THINKING
Thinking is a mental activity. To think is to have a
particular idea or opinion about something or somebody.
The synonyms of ‘to think’ are : to believe, to feel, to
reckon, to be under the impression, and all these words mean ‘ to have an idea
that something is true or possible’.
The word ‘thinking’ is also used in
the sense of : view, outlook, judgment, assessment, appraisal, evaluation,
theory, conclusion, etc. For example, one may ask: “What’s the latest opinion
about smoking?”
The word ‘thought’ is used in the
sense of: idea, opinion, notion, theory, line of thinking, aim, plan, purpose and
design.
It is true to say that ultimately
thoughts rule the world. There are times when impulses and passions have an
upper hand, but they soon exhaust themselves, while thoughts which are constantly
developing in the mind acquire the predominant place.
Great thinkers are great
philosophers and the ideas promoted by
them become everlasting.
German writer and philosopher Goethe (1749-1832) claimed that
all truly wise thoughts have been thought already thousands of times; but to
make them truly ours, we must think them over again honestly, till they take
root in our personal experience.
According to the Chinese King Confucius (c.551BCe-c.479 BCE) :
Learning without thought is labour lost; thought without learning is precious.
Finally, this short but meaningful quote: Words have the
power to alter thinking.
********
G.R.Kanwal
26 September 2024
No comments:
Post a Comment