Quote collection

Thinking Quotes — page 579 of 4756

Lucian Freud Painter
Inspired

“I think half the point of painting a picture is that you don't know what will happen... that if painters did know what was going to happen they wouldn't bother to do it.”

Ludwig Wittgenstein Philosopher
Philosophical

“If life becomes hard to bear we think of a change in our circumstances. But the most important and effective change, a change in our own attitude, hardly even occurs to us, and the resolution to take such a step is very difficult for us.”

Ludwig Wittgenstein Philosopher
Courageous

“You could attach prices to thoughts. Some cost a lot, some a little. And how does one pay for thoughts? The answer, I think, is: with courage.”

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LD
Lydia Davis Author
Creative

“I think the close work I do as a translator pays off in my writing - I'm always searching for multiple ways to say things.”

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LS
Louise Smith Activist
Grateful

“I enjoyed every minute of it, I traveled all over North America, racing everywhere I could, and I had fun with it. I didn't make a whole lot of money, but if I could do it again today, I'd do it, and I think I'd make it.”

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Hermann Hesse Novelist, Poet
Spiritual

“People know, or dimly feel, that if thinking is not kept pure and keen, and if respect for the world of mind is no longer operative, ships and automobiles will soon cease to run right, the engineer's slide rule and the computations of banks and stock exchanges will forfeit validity and authority, and chaos will ensue.”

QN
Queen Noor of Jordan Queen consort, Philanthropist
Courageous

“I think there are always going to be fanatics and charismatic extremists who are going to be able to draw a following.”

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QR
Queen Rania of Jordan Queen consort, Philanthropist
Confident

“Muslim women must stand up and speak out about who we are, what we believe and where we are going. I think we need to know that our counterparts in the west are also willing to listen and reciprocate.”

Pablo Picasso Painter, Sculptor
Philosophical

“I have never had time for the idea of searching. Whenever I wanted to express something, I did so without thinking of the past or the future.”

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E. M. Forster Novelist, Essayist
Thoughtful

“Sometimes I think too much fuss is made about marriage. Century after century of carnal embracement and we're still no nearer to understanding one another.”

DW
Dafydd Williams Astronaut
Spiritual

“On my second space walk, I was riding the Canadarm, heading down toward the payload bay of the space shuttle, and I could see the space shuttle highlighted against the Earth in the background, and there was this black, infinite, hostile void of space. I remember looking down at the Earth and thinking, "Beneath me is a 4½-billion-year-old planet, upon which the entire history of the human species has taken place." That was an incredibly humbling moment, and I had a bit of an epiphany.”

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Dalai Lama Spiritual Leader
Hopeful

“All human beings have an innate desire to overcome suffering, to find happiness. Training the mind to think differently, through meditation, is one important way to avoid suffering and be happy.”

Dalai Lama Spiritual Leader
Inspired

“I think many people knows what I am thinking. The whole world knows I am not seeking independence, therefore is many Tibetan disappointed, and also some of our supporters - many Indians, many Europeans, many Americans are also disappointed because I am not seeking independence.”

Dalai Lama Spiritual Leader
Grateful

“There are five billion human beings and in a certain way I think we need five billion different religions.”

Dalai Lama Spiritual Leader
Determined

“Through constant familiarity, we can definitely establish new behavior patterns, using our tendency to form habits to our advantage. If we make a steady effort, I think we can overcome any form of negative conditioning and make positive changes in our lives. But we need to remember that genuine change doesn't happen overnight.”

C. S. Lewis Writer, Scholar
Angry

“Some people talk as if meeting the gaze of absolute goodness would be fun. They need to think again.”

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C. S. Lewis Writer, Scholar
Creative

“As to...old composers like Schubert or Beethoven, I imagine that, while modern music expresses both feeling, thought and imagination, they expressed pure feeling. And you know all day sitting at work, eating, walking, etc., you have hundreds of feelings that can't be put into words. And that is why I think that in a sense music is the highest of the arts, because it really begins where the others leave off.”