To get away from one's working environment is, in a sense, to get away from one's self; and this is often the chief advantage of travel and change.
Charles Horton CooleyRead
Unless a capacity for thinking be accompanied by a capacity for action, a superior mind exists in torture.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Thoughts alone are not enough; they must lead to action to be meaningful.
This quote by Charles Horton Cooley emphasizes the importance of not just having a superior intellect or deep thoughts but also the necessity of translating those thoughts into action. Without the ability to act on one's thoughts, a capable mind may suffer in silence, experiencing frustration and unfulfilled potential.
Themes
ThoughtActionIntellectMindFrustration
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about the importance of not just thinking big but also taking steps towards goals.
More from Charles Horton Cooley
All quotes βIf we divine a discrepancy between a man's words and his character, the whole impression of him becomes broken and painful; he revolts the imagination by his lack of unity, and even the good in him is hardly accepted.
Charles Horton CooleyRead
We have no higher life that is really apart from other people. It is by imagining them that our personality is built up; to be without the power of imagining them is to be a low-grade idiot.
Charles Horton CooleyRead
The imaginations which people have of one another are the solid facts of society.
Charles Horton CooleyRead
Each man must have his I; it is more necessary to him than bread; and if he does not find scope for it within the existing institutions he will be likely to make trouble.
Charles Horton CooleyRead
The thing that moves us to pride or shame is not the mere mechanical reflection of ourselves but the imagined effect of this reflection upon another's mind.
Charles Horton CooleyRead
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