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Quotes about thinking

552 quotes from 279 people

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“It must be inconvenient to be made of flesh,” said the Scarecrow, thoughtfully; “for you must sleep, and eat and drink. However, you have brains, and it is worth a lot of bother to be able to think properly.”
L. Frank Baum1856–1919The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900), Chapter VIn context
- Intelligence
One is not born a genius, one becomes a genius; and the feminine situation has up to the present rendered this becoming practically impossible.
Simone de Beauvoir1908–1986The Second Sex (1949), Bk. I, Pt. 2, Ch. 8: Since the French Revolution: the Job and the Vote, p. 133
- Genius
- Women
You cannot force ideas. Successful ideas are the result of slow growth. Ideas do not reach perfection in a day, no matter how much study is put upon them.
Alexander Graham Bell1847–1922Bell Telephone Talk (1901)
- Ideas
A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep.
Saul Bellow1915–2005To Jerusalem and Back: A Personal Account (1976), p. 127
- Intelligence
Imagination is a force of nature.
Saul Bellow1915–2005Henderson the Rain King (1959) [Viking/Penguin, 1984, ], ch. XVIII, p. 271
- Ideas
Most men judge only by their senses and let themselves be persuaded by what they see.
Cyrano de Bergerac1619–1655The Other World (1657)
As soon as the generals and the politicos
can predict the motions of your mind,
lose it.
Wendell Berry1934–2026“Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front” in Farming: A Hand Book (1970)
A mind that has confronted ruin for years
Is half or more a ruined mind.
Wendell Berry1934–2026“Sabbaths 2001”, in Given (2005)
Refusal to believe until proof is given is a rational position; denial of all outside of our own limited experience is absurd.
Annie Besant1847–1933Annie Besant: An Autobiography (1893), p. 357; 3rd edition (1908), p. 357
- Knowledge
In our civilization, and under our republican form of government, intelligence is so highly honored that it is rewarded by exemption from the cares of office.
Ambrose Bierce1842–1914The Devil’s Dictionary (1911)
- Intelligence
- Politics
Logic, n. The art of thinking and reasoning in strict accordance with the limitations and incapacities of the human misunderstanding.
Ambrose Bierce1842–1914The Devil’s Dictionary (1911)
To Dogmatism the Spirit of Inquiry is the same as the Spirit of Evil.
Ambrose Bierce1842–1914Epigrams, p. 343
Rational, adj. Devoid of all delusions save those of observation, experience and reflection.
Ambrose Bierce1842–1914The Devil’s Dictionary (1911)
- Comedy
Improvement makes straight roads; but the crooked roads without improvement are roads of genius.
William Blake1757–1827Proverbs of Hell, Line 66
- Genius
What is Grand is necessarily obscure to Weak men. That which can be made Explicit to the idiot is not worth my care.
William Blake1757–1827Letter to Revd. Dr. Trusler (1799)
- Intelligence