Happiness Purpose [Paperback]

Edward De Bono (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Intl Center for Creative Thinking (June 1977)
• ISBN-10: 9990874131
• ISBN-13: 978-9990874136
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 4.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,199,119 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Dr. Edward de Bono is regarded as the leading international authority in the field of conceptual thinking and also the direct teaching of thinking as a skill. He originated the concept of "lateral thinking," which is now officially recognized in the Oxford English Dictionary-and which contributed to the success of the 1984 Olympic Games. He was a Rhodes Scholar at oxford and has held faculty appointments at the universities of Oxford, Cambridge, London, and Harvard.

He has written twenty-seven books, which have been translated into twenty languages. These include: Opportunities; Lateral Thinking for Management; Future Positive; Atlas of Management Thinking; Wordpower; Children Solve Problems; Tactics: The Art and Science of Success; Conflicts: A Better Way to Resolve Them. He has also made a ten-part BBC series called "De Bono's Thinking Course" and two other television series.

Dr. de Bono's instruction in thinking has been sought by many of the largest corporations in USA, Canada, Europe, and the rest of the world. These include: IM, Exxon, Shell, BP, Unilever, Procter & Gamble, Prudential, General Foods, Bell Telephone, Northern Telecom, Monsanto, DuPont, and ICI. He has given seminars all over the world, from Helsinki to Buenos Aires, from Toronto to Tokyo.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Practical and deep, November 21, 1999

By 

Yuen Kit Mun (Singapore) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Happiness Purpose (Paperback)

One of the most influential books that I read when I was in my early twenties. Found it to be as useful and enlightening as I'm OK You're OK. I think I'm a different and better person today because of it.

Concepts such as Cope Space and Demand Space and how their ratio influence your happiness, were clearly and simply explained.

Also includes straightforward practical advice. Such as being sensitive doesn't mean having to act upon it - you can notice things but you can choose to shrug them off.

I've found myself reasoning out some behaviour - hey, I should see this situation this way and react this way - and then reread the book and realised that the idea was from the book.

This book is a keeper. Something to reread every five or ten years.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Life is based on one thing - the happiness purpose, December 31, 1997

By 

[e-mail] (South Africa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Happiness Purpose (Paperback)

Using the foundations developed in his many penetrating books on the mechanisms and functions of mind (eg "lateral thinking")De Bono explores the central driving force of human conscious endevour - the pursuit of happiness. Some of the key concepts developed are exciting to say the least.

4.0 out of 5 stars A Unique Appraoch to Achieve Happiness, September 16, 2011

By 

bronx book nerd (Bronx, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Happiness Purpose (Paperback)

Edward de Bono is one of the great teachers of creativity. This book is more of a self-help book. He gives guidance and advice on how to live a happy life. I have always found his writing style somewhat dull which maks it at times difficult to understand the concepts he is trying to teach. This for me was more of a problem in this book than any of his others I have read. Fortunately, he always wraps up each chapter with a succint and to the point summary. The objective of this book is to teach a system to achieve happiness. Others have said some of the same things in different ways but, as De Bono usually does, he offers some unique perspectives. He proposes that happiness is a function of what he calls the ratio of life space to self space. Life space are external things that impact our life - the job, stresses, demands, etc. Self-space is an internal attitude that determines what you can cope with in the life space. When this ratio is close to one, then a person is happy. There is a lot more that De Bono explains. However, at times I felt as if he were sharing some secrets that I was unable to decipher. Again, I think this is mostly from his writing style rather than his concepts. In the end, though, I felt as if re-readng the book and applying the concepts could make a big difference.