All thought is naught but a footnote to Plato.
—George Santayana (1863–1952) Spanish-American Poet, Philosopher
Beware of the half truth. You may have gotten hold of the wrong half.
—Anonymous
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
It is a man’s own mind, not his enemy or foe, that lures him to evil ways.
—Buddhist Teaching
If we are not ashamed to think it, we should not be ashamed to say it.
—Cicero (106BCE–43BCE) Roman Philosopher, Orator, Politician, Lawyer
Thought expands, but paralyzes; action animates, but narrows.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
The eye sees only what the mind is prepared to comprehend.
—Robertson Davies (1913–95) Canadian Novelist, Playwright, Essayist
In everything truth surpasses the imitation and copy.
—Cicero (106BCE–43BCE) Roman Philosopher, Orator, Politician, Lawyer
Nothing is more difficult, and therefore more precious, than to be able to decide.
—Napoleon I (1769–1821) Emperor of France
A thing is not necessarily true because a man dies for it.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet, Playwright
If I held all the thoughts of the world in my hand, I would be careful not to open it.
—Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle (1657–1757) French Essayist, Polymath, Philosopher
Never express yourself more clearly than you are able to think.
—Niels Bohr (1885–1962) Danish Physicist
Opinions are formed in a process of open discussion and public debate, and where no opportunity for the forming of opinions exists, there may be moods—moods of the masses and moods of individuals, the latter no less fickle and unreliable than the former—but no opinion.
—Hannah Arendt (1906–75) German-American Philosopher, Political Theorist
A thought embodied and embrained in fit words walks the earth a living being.
—Edwin Percy Whipple (1819–86) American Literary Critic
Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you’ve imagined! As you simplify your life, the laws of the Universe will be simpler, solitude will not be solitude, poverty will not be poverty, nor weakness weakness.
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–62) American Philosopher
Most of one’s life is one prolonged effort to prevent oneself thinking.
—Aldous Huxley (1894–1963) English Humanist, Pacifist, Essayist, Short Story Writer, Satirist
I refuse the compliment that I think like a man, thought has no sex, one either thinks or one does not.
—Clare Boothe Luce (1903–87) American Playwright, Diplomat, Journalist, Diplomat, Elected Rep
You’re either attaching to your thoughts or inquiring. There’s no other choice.
—Byron Katie (b.1942) American Speaker, Author
Our virtues are dearer to us the more we have had to suffer for them. It is the same with our children. All profound affection entertains a sacrifice. Our thoughts are often worse than we are, just as they are often better.
—George Eliot (Mary Anne Evans) (1819–80) English Novelist
Man’s great misfortune is that he has no organ, no kind of eyelid or brake, to mask or block a thought, or all thought, when he wants to.
—Paul Valery (1871–1945) French Critic, Poet
Thinking is more interesting than knowing, but less interesting than looking.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
A man is but the product of his thoughts. What he thinks, he becomes.
—Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869–1948) Indian Hindu Political leader
Arouse the mind without resting it on anything.
—Buddhist Teaching
Minds are like parachutes. They only function when they are open.
—James Dewar (1842–1923) British Chemist, Physicist
Think success, don’t think failure. At work, in your home, substitute success thinking for failure thinking. When you face a difficult situation, think, “I’ll win,” not “I’ll probably lose.” When you compete with someone else, think, “I’m equal to the best,” not “I’m out-classed.” When opportunity appears, think “I can do it,” never “I can’t. Let the master thought “I-will-succeed” dominate your thinking process. Thinking success conditions your mind to create plans that produce success. Thinking failure does the exact opposite. Failure thinking conditions the mind to think other thoughts that produce failure.
—David J. Schwartz (1927–87) American Self-help Author
Who would you be if you didn’t believe this thought?
—Byron Katie (b.1942) American Speaker, Author
We do not remember days, we remember moments. The richness of life lies in memories we have forgotten.
—Cesare Pavese (1908–50) Italian Novelist, Poet, Critic, Translator
Our mind is capable of passing beyond the dividing line we have drawn for it. Beyond the pairs of opposites of which the world consists, other, new insights begin.
—Hermann Hesse (1877–1962) German-born Swiss Novelist, Poet
All thought is immoral. Its very essence is destruction. If you think of anything you kill it. Nothing survives being thought of.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet, Playwright
All that a man does outwardly is but the expression and completion of his inward thought. To work effectually, he must think clearly; to act nobly, he must think nobly. Intellectual force is a principal element of the soul’s life, and should be proposed by every man as the principal end of his being.
—William Ellery Channing (1780–1842) American Unitarian Theologian, Poet
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