Time & Perspective Quote by Edward de Bono

De Bono’s provocation lands like a productivity manifesto disguised as a moral claim. He doesn’t merely prefer simplicity; he indicts complexity as a kind of cognitive tax, an elite indulgence that burns “time, attention and mental energy” for no legitimate return. The phrasing is deliberately absolutist - “never any justification” - because he’s not trying to win a philosophy seminar. He’s trying to jolt habits of mind: the reflex to treat dense language, elaborate frameworks, and intricate procedures as evidence of rigor.

The subtext is a critique of institutions that hide behind complication. Bureaucracies, consultants, and even academics can transform complexity into armor: if the system is hard to understand, it’s harder to challenge. De Bono, famous for lateral thinking, is pitching simplicity as an ethical stance as much as a practical one: clarity is a form of respect for other people’s limited bandwidth.

Still, the line works because it overreaches. In psychology - and in real life - some things are irreducibly complex: trauma, group dynamics, public health, climate systems. “Could be simple” is doing a lot of work, smuggling in a key caveat: he’s not denying reality’s mess; he’s targeting the man-made mess we pile on top of it. The intent is discipline, not denial - a demand that complexity earn its keep, and that every extra moving part justify itself against the cost it imposes on human attention.