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Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

the thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts.

A boy’s will is the wind’s will,
And the thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts.

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Sherlock

You were thinking. It’s annoying.

Sherlock Holmes: Shut up.
Lestrade: I didn’t say anything.
Sherlock Holmes: You were thinking. It’s annoying.

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Terry Pratchett

Most gods find it hard to walk and think at the same time.

Most gods find it hard to walk and think at the same time.

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Sherlock

Nicotine patch. Helps me think. It’s impossible to sustain a smoking habit in London these days.

Watson: What are you doing?
Holmes: Nicotine patch. Helps me think. It’s impossible to sustain a smoking habit in London these days.
Watson: That’s good news for breathing.
Holmes: Ah, breathing. Breathing’s boring.
Watson: Is that three patches?
Holmes: It’s a three-patch problem.

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Marcus Aurelius

The universe is change; our life is what our thoughts make it.

The universe is change; our life is what our thoughts make it.

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William Hazlitt

Great thoughts reduced to practice become great acts.

Great thoughts reduced to practice become great acts.

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William Hazlitt

the human mind, struggling to be free, and ending just where it began.

I hate to be near the sea, and to hear it roaring and raging like a wild beast in its den. It puts me in mind of the everlasting efforts of the human mind, struggling to be free, and ending just where it began.

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How the Grinch Stole Christmas!

Maybe Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more!

Narrator: He puzzled and puzzled till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before. Maybe Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more!

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Howard Zinn

They will not need soldiers patrolling the streets. We will control ourselves.

If those in charge of our society — politicians, corporate executives, and owners of press and television — can dominate our ideas, they will be secure in their power. They will not need soldiers patrolling the streets. We will control ourselves.

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Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Mind your till, and till your mind.

Mind your till, and till your mind.

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Bertrand Russell

most people would die sooner than think — in fact they do so.

We all have a tendency to think that the world must conform to our prejudices. The opposite view involves some effort of thought, and most people would die sooner than think — in fact they do so.

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Aristotle

It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.

It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.

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Mark Twain

When even the brightest mind in our world has been trained up from childhood in a superstition

When even the brightest mind in our world has been trained up from childhood in a superstition of any kind, it will never be possible for that mind, in its maturity, to examine sincerely, dispassionately, and conscientiously any evidence or any circumstance which shall seem to cast a doubt upon the validity of that superstition. I doubt if I could do it myself.

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Alexander Graham Bell

Leave the beaten track behind occasionally and dive into the woods.

Don’t keep forever on the public road. Leave the beaten track behind occasionally and dive into the woods. You will be certain to find something you have never seen before, and something worth thinking about to occupy your mind. All really big discoveries are the result of thought.

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Alexander Graham Bell

That intellectuality is more vigorous that has attained its strength gradually.

The most successful men in the end are those whose success is the result of steady accretion. That intellectuality is more vigorous that has attained its strength gradually. It is the man who carefully advances step by step, with his mind becoming wider and wider — and progressively better able to grasp any theme or situation — persevering in what he knows to be practical, and concentrating his thought upon it, who is bound to succeed in the greatest degree.

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Alexander Graham Bell

a second sight which enables him to see right through ordinary problems

I had made up my mind to find that for which I was searching even if it required the remainder of my life. After innumerable failures I finally uncovered the principle for which I was searching, and I was astounded at its simplicity. I was still more astounded to discover the principle I had revealed not only beneficial in the construction of a mechanical hearing aid but it served as well as means of sending the sound of the voice over a wire. Another discovery which came out of my investigation was the fact that when a man gives his order to produce a definite result and stands by that order it seems to have the effect of giving him what might be termed a second sight which enables him to see right through ordinary problems. What this power is I cannot say; all I know is that it exists and it becomes available only when a man is in that state of mind in which he knows exactly what he wants and is fully determined not to quit until he finds it.

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Grey's Anatomy

It’s called thinking. Go with it.

Katie Bryce: My head is full.
Dr. Meredith Grey: It’s called thinking. Go with it.

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Anne Lamott

She was sick of her worried, hostile mind.

Mattie sat at the table, obsessing, orbiting around herself. She was sick of her worried, hostile mind. It would have killed her long before, she felt, if it hadn’t needed the transportation.