Quotes about thinking
page 37

“Come now, my child, if we were planning to harm you, do you think we'd be lurking here beside the path in the very darkest part of the forest?”

Kenneth Patchen (1911–1972) American writer and poet

Parting

“I've come to think that's what heaven is- a place in the memory of others where our best selves live on.”

Christina Baker Kline (1964) American writer

Source: Orphan Train

Memory

“We think in generalities, but we live in detail. To make the past live, we must perceive it in detail in addition to thinking of it in generalities.”

Alfred North Whitehead (1861–1947) English mathematician and philosopher

"The Education of an Englishman" in The Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 138 (1926), p. 192.
1920s

“When you were in love, you were capable of learning everything and of knowing things you had never dared even to think, because love was the key to understanding all of the mysteries.”

Paulo Coelho book Brida

Variant: When you’re in love, you’re capable of learning everything and knowing things you had never dared even to think, because love is the key to understanding of all the the mysteries.
Source: Brida

Love, Understanding, Learning

“Life consists of what man is thinking about all day.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) American philosopher, essayist, and poet

Variant: You become what you think about all day long.

Life

“I think I might have to place you under arrest for trespassing.
But I always go easy on pretty girls who confess.”

Ellen Schreiber (1967) American writer

Source: Royal Blood

Girl

“Hey anyone who thinks a non-military–grade rappelling cable can support the weight of two grown men and a miniature donkey deserves to fall off a cliff.”

Ally Carter (1974) American writer

Source: Uncommon Criminals

Men, Support

“The biggest mistake any of us can make is thinking that love is a feeling, an emotion. It's not that at all. It's an action.”

Luanne Rice (1955) American author

Source: Follow the Stars Home

Love, Feeling

“But think of the glory of the choice! That makes a man a man. A cat has no choice, a bee must make honey. There's no godliness there.”

John Steinbeck book East of Eden

Source: East of Eden

Cats, Bee

“If people don't like you, or they think you're strange, then that's their problem.”

Nicholas Sparks book A Walk to Remember

Source: A Walk to Remember

People, Problem

“I don't believe Barrons is out to destroy mankind. I don't think he particularly cares much for mankind, but I don't think he has any deep-seated desire to see us all wiped out.”

Karen Marie Moning (1964) author

Source: Bloodfever

“Think pink. A better way of life.”

Kay Thompson book Eloise

Source: Eloise

Life, Way

“I need you to be clever, Bean. I need you to think of solutions to problems we haven't seen yet. I want you to try things that no one has ever tried because they're absolutely stupid.”

Orson Scott Card book Ender's Game

Source: Ender's Game

Stupidity, Problem

“I used to think it was possible for an artist to alter the inner life of the culture. Now bomb-makers and gunmen have taken that territory.”

Don DeLillo Mao II

Part 1, Ch. 3
Source: Mao II (1991)
Context: There's a curious knot that binds novelists and terrorists... Years ago I used to think it was possible for a novelist to alter the inner life of the culture. Now bomb-makers and gunmen have taken that territory. They make raids on human consciousness. What writers used to do before we were all incorporated.

Life

“He could cheat on me and he would never tell me, and he would think less and less of me for not figuring it out. He would see me across the breakfast table, innocently slurping cereal, and know that I am a fool, and how can anyone respect a fool?”

Gillian Flynn book Gone Girl

Source: Gone Girl

Fools, Cheating

“The alcohol smell is on my fingers, cold and remote, piercing like a steel pin going in. It smells like white enamel basins. When I look up at the stars in the nighttime, cold and white and sharp, I think they must smell like that.”

Margaret Atwood book Cat's Eye

Source: Cat's Eye

Alcohol, Star

“Calvin's Dad: I don't think I'd have been in such a hurry to reach adulthood if I'd known the whole thing was going to be ad-libbed.”

Bill Watterson (1958) American comic artist

Source: The Revenge of the Baby-Sat

Adulthood

“she committed suicide by putting her extremities down the garbage disposal-first one arm and then, kind of miraculously if you think about it, the other arm.”

David Foster Wallace book Infinite Jest

Source: Infinite Jest

Suicide

“You know how sometimes you lie in bed at night and think, “What if the law of gravity just wears out and lets go and I drift into space?” Does that ever make you anxious?”

Elaine May (1932) American screenwriter, film director, actress, and comedian

Lie, Law, Night

“I think women rule the world, and that no man has ever done anything that a woman either hasn't allowed him to do or encouraged him to do.”

