--- title: "4 Lightning Quotes By Thomas Carlyle" description: "4 Lightning quotes by Thomas Carlyle. Plus more from Thomas Carlyle and more Lightning sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/033/thomas-carlyle-207_collaboration_the-lightning-spark-of-thought-generated_256040.png" --- > [The lightning spark of thought generated in the solitary mind awakens its likeness in another mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/the-lightning-spark-of-thought-generated-in-the-solitary-mind-awakens/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/033/thomas-carlyle-207_collaboration_the-lightning-spark-of-thought-generated_256040.png) > [We call that fire of the black thunder-cloud "electricity," and lecture learnedly about it, and grind the like of it out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/we-call-that-fire-of-the-black-thunder-cloud-electricity-and-lecture/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/755/thomas-carlyle-207_black_we-call-that-fire-of-the-black-thunder-c_1707883.png) > [These Arabs, the man Mahomet, and that one century, - is it not as if a spark had fallen, one spark, on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/these-arabs-the-man-mahomet-and-that-one-century-is-it-not-as-if-a/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ee/thomas-carlyle-207_century_these-arabs-the-man-mahomet-and-that-one_1909046.png) > [ And there are Ben \[Jonson\] and William Shakespeare in wit-combat, sure enough; Ben bearing down like a mighty Spanish war-ship, fraught with… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/and-there-are-ben-jonson-and-william-shakespeare-in-wit-combat-sure/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1e6/thomas-carlyle-207_artillery_and-there-are-ben-jonson-and-william-sha_2359052.png) ## Other authors on Lightning - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b020/author-rick-riordan-79077.jpg) Rick Riordan 13 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lightning/rick-riordan/) - [Mark Twain 10 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lightning/mark-twain/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b010/author-friedrich-nietzsche-36363.jpg) Friedrich Nietzsche 9 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lightning/friedrich-nietzsche/) - [Ralph Waldo Emerson 7 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lightning/ralph-waldo-emerson/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b019/author-pablo-neruda-73079.jpg) Pablo Neruda 7 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lightning/pablo-neruda/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b006/author-charles-dickens-22226.jpg) Charles Dickens 6 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lightning/charles-dickens/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b024/author-william-shakespeare-95899.jpg) William Shakespeare 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lightning/william-shakespeare/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b023/author-terry-pratchett-89528.jpg) Terry Pratchett 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lightning/terry-pratchett/) - [Salim Akil 5 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lightning/salim-akil/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b019/author-percy-bysshe-shelley-74544.jpg) Percy Bysshe Shelley 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lightning/percy-bysshe-shelley/) - [Jarod Kintz 5 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lightning/jarod-kintz/) ## More by Thomas Carlyle > [O thou that pinest in the imprisonment of the Actual, and criest bitterly to the gods for a kingdom wherein to rule and create,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/o-thou-that-pinest-in-the-imprisonment-of-the-actual-and-criest/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [Whose school-hours are all the days and nights of our existence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/whose-school-hours-are-all-the-days-and-nights-of-our-existence/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [No sadder proof can be given by a man of his own littleness than disbelief in great men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/no-sadder-proof-can-be-given-by-a-man-of-his-own-littleness-than/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [Fame, we may understand, is no sure test of merit, but only a probability of such: it is an accident, not a property, of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/fame-we-may-understand-is-no-sure-test-of-merit-but-only-a/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [The sincere alone can recognize sincerity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/the-sincere-alone-can-recognize-sincerity/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [Be a pattern to others, and then all will go well; for as a whole city is affected by the licentious passions and vices…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/be-a-pattern-to-others-and-then-all-will-go-well-for-as-a-whole-city/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [The glory of a workman, still more of a master workman, that he does his work well, ought to be his most precious possession;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/the-glory-of-a-workman-still-more-of-a-master-workman-that-he-does/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [All human things do require to have an ideal in them; to have some soul in them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/all-human-things-do-require-to-have-an-ideal-in-them-to-have-some/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [Insurrection, never so necessary, is a most sad necessity; and governors who wait for that to instruct them are surely getting into the fatalest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/insurrection-never-so-necessary-is-a-most-sad-necessity-and-governors/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [What is philosophy but a continual battle against custom?