looking at a situation. With lateral thinking one generates as many alternative approaches as one can." (Edward de Bono, "Lateral Thinking: Creativity Step by Step", 1970)
"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. So one welcomes outside influences for their provocative action. The more irrelevant such influences are the more chance there is of altering the established pattern. To look only for things that are relevant means perpetuating the current pattern." (Edward de Bono, "Lateral Thinking: Creativity Step by Step", 1970)
"With vertical thinking one may look for different approaches until one finds a promising one. With lateral thinking one goes on generating as many approaches as one can even after one has found a promising one. With vertical thinking one is trying to select the best approach but with lateral thinking one is generating different approaches for the sake of generating them." (Edward de Bono, "Lateral Thinking: Creativity Step by Step", 1970)
"Creativity involves breaking out of established patterns in order to look at things in a different way." (Edward de Bono, "Lateral Thinking for Management: A handbook", 1971)
"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, "Po: A device for successful thinking", 1972)
"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, "I Am Right, You are Wrong", 1990)
"Maybe the social value of truth is as a destination - so long as we do not assume we have arrived there." (Edward de Bono, "I Am Right, You are Wrong", 1990)
"Analysis is simplifying, breaking down things into parts, picking out strands and elements. Analysis is comparing unknown things with things that are known. Analysis also involves picking out relationships and putting them back together as a whole." (Edward de Bono, "Sur/Petition: Creating Value Monopolies When Everyone Else Is Merely Competing", 1992)
"A discussion should be a genuine attempt to explore a subject rather than a battle between competing egos." (Edward de Bono, "How To Have A Beautiful Mind", 2004)
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