If the newspapers begin to publish stories about wars, and the people begin to think and talk of war in their daily conversations, they soon find themselves at war. People get that which their minds dwell upon, and this applies to a group or community or a nation of people, the same as to an individual Andrew Carnegie
About This Quote

If the newspapers begin to publish stories about wars, and the people begin to think and talk of war in their daily conversations, they soon find themselves at war. People get that which their minds dwell upon, and this applies to a group or community or a nation of people, the same as to an individual. The idea here is that there is a direct link between what people think and talk about and what they actually do. If the people of a nation start talking about war, they really will end up at war.

In this quote from Thucydides, he’s pointing out that once a group of people starts thinking about something, even if it’s just an idea, it can lead them to action. The reason we’re so good at carrying out our ideas is because we think we already know what we want. It doesn’t matter how abstract our ideas are: once we start talking about them, we become invested and we’re likely to act on those ideas.

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