Elizabeth Thornton Quotes

You can never solve a problem on the level on which it was created.

No problem can be solved until it is reduced to some simple form. The changing of a vague difficulty into a specific, concrete form is a very essential element in thinking.

I'm raised to actually think, to use my brain.

If you don't define the problem you'll never reach a painful solution.

If you are unable to understand the cause of a problem it is impossible to solve it.

Though man a thinking being is defined, Few use the grand prerogative of mind. How few think justly of the thinking few! How many never think, who think they do!

I encourage active skepticism - when people are being skeptical because they're trying to identify the best course of action. They're trying to identify the next step for themselves or other people.

Mostly, I try to take a rational approach to life.

It only takes a day to change someone from an anti-intellectual to an intellectual by persuading him that he might be one!

My view is that we cannot be ruled by fear. When we do that, we are not making ourselves see. We are not thinking things through. We are not looking at what works.

One of the biggest challenges we have, as business owners and people, is that we think in linear terms.

You can't fix a problem if you don't have the words to describe it. You can't even think about it clearly.

Innovation comes from, one, acknowledging yourself; two, studying and understanding the problem; and three, finding a solution.

For me, my greatest weakness is also my greatest strength: I'm a complete overthinker about everything.

Often in life, the most important question we can ask ourselves is: do we really have the problem we think we have?

Like all religions, Reason presents itself as the solution to the problems it has created

You cannot solve a problem unless you diagnose the problem.

We can't avoid reasoning; we can only avoid doing it well.

To solve a problem, you have to be able to state what the problem is or at least say the name.

If you can properly define the problem, then you've already defined the solution as well.

Don't be afraid to face the facts, and never lose your ability to ask the questions: Why? and How?

How do we attack important problems? Pose the right question.

The most common source of mistakes in management decisions is the emphasis on finding the right answer rather than the right question.

The real problem is usually two or three questions deep. If you want to go after someone's problem, be aware that most people aren't going to reveal what the real problem is after the first question.

From time to time ponder whether you are unconsciously saying: 'Truth is what I happen to be thinking at this moment.