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
No man should think himself a zero, and think he can do nothing about the state of the world.
—Bernard M. Baruch (1870–1965) American Financier, Economic Consultant
It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.
—Aristotle (384BCE–322BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher, Scholar
Thoughts come into our minds by avenues which we never left open, and thoughts go out of our minds through avenues which we never voluntarily opened.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Associate reverently, and as much as you can, with your loftiest thoughts.
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–62) American Philosopher
If a man sits down to think, he is immediately asked if has a headache.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Vacant minds must have their uses, yet it seems a pity to waste first-class bodies on them.
—Indian Proverb
Thinking is not to agree or disagree. That is voting.
—Robert Frost (1874–1963) American Poet
What we are today comes from our thoughts of yesterday, and our present thoughts build our life of tomorrow: Our life is the creation of our mind.
—Buddhist Teaching
More than those who hate you, more than all your enemies, an undisciplined mind does greater harm.
—Buddhist Teaching
There is a big difference between thinking: I’m in a relationship and something’s wrong. Therefore something must be wrong with the relationship. and thinking I’m in a relationship and we’ve got problems. This is evidence that you are different than me.
—Wayne Dyer (1940–2015) American Self-Help Author
Great thoughts always come from the heart.
—Luc de Clapiers, marquis de Vauvenargues (1715–47) French Moralist, Essayist, Writer
I am not what I think. I am thinking what I think.
—Eric Butterworth (1916–2003) American Spirituality Writer
The focus in the Creator Orientation is on a Vision or an Outcome. You orient your thoughts and actions toward creating what you most deeply want to see or experience in life.
—David Emerald
That pleasure which is at once the most pure, the most elevating and the most intense, is derived, I maintain, from the contemplation of the beautiful.
—Edgar Allan Poe (1809–49) American Poet
The power of thought, the magic of the mind.
—Lord Byron (George Gordon Byron) (1788–1824) English Romantic Poet
Original thoughts can be understood only in virtue of the unoriginal elements which they contain.
—Vittorio Alfieri (1749–1803) Italian Poet, Dramatist
For in itself a thought, a slumbering thought, is capable of years, and curdles a long life into one hour.
—Lord Byron (George Gordon Byron) (1788–1824) English Romantic Poet
Each thought that is welcomed and recorded is a nest egg, by the side of which more will be laid.
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–62) American Philosopher
Thought means life, since those who do not think do not live in any high or real sense. Thinking makes the man.
—Amos Bronson Alcott (1799–1888) American Teacher, Writer, Philosopher
Speak clearly, if you speak at all; carve every word before you let it fall.
—Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809–94) American Physician, Essayist
Little by little a person becomes evil, as a water pot is filled by drops of water…Little by little a person becomes good, as a water pot is filled by drops of water.
—Buddhist Teaching
It is the power of thought that gives man power over nature.
—Hans Christian Andersen (1805–75) Danish Author, Poet, Short Story Writer
No man can ever be greater than his loftiest thoughts.
—Indian Proverb
There is nothing so unthinkable as thought, unless it be the entire absence of thought.
—Samuel Butler
The minute a phrase, becomes current, it becomes an apology for not thinking accurately to the end of the sentence.
—Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. (1841–1935) American Jurist, Author
If we examine our thoughts, we shall find them always occupied with the past and the future.
—Blaise Pascal (1623–62) French Mathematician, Physicist, Theologian
The law of the harvest is to reap more than you sow. Sow an act, and you reap a habit; sow a habit, and you reap a character; sow a character, and you reap a destiny.
—George Boardman the Younger (1801–31) American Baptist Minister
It is difficult, if not impossible, for most people to think otherwise than in the fashion of their own period.
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish Playwright
Learn to think like a winner. Think positive and visualize your strengths.
—Vic Braden (b.1929) American Sportsperson, Author