Mason Cooley Thinking Quotations

Travelers never think that they are the foreigners.

Think carefully before asking for justice. Mercy might be safer.

There are different rules for reading, for thinking, and for talking. Writing blends all three of them.

Sometimes I discover I have changed my mind because I have forgotten what I used to think.

Writing about an idea frees me of it. Thinking about it is a circle of repetitions.

Thinking about the universe has now been handed over to specialists. The rest of us merely read about it.

If we think about the obvious long enough, it dissolves.

The banker rubs his nose, thinking of his cat stalking something on the lawn.

I change my opinions often, but not my way of thinking.

Many think that assigning blame settles matters.

Our most important decisions are made while we are thinking about something else.

Existence is not a mystery unless you think it has a meaning.

Travelling, I worry about luggage, prices, and strange food. At home, I am free to broaden my mind by thinking about the higher things.

Lovers do all the talking and writing. What are the Beloveds thinking?

Only those in comfortable circumstances think love is the most important thing.

Against classical philosophy: thinking about eternity or the immensity of the universe does not lessen my unhappiness.

You are as happy as you think you are, but not necessarily as miserable as you imagine.

As the tenor roars his passion, I think sadly of my spreading middle, and his.

No matter how close thought sticks to the actual, it follows its own rules.

Life is always rich, thought only occasionally so.

Thought maps existence; fantasy colors it.

Travelling carries me to the surface, away from the deeps of home-thoughts.

Thought enables us to see Fate coming.

Every few years something new breaks into the circle of my thoughts.

To make a thought my own, I must think it often.

I feel that I have something significant to say, but I cannot think what it is.

By the time I have clarified a thought, I no longer want to think it.

Thoughts can be revised. Deeds cannot.

I cling to depression, thinking it a form of truth.

Logic teaches rules for presentation, not thinking.

At the dinner table, if you can't think of anything to say, sit quietly. Don't throw rolls, or chew on your napkin.

Think of the many different relations of form and content. E.g., the many pairs of trousers and what's in them.