Bob Dylan (1941) American singer-songwriter, musician, author, and artist

Rolling Stone interview (21 June 1984)

Women, World

“Guys always think tears are a sign of weakness. They’re a sign of FRUSTRATION. She’s only crying so she won’t cut your throat in your sleep. So make nice and be grateful.”

Donna Barr (1952) comic book author and cartoonist

Guy, Tear, Sleep, Cry

“Though, if you think about it, hostile, dethroned pseudodeities probably make disagreeable neighbors. You'll have to figure out something to do with him.”

Brandon Sanderson (1975) American fantasy writer

Source: The Final Empire

Hostility

“I think dogs are the most amazing creatures;
they give unconditional love.
For me they are the role model for being alive.”

Gilda Radner (1946–1989) American comedian

Love, Dogs

“It's the endlessly thinking about yourself that causes such heart shame.”

Gregory Maguire book Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister

Source: Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister

Heart

“Reading and sauntering and lounging and dosing, which I call thinking, is my supreme Happiness.”

David Hume (1711–1776) Scottish philosopher, economist, and historian

Happiness, Reading

“We have nothing now between us, save - respect, perhaps. And I think that respect has maybe room for secrets, but not for lies.”

Diana Gabaldon book Outlander

Source: Outlander

Secret

“If you are facing a new challenge or being asked to do something that you have never done before don’t be afraid to step out. You have more capability than you think you do but you will never see it unless you place a demand on yourself for more.”

Joyce Meyer (1943) American author and speaker

“The way you think determines the way you feel, and the way you feel determines the way you act.”

Rick Warren (1954) Christian religious leader

Way, Feeling

“From here on out, there's just reality. I think that's what maturity is: a stoic response to endless reality. But then, what do I know?”

Carrie Fisher book Postcards from the Edge

Source: Postcards from the Edge

Reality

“You seem to think that the only genuine existence evil can have is conscious existence - that no one is evil unless he admits it to himself. I disagree.”

Gene Wolfe (1931–2019) American science fiction and fantasy writer

Evil

“I think holidays create so much pressure because people feel they should be having a good time. But you shouldn't.”

Craig Ferguson (1962) Scottish-born American television host, stand-up comedian, writer, actor, director, author, producer and voice a…

People, Feeling, Time, Holiday

“Tell me a story then… keep me occupied."
"A story?… What makes you think I can tell a story?"
"Insight," said the king, "Go on.”

Megan Whalen Turner The King of Attolia

Source: The King of Attolia

“My mother said the cure for thinking too much about yourself was helping somebody who was worse off than you.”

Sylvia Plath book The Bell Jar

Source: The Bell Jar

Help

“I think some people call this love. I call it hell.”

Ellen Schreiber book Vampire Kisses

Source: Vampire Kisses

Love, People, Hell

“I don't think writers are anythan other people. I think they may be more compelling in their stupidity, or in their.”

David Foster Wallace (1962–2008) American fiction writer and essayist

People, Stupidity

“Think it over, think it under.”

A.A. Milne book Winnie-the-Pooh

Variant: Think, think, think.
Source: Winnie-the-Pooh

“He sniggered.
He didn't like to think of himself as the sort of person who giggled or sniggered, but he had to admit that he had been giggling and sniggering almost continuously for well over half an hour now.”

Douglas Adams book So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish

Source: So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish

Personality

“My people have been wearing green glasses on their eyes for so long that most of them think this really is an Emerald City.”

L. Frank Baum book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900)
Source: Oz: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

People

“It's just that… I just think that some things are meant to be broken. Imperfect. Chaotic. It's the universe's way of providing contrast, you know? There have to be a few holes in the road. It's how life is.”

Sarah Dessen book The Truth About Forever

Source: The Truth About Forever

Life, Way, Universe

“There's a rule, I think. You get what you want in life, but not your second choice too.”

Alison Lurie (1926) American novelist and academic

Life

“Jackson has devised a game called "Real or Not Real" to help Peeta. He mentions something he thinks happened, and they tell him if it's true or imagined, usually followed by a brief explanation.”

Suzanne Collins book Mockingjay

Source: Mockingjay

Imagination, Game, Help

“All it means is that, while our minds may have trouble communicating, our bodies don't have any problem at all."

"I don't think it's that simple."

