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One Can Think Of A Secretary Actively Operating A Filing System, Of A Librarian Actively Cataloguing Books, Of A Computer Actively Sorting Out Information. The Mind However Does Not Actively Sort Out Information. The Information Sorts Itself Out And Organises Itself Into Patterns. The Mind Is Passive. The Mind Only Provides An Opportunity For The Information To Behave In This Way. The Mind Provides A Special Environment In Which Information Can Become Self-organising. This Special Environment Is A Memory Surface With Special Characteristics.

-Edward De Bono

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One Can Think Of

Edward De Bono

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One Can Think Of A Secretary Actively Operating A Filing System, Of A Librarian Actively Cataloguing Books, Of A Computer Actively Sorting Out Information. The Mind However Does Not Actively Sort Out Information. The Information Sorts Itself Out And Organises Itself Into Patterns. The Mind Is Passive. The Mind Only Provides An Opportunity For The Information To Behave In This Way. The Mind Provides A Special Environment In Which Information Can Become Self-organising. This Special Environment Is A Memory Surface With Special Characteristics.

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The System Will Always Be Defended By Those Countless People Who Have Enough Intellect To Defend But Not Quite Enough To Innovate.

An Expert Is Someone Who Has Succeeded In Making Decisions And Judgements Simpler Through Knowing What To Pay Attention To And What To Ignore.

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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.

Effectiveness Without Values Is A Tool Without A Purpose.

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Humor Is Probably The Most Significant Characteristics Of The Human Mind. Far More Significant Than Reason. In Fact, Reason Is Actually A Very Cheap Commodity.

Possibilities Play A Much Bigger Role In Thinking Than Most People Believe. Without Possibilities You Cannot Make Progress.

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The Effective Thinker Treats Arrogance As The Major Sin Of Thinking.

In The Art World, Creativity Involves Aesthetic Sensibility, Emotional Resonance And A Gift For Expression.

I Know It Aches, How Your Heart It Breaks. You Can Only Take So Much. Walk On.

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.

Perception Is Real Even When It Is Not Reality.

Most Of The Mistakes In Thinking Are Inadequacies Of Perception Rather Than Mistakes Of Logic.

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.

Argument Is Meant To Reveal The Truth, Not To Create It.

They Enjoy Thinking. They Enjoy Being Creative. They Enjoy Having Ideas. Most People Do Not Enjoy Thinking At All.

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.

Although Feelings Are Not Supposed To Intrude On Business Discussions, They Do Anyway - We Just Disguise Them As Logic.

We Still Seek To Solve Conflicts With 'judgement' Instead Of Designing The Way Forwards.

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.

Only The Human Brain Can Deliberately Change Perceptions, Change Patterns, Invent Concepts And Tolerate Ambiguity.

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The Mind Can Only See What It Is Prepared To See.

Simplicity Before Understanding Is Simplistic; Simplicity After Understanding Is Simple.

Happiness Is For Those Who Don't Really Need It. So I Can Live Without Happiness.

Our Existing Thinking Habits Are Excellent, Just As The Rear Wheels Of A Motor Car Are Excellent, But Not Enough.

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There's A Danger In The Internet And Social Media. The Notion That Information Is Enough, That More And More Information Is Enough, That You Don't Have To Think, You Just Have To Get More Information - Gets Very Dangerous.

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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.

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