David Foster Wallace Quotes

Make a decision that from now on, your thoughts do not run you, you run your thoughts. From now on, your mind is not the captain of your ship, you are the captain of the ship, and your mind works for you.

You only have control over three things in your life-the thoughts you think, the images you visualise, & the actions you take.

If you can't control what you think, you will not be able to control what you do.

Thinking involves not only the flow of thoughts, but their arrest as well.

It means being conscious and aware enough to choose what you pay attention to and to choose how you construct meaning from experience.

The strong man is the one who is able to intercept at will the communication between the senses and the mind.

I thought a lot and I controlled my thoughts in my work - and I controlled my work through my thoughts.

Are we controlled by our thoughts, or are we controlling our thoughts?

Thought once awakened does not again slumber.

You have two choices: to control your mind or to let your mind control you.

Time given to thought is the greatest time saver of all.

I guess it's a choice we make," she said. "What's a choice?" I asked. And she said, "How much of the world we let in.

You won’t have to watch what you say if you watch what you think.

You either control your mind or it controls you.

Your mind is a constant traffic of thoughts, and it is always rush hour, day in, day out. Meditation means to watch the movement of thoughts in the mind.

We are not responsible for every thought that goes wandering through our mind. We are, however, responsible for the ones we hold there. We're especially responsible for the one's we put there.

We are the product of our thinking, so it is important that we choose carefully where to focus our mental energy.

My understanding is that you get to choose which of your thoughts to go with.

Strictly speaking, you don't think: Thinking happens to you.

If you keep your mind active, regularly take on mental challenges, and continually think about the right things, you will develop the disciplined thinking that will help you with whatever you endeavor to do.

First Sight means you can see what really is there, and Second Thoughts mean thinking about what you are thinking. And in Tiffany's case, there were sometimes Third Thoughts and Fourth Thoughts although these...sometimes led her to walk into doors.

Perhaps it is even more important to know what one should not think about than what one should think about.

Control exists only when there is action of will, positively or negatively. Will is resistance. When the mind is learning, there is no resistance.

Some feel that you lose your independence if you don't let your mind just wander where it wants to, if you try to control it. But that is not the case. If your mind is proceeding in the correct way, one already has the correct opinion. But if your mind is proceeding in an incorrect way, then it's necessary, definitely, to exercise control.

Concentration's like a shower. You don't turn it on until you want to bathe... You don't walk out of the shower and leave it running. You turn it off, you turn it on... It has to be fresh and ready when you need it.