Skill of Both-And Thinking

BothBoth-AndBalletAdvancedRelated QuotationsRelated Pages6 Groups of Topics9 Skills & Topics

The Skill of Both-And Thinking


The skill of both-and thinking is useful for identifying more options and choices and better understanding problems, challenges, and relationships.


“There are two ways to slide easily through life: to believe everything or to doubt everything; both ways save us from thinking.” —Alfred Korzybski, Polish-American founder of General Semantics (1879–1950)


The Skill of Both-And Thinking

  • Read to discover the best system and plan to develop super perspective-taking skills.

The skill of both-and thinking is useful for identifying more options and choices and better understanding problems, challenges, and relationships. Discovery Demands 5TP book cover.

The Skill of Both-And Thinking

  • Both-And Thinking is the skill of looking at both sides of any duality and more.
  • “Science and reason are good and useful. But so are art and emotion. Reason often implements desire and emotion; and feelings can also implement reasoning. Both/and rather than either/or!” —Albert Ellis, Feeling Better, Getting Better, Staying Better

Both-And Thinking: Practice Three Habits

  1. You look at both sides of an issue.
  2. You look at information from outside the two sides or two perspectives.
  3. You incorporate information from both sides and more information from other sources that was not presented by either side.

Reminder Saying for Both-And Thinking

  • Use the saying below to help you remember to look both ways and more.

“It’s not either-or but both-and-more!” —Kevin Everett FitzMaurice

The Skill of Both-And Thinking

  • Read to discover the best system and plan to develop super perspective-taking skills.

Discovery Demands 5TP book cover

The Skill of Both-And Thinking

Ballet As an Example of Both-And Thinking

  • Some argue ballet is technical and formal.
  • Some argue ballet is theatrical and artistic.
  • Some argue ballet is musical and rhythmical.

Good, Better, Best

  1. Good ballerinas are technical.
  2. Better ballerinas are technical and theatrical.
  3. Best ballerinas are technical, theatrical, and musical.

All Three

  • While it is rare for one ballerina to exemplify all three in their dance, it does happen.
  • Margot Fonteyn is an example of one ballerina who had all three—and all the time.

The Skill of Both-And Thinking

  • Read to discover the best system and plan to develop super perspective-taking skills.

Discovery Demands 5TP book cover

The Skill of Both-And Thinking

More Advanced Thinking Skill: 5TP

  1. The 5 Thinking Positions (5TP)
  2. List of Pages Devoted to 5TP

Book Devoted to the 5TP


The Skill of Both-And Thinking

  • Read to discover the best system and plan to develop super perspective-taking skills.

Discovery Demands 5TP book cover

The Skill of Both-And Thinking

Quotations Various Sources

Listed Alphabetically

“Both/and thinking provides both more openness and more information than does either/or thinking.” —Kevin Everett FitzMaurice

“Can a man cling to the positive without any negative in contrast to which it is seen to be positive? If he claims to do so he is a rouge or a madman.” —Chung Tzu

“Real knowledge is to know the extent of one’s ignorance.” — Confucius

“Science and reason are good and useful. But so are art and emotion. Reason often implements desire and emotion; and feelings can also implement reasoning. Both/and rather than either/or!” —Albert Ellis

“The excessive increase of anything causes a reaction in the opposite direction.” —Plato, The Republic

“The worst extreme view is the extreme view that extremes never exist.” —Kevin Everett FitzMaurice

“There are no whole truths; all truths are half-truths. It is trying to treat them as whole truths that plays the devil.” —Alfred North Whitehead

“There are two tragedies in life. One is to lose your heart’s desire. The other is to gain it.” —George Bernard Shaw

“There’s a pinch of the madman in every great man.” —French proverb

“To be absolutely certain about something, one must know everything, or nothing, about it.” —Olin Miller

“Use ‘mostly’ rather than ‘this’ or ‘that’ thinking.” —Kevin Everett FitzMaurice

“We can be absolutely certain only about things we do not understand.” —Eric Hoffer


The Skill of Both-And Thinking

  • Read to discover the best system and plan to develop super perspective-taking skills.

Discovery Demands 5TP book cover

The Skill of Both-And Thinking

Related Pages of Free Information

  1. 5 Thinking Positions
  2. 7 Thinking Errors of CT
  3. CBT, CT, & REBT Cognitive Psychotherapies: List Pages
  4. Coping Skills: Free Help
  5. Counseling Issues: Free Help
  6. Ego & Self-Esteem Fast-Facts
  7. Emotional Responsibility: List Pages
  8. Exercises & Techniques: List Pages
  9. Feeling & Coping: Fast-Facts
  10. Limitations of Thought
  11. Meditation: List Pages
  12. REBT (Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy): List Pages
  13. Self-Esteem Issues: List Pages
  14. Thinking Skills: Free Help
  15. Unconditional Self-Esteem (USE): Defined

  • Read and discover the best diagrams and maps of how people play games with your mind and heart.

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  • Read and master the life skill of acceptance using the best combination of CBT, REBT, & Stoicism.

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The Skill of Both-And Thinking

  • Read to discover the best system and plan to develop super perspective-taking skills.

Discovery Demands 5TP book cover

The Skill of Both-And Thinking

6 Groups of Topics Menu


  • Read and master the life skill of acceptance using the best combination of CBT, REBT, & Stoicism.

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  • Read and discover the world’s best breathing exercise for your feelings and stress.

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The Skill of Both-And Thinking

  • Read to discover the best system and plan to develop super perspective-taking skills.

Discovery Demands 5TP book cover

The Skill of Both-And Thinking

9 Skills & Topics Menu


  • Read and master the life skill of acceptance using the best combination of CBT, REBT, & Stoicism.

 width=


  • Read and discover the world’s best breathing exercise for your feelings and stress.

 width=


The Skill of Both-And Thinking

  • Read to discover the best system and plan to develop super perspective-taking skills.

Discovery Demands 5TP book cover