There has to be evil so that good can prove its purity above it.
—Buddhist Teaching
Nurture your mind with great thoughts; to believe in the heroic makes heroes.
—Benjamin Disraeli (1804–81) British Head of State
An insincere and evil friend is more to be feared than a wild beast; a wild beast may wound your body, but an evil friend will wound your mind.
—Buddhist Teaching
Everything that is beautiful and noble is the product of reason and calculation.
—Charles Baudelaire (1821–67) French Poet, Art Critic, Essayist, Translator
It takes but one positive thought when given a chance to survive and thrive to overpower an entire army of negative thoughts.
—Robert H. Schuller (1926–2015) American Christian Televangelist, Author
Thinkers perish, thoughts don’t.
—Malcolm S. Forbes (1919–1990) American Publisher, Businessperson
A vivid thought brings the power to paint it; and in proportion to the depth of its source is the force of its projection.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Intelligence must follow faith, never precede it. and never destroy it.
—Thomas a Kempis (1379–1471) German Religious Priest, Writer
The last change in our point of view gives the whole world a pictorial air.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
No one can be a great thinker who does not recognize that as a thinker it is his first duty to follow his intellect to whatever conclusions it may lead.
—John Stuart Mill (1806–73) English Philosopher, Economist
As soon as true thought has entered our mind, it gives a light which makes us see a crowd of other objects which we have never perceived before.
—Francois-Rene de Chateaubriand (1768–1848) French Writer, Academician, Statesman
That’s where the fear comes from—from your uninvestigated thoughts.
—Byron Katie (b.1942) American Speaker, Author
It is impossible for men engaged in low and groveling pursuits to have noble and generous sentiments. A man’s thought must always follow his employment.
—Demosthenes (384–322 BCE) Greek Statesman, Orator
Things that were hard to bear are sweet to remember.
—Seneca the Younger (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) (c.4 BCE–65 CE) Roman Stoic Philosopher, Statesman, Tragedian
Some people ‘pass through life soberly and religiously enough, without knowing why, or reasoning about it, but, from force of habit merely, go to heaven like fools.
—Laurence Sterne (1713–68) Irish Anglican Novelist, Clergyman
Modern man likes to pretend that his thinking is wide-awake. But this wide-awake thinking has led us into the mazes of a nightmare in which the torture chambers are endlessly repeated in the mirrors of reason.
—Octavio Paz (1914–98) Mexican Poet, Diplomat
If, instead of a gem or even a flower, we could cast the gift of a lovely thought into the heart of a friend, that would be giving as the angels give.
—George MacDonald (1824–1905) Scottish Novelist, Lecturer, Poet
A wise man makes his own decisions, an ignorant man follows the public opinion.
—Chinese Proverb
Great minds think alike.
—Common Proverb
Our necessities are few, but our wants are endless.
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish Playwright
Speak clearly, if you speak at all; carve every word before you let it fall.
—Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809–94) American Physician, Essayist
There are lots of people who cannot think seriously without injuring their minds.
—John Jay Chapman (1862–1933) American Biographer, Poet, Essayist, Writer
Be careful what you set your heart upon—for it will surely be yours.
—James Baldwin (1924–87) American Novelist, Social Critic
Little-minded people’s thoughts move in such small circles that five minutes conversation gives you an arc long enough to determine their whole curve.
—Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809–94) American Physician, Essayist
Think twice before you speak to a friend in need.
—Ambrose Bierce (1842–1913) American Short-story Writer, Journalist
If you put your hand into a fire, does anyone have to tell you to move it? Do you have to decide? No: When your hand starts to burn, it moves. You don’t have to direct it; the hand moves itself. In the same way, once you understand, through inquiry, that an untrue thought causes suffering, you move away from it.
—Byron Katie (b.1942) American Speaker, Author
Nothing improves the memory more than trying to forget.
—Indian Proverb
I roamed the countryside searching for answers to things I did not understand. Why thunder lasts longer than that which causes it, and why immediately on its creation the lightning becomes visible to the eye while thunder requires time to travel. How the various circles of water form around the spot which has been struck by a stone and why a bird sustains itself in the air. These questions and other strange phenomena engaged my thought throughout my life.
—Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) Italian Polymath, Painter, Sculptor, Inventor, Architect
When someone you greatly admire and respect appears to be thinking deep thoughts, they are probably thinking about lunch.
—Indian Proverb
How you think when you lose determines how long it will be until you win.
—G. K. Chesterton (1874–1936) English Journalist, Novelist, Essayist, Poet
Nothing is impossible for those who act after wise counsel and careful thought.
—The Thirukkural (c.5th cent. CE) Tamil Sacred Couplets
There is no thought in any mind, but it quickly tends to convert itself into a power, and organizes a huge instrumentality of means.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
After you’ve been doing inquiry for a while, if you have the thought “She doesn’t love me,” you just get the immediate turnaround with a smile: “Oh, I’m not loving myself in this moment”.
—Byron Katie (b.1942) American Speaker, Author
Nothing is comparable to the pleasure of an active and prevailing thought—a thought prevailing over the difficulty and obscurity of the object, and refreshing the soul with new discoveries and images of things; and thereby extending the bounds of apprehension, and as it were enlarging the territories of reason.
—Robert South (1634–1716) English Theologian, Preacher
The birthplace of success for each person is in his Inner-Consciousness. The Inner-Consciousness will use whatever it is given. If constructive thoughts are planted positive outcomes will be the result. Plant the seeds of failure and failure will follow. And since the only real freedom a person has is the choice of what thoughts he will feed to his Inner-Consciousness he is totally responsible for the outcomes he gets.
—Sidney Madwed (1926–2013) American Poet, Author
Where all think alike, no one thinks very much.
—Walter Lippmann (1889–1974) American Journalist, Political Commentator, Writer
Silence and reserve suggest latent power. What some men think has more effect than what others say.
—Earl of Chesterfield (1694–1773) English Statesman, Man of Letters
To fly as fast as thought. To be Anywhere there is; you must first begin by knowing that you have already arrived
—Richard Bach (b.1936) American Novelist, Aviator
Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking.
—Marcus Aurelius (121–180) Emperor of Rome, Stoic Philosopher
I am not what I think. I am thinking what I think.
—Eric Butterworth (1916–2003) American Spirituality Writer
People who are unable to motivate themselves must be content with mediocrity, no matter how impressive their other talents.
—Andrew Carnegie (1835–1919) Scottish-American Industrialist
Thoughts are but dreams till their effects be tried.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
As the Fletcher whittles and makes straight his arrows, so the master directs his straying thoughts.
—Buddhist Teaching
Alas, we make a ladder of our thoughts, where angels step, but sleep ourselves at the foot; our high resolves look down upon our slumbering acts.
—Letitia Elizabeth Landon (1802–38) English Poet, Novelist
All that we are is the result of what we have thought: it is founded on our thoughts, it is made up of our thoughts. If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him, like a shadow that never leaves him.
—The Dhammapada Buddhist Anthology of Verses
Every thought we think is creating our future.
—Louise Hay (b.1926) American Author
The greatest events of an age are its best thoughts. It is the nature of thought to find its way into action.
—Christian Nestell Bovee (1820–1904) American Writer, Aphorist
We find it hard to believe that other people’s thoughts are as silly as our own, but they probably are.
—James Harvey Robinson (1863–1936) American Historian
Make not your thoughts you prisons.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
You can lead a boy to college but you can’t make him think.
—Elbert Hubbard (1856–1915) American Writer, Publisher, Artist, Philosopher