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Thoughts are to the Desires as Scouts and Spies, to range abroad, and find the way to the things Desired.
Thomas Hobbes
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Our thoughts serve as guides to help us achieve our desires.

In this quote, Thomas Hobbes likens thoughts to scouts and spies that explore and navigate towards our desires. It suggests that our mental processes are essential in identifying and pursuing what we truly want, as they assess and determine the best paths to achieve those desires.

Themes

ThoughtsDesiresMindScoutsPursuit

In practice

Example use cases

Motivational talks about the power of positive thinking.

More from Thomas Hobbes

Baptism is the sacrament of allegiance of them that are to be received into the Kingdom of God, that is to say, into Eternal life, that is to say, to Remission of Sin. For as Eternal life was lost by the committing, so it is recovered by the remitting of men's sins.
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Force and fraud are in war the two cardinal virtues.
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Scientia potentia est, sed parva; quia scientia egregia rara est, nec proinde apparens nisi paucissimis, et in paucis rebus. Scientiae enim ea natura est, ut esse intelligi non possit, nisi ab illis qui sunt scientia praediti.
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The end of knowledge is power ... the scope of all speculation is the performing of some action or thing to be done.
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