16 Habits of Mind www.habitsofmindinstitute.org

1. 16 Habits of Mind

2. Persisting
“Be like a postage stamp - stick to one thing
until you get there.”
Margaret Carty

3. Managing Impulsivity
“Great things are not done by impulse, but
by a series of small things brought together.”
Vincent Van Gogh

4. Listening with Understanding
“If you want to be listened to, you should put
in time listening.”
Marge Piercy

5. Thinking Flexibly
“Just when I think I have learned the way to
live, life changes.”
Hugh Prather

6. Thinking About Thinking
(Metacognition)
“If you think you can, you can.
And if you think you can’t, you’re right.”
Mary Kay Ash

7. Striving for Accuracy
“Whenever you do a thing, act as if all the
world were watching.”
Thomas Jefferson

8. Questioning and Posing Problems
“Judge a man by his questions rather than
by his answer.”
Voltaire

9. Applying Past Knowledge
“We do not learn from our experience; we
learn by reflecting on our experiences.”
John Dewey

10. Thinking and Communicating with Clarity
“It is my ambition to say in ten sentences
what others say in a whole book.”
Friedrich Nietzsche

11. Gather Data Through All Senses
“How can I tell what I think till I see what I
say?”
E. M. Forster

12. Creating, Imagining, Innovating
“Originality is simply a pair of fresh eyes.”
Thomas Wentworth Higginson

13. Responding with Wonderment and Awe
“Nothing great in the world has been
accomplished without passion.”
George Hegel

14. Taking Responsible Risks
“Sometimes you just have to take the leap
and build your wings on the way down.”
Kobi Yamada

15. Finding Humor
“Laugh at yourself first before anyone else
can.”
Elsa Maxwell

16. Thinking Interdependently
“Every person you meet - and everything
you do in life - is an opportunity to learn
something.”
Tom Clancy

17. Remaining Open to Continuous Learning
“You aren’t ever too smart or too invincible
to stop learning and developing.”
Mary Jo Asmus