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/what-is-philosophy-but-a-continual-battle-against-custom/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [Let Time and Chance combine, combine! Let Time and Chance combine! The fairest love from heaven above, That love of yours was mine, My…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/let-time-and-chance-combine-combine-let-time-and-chance-combine-the/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [Thought will not work except in silence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/thought-will-not-work-except-in-silence/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [The public is anold woman.Let her maunderand mumble.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/the-public-is-anold-woman-let-her-maunderand-mumble/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [Does not every true man feel that he is himself made higher by doing reverence to what is really above him?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/does-not-every-true-man-feel-that-he-is-himself-made-higher-by-doing/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [The press is the fourth estate of the realm.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/the-press-is-the-fourth-estate-of-the-realm/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lightning/thomas-carlyle/#itemlist", "name": "4 Lightning Quotes By Thomas Carlyle", "numberOfItems": 4, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The lightning spark of thought generated in the solitary mind awakens its likeness in another mind.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Thomas Carlyle" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/the-lightning-spark-of-thought-generated-in-the-solitary-mind-awakens/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/033/thomas-carlyle-207_collaboration_the-lightning-spark-of-thought-generated_256040.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/033/thomas-carlyle-207_collaboration_the-lightning-spark-of-thought-generated_256040.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/033/thomas-carlyle-207_collaboration_the-lightning-spark-of-thought-generated_256040.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The lightning spark of thought generated in the solitary mind awakens its likeness in another mind.” — Thomas Carlyle", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We call that fire of the black thunder-cloud \"electricity,\" and lecture learnedly about it, and grind the like of it out of glass and silk: but what is it? What made it? Whence comes it? Whither goes it?", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Thomas Carlyle" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/we-call-that-fire-of-the-black-thunder-cloud-electricity-and-lecture/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/755/thomas-carlyle-207_black_we-call-that-fire-of-the-black-thunder-c_1707883.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/755/thomas-carlyle-207_black_we-call-that-fire-of-the-black-thunder-c_1707883.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/755/thomas-carlyle-207_black_we-call-that-fire-of-the-black-thunder-c_1707883.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We call that fire of the black thunder-cloud \"electricity,\" and lecture learnedly about it, and grind the…” — Thomas Carlyle", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "These Arabs, the man Mahomet, and that one century, - is it not as if a spark had fallen, one spark, on a world of what proves explosive powder, blazes heaven-high from Delhi to Granada! I said, the Great man was always as lightning out of Heaven; the rest of men waited for him like fuel, and then they too would flame...", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Thomas Carlyle" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/these-arabs-the-man-mahomet-and-that-one-century-is-it-not-as-if-a/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ee/thomas-carlyle-207_century_these-arabs-the-man-mahomet-and-that-one_1909046.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ee/thomas-carlyle-207_century_these-arabs-the-man-mahomet-and-that-one_1909046.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ee/thomas-carlyle-207_century_these-arabs-the-man-mahomet-and-that-one_1909046.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“These Arabs, the man Mahomet, and that one century, - is it not as if a spark had fallen, one spark, on a…” — Thomas Carlyle", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "And there are Ben [Jonson] and William Shakespeare in wit-combat, sure enough; Ben bearing down like a mighty Spanish war-ship, fraught with all learning and artillery; Shakespeare whisking away from him - whisking right through him, athwart the big bulk and timbers of him; like a miraculous Celestial Light-ship, woven all of sheet-lightning and sunbeams!", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Thomas Carlyle" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/and-there-are-ben-jonson-and-william-shakespeare-in-wit-combat-sure/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1e6/thomas-carlyle-207_artillery_and-there-are-ben-jonson-and-william-sha_2359052.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1e6/thomas-carlyle-207_artillery_and-there-are-ben-jonson-and-william-sha_2359052.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1e6/thomas-carlyle-207_artillery_and-there-are-ben-jonson-and-william-sha_2359052.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“And there are Ben [Jonson] and William Shakespeare in wit-combat, sure enough; Ben bearing down like a…” — Thomas Carlyle", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } } ] }, { "@type": "CollectionPage", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lightning/thomas-carlyle/#webpage", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lightning/thomas-carlyle/", "name": "Lightning Quotes by Thomas Carlyle", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lightning/thomas-carlyle/#itemlist" }, "primaryImageOfPage": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/033/thomas-carlyle-207_collaboration_the-lightning-spark-of-thought-generated_256040.png" }, "description": "4 Lightning quotes by Thomas Carlyle. 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