If you want to remember yourself, the best thing is not to think about yourself. As long as you think about yourself, you will not remember yourself.
P.D. OuspenskyRead
Many things are mechanical and should remain mechanical. But mechanical thoughts, mechanical feelings—that is what has to be studied and can and should be changed. Mechanical thinking is not worth a penny. You can think about many things mechanically, but you will get nothing from it.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the importance of critical thinking and self-awareness over automatic, unreflective thought processes.
P.D. Ouspensky highlights the distinction between mechanical, automatic responses to life and the necessity of engaging in conscious, meaningful thought and emotion. He argues that while many tasks can be performed mechanically, our inner thoughts and feelings should be examined and transformed, as they greatly influence our understanding of life and ourselves. Without such reflection, our thinking lacks true value and insight.
Themes
Mechanical ThoughtsCritical ThinkingSelf-AwarenessTransformationReflection
In practice
Example use cases
In a philosophy class discussion, this quote could highlight the need for deeper engagement with our thoughts.
More from P.D. Ouspensky
All quotes →I have become so accustomed to think "scientifically" that I am afraid even to imagine that there may be something else beyond the outer covering of life. I feel like a man condemned to death, whose companions have been hanged and who has already become reconciled to the thought that the same fate awaits him.
P.D. OuspenskyRead
Can one alter one´s chief feature?" asked someone else. First it is necessary to know it. If you know it, much will depend on the quality of your knowing. If you know it well, then it is possible to change it.
P.D. OuspenskyRead
People live in sleep, do everything in sleep, and do not know they are asleep.
P.D. OuspenskyRead
We often think we express negative emotions, not because we cannot help it, but because we should express them.
P.D. OuspenskyRead
You can understand other people only as much as you understand yourself and only on the level of your own being. This means you can judge other people's knowledge but you cannot judge their being. You can see in them only as much as you have in yourself. But people always make the mistake of thinking they can judge other people's being. In reality, if they wish to meet and understand people of a higher development than themselves they must work with the aim of changing their being.
P.D. OuspenskyRead
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