James Geary Quotes

• You only really discover the strength of your spine when your back is against the wall.

  James Geary

  Wall, Spine

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• By bringing together what we know and what we don't know through analogy, metaphorical thinking strikes the spark that ignites discovery.

  James Geary

  Thinking, Discovery, Together

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• The mind revels in conjecture. Where information is lacking, it will gladly fill in the gaps.

  James Geary

  Mind, Information, Gaps

  James Geary (2011). “The World in a Phrase”, p.33, Bloomsbury Publishing USA

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• Metaphor lives a secret life all around us. We utter about six metaphors a minute. Metaphorical thinking is essential to how we understand ourselves and others, how we communicate and learn, discover and invent.

  James Geary

  Thinking, Secret, Essentials

  "Metaphorically speaking". TEDGlobal Talk, www.ted.com. July 2009.

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• London always reminds me of a brain. It is similarly convoluted and circuitous. A lot of cities, especially American ones like New York and Chicago, are laid out in straight lines. Like the circuits on computer chips, there are a lot of right angles in cities like this. But London is a glorious mess. It evolved from a score or so of distinct villages, that merged and meshed as their boundaries enlarged. As a result, London is a labyrinth, full of turnings and twistings just like a brain.

  James Geary

  New York, Cities, Brain

  "On London". jamesgeary.com. July 16, 2006.

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• Advice is given freely because so much of it is worthless.

  James Geary

  Advice, Given, Worthless

  "Aphorisms". James Geary's Personal Website, jamesgeary.com.

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• Metaphor impinges on everything, allowing us - poets and non-poets alike - to experience and think about the world in fluid, unusual ways.

  James Geary

  Thinking, World, Way

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• Sometimes, you need a door slammed in your face before you can hear opportunity knock.

  James Geary

  Opportunity, Doors, Needs

  James Geary (2008). “Geary's Guide to the World's Great Aphorists”, p.2, Bloomsbury Publishing USA

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• Metaphors hide in plain sight, and their influence is largely unconscious. We should mind our metaphors, though, because metaphors make up our minds.

  James Geary

  Sight, Mind, Influence

  "Metaphors in Mind". The Macmillan Dictionary blog, www.macmillandictionaryblog.com. April 11, 2011.

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• Aphorisms are literature's hand luggage. Light and compact, they fit easily into the overhead compartment of your brain.

  James Geary

  Light, Hands, Brain

  James Geary (2011). “The World in a Phrase”, p.9, Bloomsbury Publishing USA

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• A simile is just a metaphor with the scaffolding still up.

  James Geary

  Smile, Metaphor, Simile

  James Geary (2011). “I Is an Other: The Secret Life of Metaphor and How it Shapes the Way We See the World”, p.8, Harper Collins

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• In the margin for error lies all our room for maneuver.

  James Geary

  Lying, Errors, Rooms

  "On Originality". Blog Post, jamesgeary.com. June 22, 2007.

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• I believe aphorisms are best when first read in the wild, free from the confines of any categories.

  James Geary

  Believe, Firsts, Aphorism

  James Geary (2008). “Geary's Guide to the World's Great Aphorists”, p.3, Bloomsbury Publishing USA

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• Heroism often results as a response to extreme events.

  James Geary

  Heroism, Events, Results

  "Tube driver, footballer, rock star, terror victim: they're all Euro heroes" by Mark Townsend, www.theguardian.com. October 1, 2005.

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