"Sure it is."

"The earth moved," she said softly. "That has to be more than bodies communicating.”

Susan Elizabeth Phillips (1948) American writer

Source: Kiss an Angel

Communication, Problem

“Thinking little at all about nothing in particular.”

Ray Bradbury book Fahrenheit 451

Source: Fahrenheit 451

“Good writing does not succeed or fail on the strength of its ability to persuade. It succeeds or fails on the strength of its ability to engage you, to make you think, to give you a glimpse into someone else's head.”

Malcolm Gladwell (1963) journalist and science writer

Source: What the Dog Saw and Other Adventures

“The statistics on sanity are that one out of every four Americans is suffering from some form of mental illness. Think of your three best friends. If they're okay, then it's you.”

Rita Mae Brown (1944) Novelist, poet, screenwriter, activist

Many sources attribute this quote to Brown without giving a specific reference to her writings. The earliest located is the following variation from p. 47 of Musgrave Landing: Musings on the Writing Life by Susan Musgrave (1994), which Musgrave quotes as "Rita Mae Brown's warning": "If you become the kind of writer who calls forth heated emotional states, be careful. There are a lot of unbalanced people out there. The statistics on insanity are that one out of every four people is suffering from some form of mental illness. Think of your three best friends. If they're okay, then it's got to be you."
Disputed

Suffering

“A piece of me is gone," she told me once while we were bra shopping. "I think we're made up of all these different pieces and every time someone goes, you're left with less of yourself.”

Melina Marchetta (1965) Australian teen writer

Source: Saving Francesca

Time

“You think things have to be possible? Things have to be!”

Philip Pullman (1946) English author

“You wouldn't think you could kill an ocean, would you? But we'll do it one day. That's how negligent we are.”

Ian Rankin book Blood Hunt

Source: Blood Hunt

“I'm afraid men are not always quite as clever as they think they are. You will learn that when you get a bit older, my girl.”

Roald Dahl book Matilda

Source: Matilda

Men, Girl, Learning

“I think that modern physics has definitely decided in favor of Plato. In fact the smallest units of matter are not physical objects in the ordinary sense; they are forms, ideas which can be expressed unambiguously only in mathematical language.”

Werner Heisenberg (1901–1976) German theoretical physicist

Das Naturgesetz und die Struktur der Materie (1967), as translated in Natural Law and the Structure of Matter (1981), p. 34

Mathematics, Idea, Sense

“One must not think slightingly of the paradoxical…for the paradox is the source of the thinker’s passion, and the thinker without a paradox is like a lover without feeling: a paltry mediocrity.”

Sören Kierkegaard (1813–1855) Danish philosopher and theologian, founder of Existentialism

Feeling, Lovers, Passion

“Peace is the result of retraining your mind to process life as it is, rather than as you think it should be.”

Wayne W. Dyer (1940–2015) American writer

Source: There's a Spiritual Solution to Every Problem

Life, Peace, Depressing, Peaceful

“I've told you before,” he said huskily. “I'll take you however I can get you.”
“Whatever. Don't think I don't know you're topping from the bottom.”
His mouth curved with unapologetic amusement.”

Sylvia Day book Bared to You

Source: Bared to You

“I swear, sometimes I am convinced my life is just a series of sketches for America's Funniest Home Videos, minus all that pants-dropping business. Except my life really isn't all that funny if you think about it.”

Meg Cabot book Ninth Key

Source: Ninth Key

Life, Home, Business

“I think you cannot root out love entirely. I think where there has been love, there will always be embers, as the remains of a bonfire outlast the flame.”

Cassandra Clare book Lord of Shadows

Source: Lord of Shadows

Love

“Contrary to what you might think, I don't spend every waking hour thinking about boys."
"Just most waking hours?”

Rick Riordan book The Throne of Fire

Source: The Throne of Fire

Boy

“3. You think that looks like a heart? If you do, that's only because you've never seen scrotum.”

David Levithan book Will Grayson, Will Grayson

Source: Will Grayson, Will Grayson

Heart

“They just knew. And I think that's all you can ever ask from a friend.”

Stephen Chbosky book The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Source: The Perks of Being a Wallflower

“Every single time you crossed over for me and met me on my side. I realize now, I don't think I ever met you in the middle. And I don't think I ever once said that you for that.”

Cecelia Ahern (1981) Irish novelist

Time

“What TV is extremely good at—and realize that this is "all it does"—is discerning what large numbers of people think they want, and supplying it.”

