Famously Said Random quote

Quotes about thinking

552 quotes from 279 people

Most readBy personPage 29 of 37

There is no expedient to which a man will not go to avoid the labor of thinking.
Joshua Reynolds1723–1792Often credited to Thomas Edison
We are not smart! We buy shit from smart people!
Joe Roganborn 1967Joe Rogan: Live (2006), “The Devolution of Stupid People”
- Comedy
- Intelligence
Cynicism is only intellectual sloth.
Henry Rollinsborn 1961Riff on life’s journey blends humor, hope, Columbus Dispatch
Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people.
Eleanor Roosevelt1884–1962
- Ideas
Is an intelligent human being likely to be much more than a large-scale manufacturer of misunderstanding?
Philip Roth1933–2018The Counterlife (1986), Ch. 5
- Intelligence
It is too difficult to think nobly when one thinks only of earning a living.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau1712–1778II
- Work
Reason is like an officer when the King appears;
The officer then loses his power and hides himself.
Reason is the shadow cast by God; God is the sun.
Rumi1207–1273IV, Story 4 (tr. Whinfield)
- God
The idea of the sacred is quite simply one of the most conservative notions in any culture, because it seeks to turn other ideas — uncertainty, progress, change — into crimes.
Salman Rushdieborn 1947Herbert Reade Memorial Lecture (6 February 1990)
- Anti-Religion
- Ideas
The only people who see the whole picture are the ones who step outside the frame.
Salman Rushdieborn 1947The Ground Beneath Her Feet (1999)
I am far more provoked at being thought foolish by foolish people, than pleased at being thought sensible by sensible people; and the average proportion of the numbers of each is not to my advantage.
John Ruskin1819–1900Fors Clavigera, letter xxxvii, (1 January 1874)
- Intelligence
Many people would sooner die than think. In fact they do.
Bertrand Russell1872–1970
A stupid man’s report of what a clever man says is never accurate because he unconsciously translates what he hears into something he can understand.
Bertrand Russell1872–1970A History of Western Philosophy (1945)
- Intelligence
- Talking
It has been said that man is a rational animal. All my life I have been searching for evidence which could support this.
Bertrand Russell1872–1970Unpopular Essays (1950)
- Intelligence
The fundamental cause of the trouble is that in the modern world the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt.
Bertrand Russell1872–1970“The Triumph of Stupidity” (10 May 1933), in Mortals and Others
- Intelligence
Not to be absolutely certain is, I think, one of the essential things in rationality.
Bertrand Russell1872–1970Am I An Atheist Or An Agnostic? (1947)