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.
Edward De BonoRead
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.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the value of curiosity and observation in fostering creativity.
Edward De Bono highlights that true motivation requires the ability to stop and observe aspects of life that often go unnoticed. By paying attention to the commonplace and mundane, one can unlock a reservoir of creativity that can lead to original ideas and innovative solutions.
Themes
MotivationCreativityObservationCuriosity
In practice
Example use cases
A speaker at a creativity workshop might use this quote to inspire attendees to embrace their unique perspectives.
More from Edward De Bono
All quotes →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 BonoRead
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 BonoRead
Most of the mistakes in thinking are inadequacies of perception rather than mistakes of logic.
Edward De BonoRead
(...) 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 BonoRead
Argument is meant to reveal the truth, not to create it.
Edward De BonoRead
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Creativity is generating ideas that are novel and useful. I define originals as people who go beyond dreaming up the ideas and take initiative to make their visions a reality.
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There’s a temptation in our networked age to think that ideas can be developed by email and iChat. That’s crazy. Creativity comes from spontaneous meetings, from random discussions. You run into someone, you ask what they’re doing, you say ‘wow,’ and soon you’re cooking up all sorts of ideas.
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Sometimes ideas are coming so fast that I have to stop doing one song to get another. But I don't forget the first one. If it works, it will always be there. It's like the truth: it will find you and lift you up. And if it ain't right, it will dissolve like sand on the beach.
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Share what you do profusely, because it will be remixed by others into something new, rich and strange.
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You can't write a script in your mind and then force yourself to follow it. You have to let yourself be.
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I've known several cases of writers who decide to write about something and they research the hell out of it and when they're ready to write, they can't move because they are so burdened. I start writing. Whatever I need somehow comes to hand.
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