David Foster Wallace (1962–2008) American fiction writer and essayist

People

“I have to spring a cat out of Rumelt Animal Shelter. Think of it as a prison break."

It does the trick. He laughs. "Whose cat?"

"My cat. What do you think? That I break out the cats of strangers?"

"Let me guess, she was framed. She's innocent.”

Holly Black book White Cat

Source: White Cat

Spring, Cats, Animals

“Pointless thinking is worse than no thinking at all.”

Haruki Murakami book Kafka on the Shore

Source: Kafka on the Shore

“I think it’s more like a shirt that says, ‘I’m going to have to end this date early so I can go prepare my Power Point presentation”

Richelle Mead (1976) American writer

“Its more fun to think of the future than dwell on the past.”

Sara Shepard (1973) Author

Source: Unbelievable

Past, Future

“I dipped into his brain. He wasn't happy that I wasn't wearing a bra, because my boobs distracted him. He was thinking I was a bit too curvy for his taste. He was thinking he'd better not think about me that way anymore. He was missing his wife.”

Charlaine Harris Dead and Gone

Source: Dead and Gone

Happiness, Way

“People who think God is on their side are capable of the most inhumane acts. (Petrov)”

Vince Flynn Consent to Kill

Source: Consent to Kill

God, People

“You think when you wake up in the mornin yesterday dont count. But yesterday is all that does count. What else is there? Your life is made out of the days it's made out of. Nothin else.”

Cormac McCarthy book No Country for Old Men

Source: No Country for Old Men (2005)
Context: You think when you wake up in the mornin yesterday dont count. But yesterday is all that does count. What else is there? Your life is made out of the days it's made out of. Nothin else. You might think you could run away and change your name and I dont know what all. Start over. And then one mornin you wake up and look at the ceilin and guess who's layin there?

Life

“You seem a lot like me," he said. "You don't gawk at me like I'm a freak."

"I'll kick anyone who does."

"I think you already did. Or at least smacked him with a tennis racket."

-Alexander and Raven, Vampire Kisses, Pg.127, The Beginning”

Ellen Schreiber book Vampire Kisses

Source: Vampire Kisses

Kiss

“It frightened him to think what must have gone to the making of her eyes.”

Edith Wharton The Age of Innocence

Source: The Age of Innocence (1920), Ch. 8

“It's not funny, Jace," Alec interrupted, starting to his feet. "Are you just going to let her stand there and call me names?"

"Yes," Jace said kindly. "It'll do you good-- try to think of it as endurance training.”

Cassandra Clare (1973) American author

Training

“I think it would be well, and proper, and obedient, and pure, to grasp your one necessity and not let it go, to dangle from it limp wherever it takes you. Then even death, where you're going no matter how you live, cannot you part.”

Annie Dillard (1945) American writer

Source: Teaching a Stone to Talk: Expeditions and Encounters

Death, Parting

“God understands that part of us which is more than what we think we are.”

Madeleine L'Engle (1918–2007) American writer

God, Understanding, Parting

“The heart knoweth its own sorrow and there are times when, like David, it is comforting to think that our tears are put in a bottle and not one of them forgotten by the one who leads us in paths of sorrow.”

Hannah Hurnard book Hinds' Feet on High Places

Source: Hinds' Feet on High Places

Tear, Time, Heart

“I used to think as I looked out on the Hollywood night — there must be thousands of girls sitting alone like me, dreaming of becoming a movie star. But I'm not going to worry about them. I'm dreaming the hardest.”

Marilyn Monroe (1926–1962) American actress, model, and singer

Variant: I used to think as I looked at the Hollywood night, «There must be thousands of girls sitting alone like me, dreaming of becoming a movie star. But I'm not going to worry about them. I'm dreaming the hardest.

Dreams, Girl, Star, Night

“My eyes rolled so far back in my head that I could see myself think”

Janet Evanovich (1943) Novelist

“I think… that when it comes to us, anything is possible.”

Nicholas Sparks book Message in a Bottle

Source: Message in a Bottle

“To look upon its grass grown yard, where the sunbeams seem to sleep so quietly, one would think that there at least the dead might rest in peace.”

Washington Irving book The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

Source: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

Peace, Sleep, Grass, Dead

“To think is to confine yourself to a single thought that one day stands still like a star in the world's sky.”

