Quotes about thinking
552 quotes from 279 people
True originality consists not in a new manner but in a new vision.
Edith Wharton1862–1937The Writing of Fiction (1925), ch. IThe senses are of the earth; Reason, stands apart in contemplation.
Leonardo da Vinci1452–1519XIX Philosophical Maxims. Morals. Polemics and Speculations.If people did not sometimes do silly things, nothing intelligent would ever get done.
Ludwig Wittgenstein1889–1951Culture and Value (1980), p. 50eIf you are possessed by an idea, you find it expressed everywhere, you even smell it.
Thomas Mann1875–1955Tonio Kröger (1902)The radical invents the views. When he has worn them out the conservative adopts them.
Mark Twain1835–1910Mark Twain’s Notebook (1935)Genius, in truth, means little more than the faculty of perceiving in an unhabitual way.
William James1842–1910The Principles of Psychology (1890), Ch. 19A study of the history of opinion is a necessary preliminary to the emancipation of the mind.
John Maynard Keynes1883–1946The End of Laissez-faire (1926), Ch. 1The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly, is to fill the world with fools.
Herbert Spencer1820–1903Essays: Scientific, Political, and Speculative (1891), Vol. 3, Ch. IX, State-Tamperings with Money and Banks- Ludwig Wittgenstein1889–1951Culture and Value (1980), p. 76e
Agatha Christie1890–1976Murder on the Orient Express (1934), Hercule Poirot
Terry Pratchett1948–2015Only You Can Save Mankind (1992)
Thomas Jefferson1743–1826Letter From Thomas Jefferson to the Rev. James Madison, 19 July 1788
Herman Melville1819–1891Hawthorne and His Mosses (1850)
Matthew Arnold1822–1888The Strayed Reveller, and Other Poems (1849), “Shakespeare”, l. 1
Edward Abbey1927–1989The Monkey Wrench Gang (1975), Seldom Seen Smith, page 313