Quotes about thinking
552 quotes from 279 people
Genius is the capacity to see ten things where the ordinary man sees one.
Ezra Pound1885–1972Jefferson and/or Mussolini (1935), Ch. 23No man can be a pure specialist without being in the strict sense an idiot.
George Bernard Shaw1856–1950Maxims for Revolutionists (1903), #41Thoughts are the shadows of our feelings — always darker, emptier, simpler.
Friedrich Nietzsche1844–1900The Gay Science (1882), Sec. 179You have attributed conditions to villainy that simply result from stupidity.
Robert A. Heinlein1907–1988Logic of Empire (p. 335)Some day, the world will discover that, without thought, there can be no love.
Ayn Rand1905–1982Apollo and Dionysus (1969)Man usually avoids attributing cleverness to somebody else—unless it is an enemy.
Albert Einstein1879–1955Essay to Leo Baeck (1953), Ideas and OpinionsBeware of thinkers whose minds function only when they are fueled by a quotation.
ECEmil Cioran1911–1995Anathemas and Admirations (1987)Every man takes the limits of his own field of vision for the limits of the world.
Arthur Schopenhauer1788–1860“Psychological Observations”Curiosity is one of the permanent and certain characteristics of a vigorous intellect.
Samuel Johnson1709–1784The Rambler (1750–1752), No. 103 (12 March 1751)There’s nothing that’s ever happened in the world that didn’t start in one human mind.
Tom Clancy1947–2013In Depth with Tom Clancy (2002)Opinions have caused more ills than the plague or earthquakes on this little globe of ours.
Voltaire1694–1778Letter to Élie Bertrand (5 January 1759)Rational, adj. Devoid of all delusions save those of observation, experience and reflection.
Ambrose Bierce1842–1914The Devil’s Dictionary (1911)The true, strong, and sound mind is the mind that can embrace equally great things and small.
Samuel Johnson1709–1784Life of Johnson (Boswell) (1778)In the practical use of our intellect, forgetting is as important a function as recollecting.
William James1842–1910The Principles of Psychology (1890), Ch. 16As rain breaks through an ill-thatched house, passion will break through an unreflecting mind.
Gautama Buddha501–501 BCDhammapada, Ch. 1: The Twin Verses, verse 13