I wrote my book on 'SIMPLICITY' during the week I was in Malta over Christmas 1997. On my return to London, my brother Peter, who organises this website, handed me the contributions on simplicity from visitors to this site. I did not read them in order to avaoid contamination of what I had already written. I sent these additional ideas on simplicity to my publisher with the suggestion that they be added as a special part of the book. My publisher felt that the book would then be too long and chose not to use them.
Have the authors of these pieces wasted their time? I hope not. In writing a piece on simplicity, you have to think about simplicity. This is an important thing to think about whether or not you come up with great ideas. The authors are free to use their pieces as they wish. It is my intention to seek to publish a follow up book SIMPLICITY II which would include these pieces.
I am aware that contributors to this web site on specific projects are not always sufficiently rewarded. Sometimes I do offer a cash prize out of my own funds but this is not always practical. I hope, for example, that the very able contributors to the 'Bonto' poems will get some satisfaction from their craftsmanship. It may be possible to publish a Big Book of Bontos in which case earnings would be shared out.
I wish I did not have to travek so much and could reply directly to contributors. This is not practical at the moment but may become so in the future if I set up my Centre for Thinking and so remain longer in one place.
Next week I plan to announce something rather important on this site.
Edward de Bono
31st May 1998
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