Mental Effort Quotes

Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the reason why so few engage in it.

A reader does not suddenly comprehend what is being read or studied, in a snap, miraculously. Comprehension needs to be worked forged, by those who read and study; as subjects of the action, they must seek to employ appropriate instruments in order to carry out the task. For this very reason, reading and studying form a challenging task, one requiring patience and perseverance.

Thinking is difficult, that’s why most people judge.

No problem can withstand the assault of sustained thinking.

It is much simpler to buy books than to read them and easier to read them than to absorb their contents.

I had always been impressed by the fact that there are surprisingly many individuals who never use their minds if they can avoid it, and yet are not stupid, and an equal number who obviously do use their minds but in an amazingly stupid way.

From now on you're going to have to think. There's a reason why we're born with brains in our heads, not rocks.

If the material is challenging, it forces you to challenge yourself when handling it.

To do nothing at all is the most difficult thing in the world, the most difficult and the most intellectual.

Writing is always a way, for me, of coming to some sort of understanding that I can't reach otherwise.It forces you to think. It forces you to work the thing through. Nothing comes to us out of the blue, very easily.

Thinking is the hardest work we can do, and among the most important

My brain's always working, and gears are turning 24/7. So I was trying to think of solutions.

If you ask a living teacher a question, he will probably answer you. If you are puzzled by what he says, you can save yourself the trouble of thinking by asking him what he means. If, however, you ask a book a question, you must answer it yourself. In this respect a book is like nature or the world. When you question it, it answers you only to the extent that you do the work of thinking an analysis yourself.

Writing makes no noise, except groans, and it can be done everywhere, and it is done alone.

Thinking is the most overrated human activity.

Too many people are too lazy to think. Instead of learning something new, they think the same thought day in day out.

Toleration is the greatest gift of the mind; it requires the same effort of the brain that it takes to balance oneself on a bicycle.

Tennis doesn't encourage any kind of intellectual development.

Thinking is easy, acting is difficult, and to put one's thoughts into action is the most difficult thing in the world.

A conclusion is simply the place where you got tired of thinking.

Some people read only because they are too lazy to think.

I have an I.Q. of 100 plus a little bit. I have to work real hard to get things when I read.

To act is easy, to think is hard; to act according to our thought is troublesome.

For, after all, every one who wishes to gain true knowledge must climb the Hill Difficulty alone, and since there is no royal road to the summit, I must zigzag it in my own way. I slip back many times, I fall, I stand still, I run against the edge of hidden obstacles, I lose my temper and find it again and keep it better, I trudge on, I gain a little, I feel encouraged, I get more eager and climb higher and begin to see the widening horizon. Every struggle is a victory. One more effort and I reach the luminous cloud, the blue depths of the sky, the uplands of my desire.

Spreading an idea is hard work.