James Geary Quotations

There is no aspect of our experience not molded in some way by metaphor's almost imperceptible touch.

Metaphor is not just the detection of patterns; it is the creation of patterns.

Metaphor creates a kind of conceptual synesthesia, in which we understand one concept in the context of another.

Aphorisms are food for thought - like sushi, they come in small portions that are both delicious and exquisitely formed. And, like sushi, I can never get enough.

A simile is just a metaphor with the scaffolding still up.

The mind revels in conjecture. Where information is lacking, it will gladly fill in the gaps.

Aphorisms are literature's hand luggage. Light and compact, they fit easily into the overhead compartment of your brain.

London always reminds me of a brain. It is similarly convoluted and circuitous. A lot of cities, especially American ones like New York and Chicago, are laid out in straight lines. Like the circuits on computer chips, there are a lot of right angles in cities like this. But London is a glorious mess. It evolved from a score or so of distinct villages, that merged and meshed as their boundaries enlarged. As a result, London is a labyrinth, full of turnings and twistings just like a brain.

Metaphors hide in plain sight, and their influence is largely unconscious. We should mind our metaphors, though, because metaphors make up our minds.

In the margin for error lies all our room for maneuver.

Sometimes, you need a door slammed in your face before you can hear opportunity knock.

I believe aphorisms are best when first read in the wild, free from the confines of any categories.

Heroism often results as a response to extreme events.

Metaphor impinges on everything, allowing us - poets and non-poets alike - to experience and think about the world in fluid, unusual ways.

Advice is given freely because so much of it is worthless.

Metaphor lives a secret life all around us. We utter about six metaphors a minute. Metaphorical thinking is essential to how we understand ourselves and others, how we communicate and learn, discover and invent.

By bringing together what we know and what we don't know through analogy, metaphorical thinking strikes the spark that ignites discovery,

You only really discover the strength of your spine when your back is against the wall.