Thinking quotes

Thinking

95.1K quotes on this topic — from poets, philosophers, and thinkers across history.

95.1K quotes

Explore further

Browse quotes that often appear alongside thinking — connected by shared ideas and recurring themes.

Quote collection

Thinking quotes (page 471 of 4756)

Follow a thought to its author, or read the full quote page.

Thinking

"I don't think he was ever happy unless someone was in love with him, responding to him like filings to a magnet, helping him to explain himself, promising him something. What it was I do not know. Perhaps they promised that there would always be women in the world who would spend their brightest, freshest, rarest hours to nurse and protect that superiority he cherished in his heart."

Read quote 6 likes
Thinking

"Very few of the people who accentuate the futility of life remark the futility of themselves. Perhaps they think that in proclaiming the evil of living they somehow salvage their own worth from the ruin - but they don't, even you and I."

Read quote 6 likes
Zadie Smith Novelist, Essayist
Thinking

"It's a feeling of happiness that knocks me clean out of adjectives. I think sometimes that the best reason for writing novels is to experience those four and a half hours after you write the final word."

Read quote 6 likes
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. Justice, Jurist, Author
Thinking

"Most of the things we do, we do for no better reason than that our fathers have done them or our neighbors do them, and the same is true of a larger part than what we suspect of what we think."

Read quote 6 likes
Oliver Stone Filmmaker, Screenwriter
Thinking

"But in answer to your question about the conspiracy angle, I think that any historian worth his salt, and this is where I fault Stephen Ambrose and a lot of these guys who attack me - not all of life is a result of conspiracy by any means! Accident occurs alongside conspiracy."

Read quote 6 likes
Omar Sy Actor
Thinking

"I never thought about being the first black actor to win, even though everybody else talked about that. If I stop to think as a black actor, people will see me differently. If I play as a black actor, people will only see that. I think my key was to perform as an actor, not as a black actor. And after winning the Cesar, I was an actor with a Cesar. there are many more adjectives to describe who I am. I'm not only black."

Read quote 6 likes
Napoleon Bonaparte Military Leader, Emperor
Thinking

"I do not believe it is in our nature to love impartially. We deceive ourselves when we think we can love two beings, even our own children, equally. There is always a dominant affection."

Read quote 6 likes
Naomi Watts Actress
Thinking

"You won't find me in a romantic comedy. Those movies don't speak to me. People don't come to talk to me about those scripts, because they probably think I'm this dark, twisted, miserable person."

Read quote 6 likes
Naomi Watts Actress
Thinking

"In your 20s - and these are generalizations of course - I feel like I didn't care about as many things or as many people, or even myself, as much. There's more recklessness and more ruthlessness; you're not as considerate of how things land with other people I think."

Read quote 6 likes
Naomi Watts Actress
Thinking

"Whatever is said about roles drying up, I intend to keep working. Certainly now the roles couldn't be more interesting - playing mothers, divorcees. I think it's going to be exciting to play a mother of teenagers. The longer your life, the deeper it gets."

Read quote 6 likes
Naomi Watts Actress
Thinking

"What you want, as an actor, is a great leader. I can't bear it when I work with a director who is wishy-washy and says, "What did you think?""

Read quote 6 likes
Thinking

"As an author, one of the most important things I think you can do once you've written a novel is step back. When the book is out, it belongs to the readers and you can't stand there breathing over their shoulders."

Read quote 6 likes