Martin Heidegger (1889–1976) German philosopher

Source: Basic Writings: Martin Heidegger

World, Star

“who would dare think that, forever? Some idiot girl who wouldn’t know how things played out.”

Daniel Handler book Why We Broke Up

Source: Why We Broke Up

Girl

“Strike an average between what a woman thinks of her husband a month before she marries him and what she thinks of him a year afterward, and you will have the truth about him.”

H.L. Mencken (1880–1956) American journalist and writer

Truth, Anniversary

“Shut up, me" Leo said out loud.
"What?" Piper asked.
"Nothing," he said. "Long night. I think I'm hallucinating. It's cool.”

Rick Riordan book The Lost Hero

Source: The Lost Hero

Night

“Madness is always a wonderful excuse, don’t you think? For doing terrible things to other people.”

Jennifer McMahon (1968) American writer

Source: The Winter People

People, Madness

“He needed his solitude at times, but he wasn't a hermit. He did a lot of socializing. Sometimes I think it was like he was storing up company for the times when he knew nobody would be around.”

Jon Krakauer book Into the Wild

Source: Into the Wild

Solitude, Time

“I don't believe in pessimism. If something doesn't come up the way you want, forge ahead. If you think it's going to rain, it will.”

Clint Eastwood (1930) actor and director from the United States

Way

“Personally, I don’t like inherently happy people. I don’t trust them. I think there’s something seriously wrong with anyone who isn’t at least a little let down by the world.”

Tiffanie DeBartolo (1970) American writer

Source: How to Kill a Rock Star

Happiness, People, World, Personality

“Still think she is worth it?” Mahon asked quietly.

“Of course. She is my mate.”

Mahon sighed. “So you decided then.”

“Do you think we’d be laying here bleeding in the snow if I wasn’t sure?”

“Good point.”

Ilona Andrews American husband-and-wife novelist duo

Source: Magic Bleeds - Awake

“I think I was born with a suitcase.”

Sherman Alexie book The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

Source: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

“I must write it all out, at any cost. Writing is thinking. It is more than living, for it is being conscious of living.”

Anne Morrow Lindbergh (1906–2001) American aviator and author

Locked Rooms and Open Doors (1974)

“Even though I don't ask, Plutarch gives me cheerful updates on the phone like "Good news, Katniss! I think we've almost got him convinced you're not a mutt!" Or "Today he was allowed to feed himself pudding!”

Suzanne Collins book Mockingjay

Source: Mockingjay

“Let me ask you a question Alex. What do you think is the greatest evil on this plant today?"
"Is that including, or not including you?”

Anthony Horowitz book Eagle Strike

Source: Eagle Strike

Question, Evil

“So now I'm thinking about it. I'm imagining sitting down with my parents and actually saying, "I'm gay." And you know what? It makes me a little mad. I mean, straight guys don't have to sit their parents down and tell them they like girls.”

Michael Thomas Ford (1968) American writer

Source: Suicide Notes

Guy, Imagination, Girl, Parent

“Does that mean you agree?"
He groaned. "I think it means you crushed my spirit and beat me down."
"Fantastic.”

Cassandra Clare The City of Lost Souls

Source: City of Lost Souls

“As you see the opening get closer, you just can't get fast enough. And finally, just when you think you'll never get there, you see the opening right in front of you.”

Stephen Chbosky book The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Source: The Perks of Being a Wallflower

“I think of how life takes unexpected twists and turns, sometimes through sheer happenstance, sometimes through calculated decisions. In the end, it can all be called fate, but to me, it is more a matter of faith.”

Emily Giffin (1972) American writer

Source: Love the One You're With

Life, Fate, Faith, Decision

“Think books aren't scary? Well, think about this: You can't spell "Book" without "Boo!”

Stephen Colbert book I Am America (And So Can You!)

Source: I Am America

Books

“Empathize with stupidity and you’re halfway to thinking like an idiot.”

Iain Banks Culture series

Source: Culture series, Consider Phlebas (1987), Chapter 2 “The Hand of God 137” (p. 27).

Stupidity

“Character is higher than intellect…A great soul will be strong to live, as well as strong to think.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) American philosopher, essayist, and poet

1830s, The American Scholar http://www.emersoncentral.com/amscholar.htm (1837) <br class="br">Context: Character is higher than intellect... A great soul will be strong to live, as well as strong to think.

Soul, Strong