--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Of all forms of mental activity, the most…" description: "\"Of all forms of mental activity, the most difficult to induce even in the minds of the young, who may be presumed not to have lost their flexibility, i..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/144/arthur-koestler-1903_accustomed_of-all-forms-of-mental-activity-the-most_1784668.jpg" --- # Of all forms of mental activity, the most difficult to… ![“Of all forms of mental activity, the most difficult to induce even in the minds of the young, who may be presumed not to have lost their flexibility, is the art of handling the same bundle of data as before, but placing them in a new system of relations with one another by giving them a different…” quote by Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/144/arthur-koestler-1903_accustomed_of-all-forms-of-mental-activity-the-most_1784668.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/144/arthur-koestler-1903_accustomed_of-all-forms-of-mental-activity-the-most_1784668.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/144/arthur-koestler-1903_accustomed_of-all-forms-of-mental-activity-the-most_1784668.jpg) > “Of all forms of mental activity, the most difficult to induce even in the minds of the young, who may be presumed not to have lost their flexibility, is the art of handling the same bundle of data as before, but placing them in a new system of relations with one another by giving them a different framework, all of which virtually means putting on a different kind of thinking-cap for the moment. It is easy to teach anybody a new fact...but it needs light from heaven above to enable a teacher to break the old framework in which the student is accustomed to seeing.” [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Changing how we think requires reshaping mental frameworks, not just adding facts; true learning demands a new perspective. **In simple terms:** Learning needs new mental models, not just facts. Key Takeaway Encourage flexible thinking and conceptual restructuring. Themes education cognition creativity learning mindset Mood reflective challenging Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - classroom teaching - professional training - personal development - problem solving Key Concepts mental models conceptual change critical thinking Questions to Reflect On - What frameworks limit your thinking? - How can you foster mental flexibility? A Different Perspective Changing deep habits is difficult and may meet resistance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Accustomed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accustomed/) [Activity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/activity/) [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Break](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/break/) [Bundles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bundles/) [Caps](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/caps/) [Data](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/data/) [Different](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/different/) [Different kinds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/different-kinds/) [Difficult](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/difficult/) [Easy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/easy/) [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts/) [Flexibility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flexibility/) [Form](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/form/) [Framework](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/framework/) [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [Heaven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heaven/) [Induce Minds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/induce-minds-1891592/) [Kind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kind/) [Light](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/light/) [Lost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lost/) [May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/may/) [Mean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mean/) [Mental Activity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mental-activity-1275758/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Minds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/minds/) [Minds Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/minds-young-1203064/) [Moments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moments/) [Needs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/needs/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Relation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/relation/) [Seeing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seeing/) [Student Accustomed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/student-accustomed-1891593/) [Students](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/students/) [Teach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teach/) [Teacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teacher/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Thinking flexibly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking-flexibly/) [Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/young/) ## Related quotes > [“The minds of young people are pliable and elastic, and easily accommodate themselves to any one they fall in with.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-henry-newman/the-minds-of-young-people-are-pliable-and-elastic-and-easily/) [John Henry Newman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-henry-newman/) > [I think about a young person who is sitting at home, 13 or 14, a person of color, possibly questioning their sexuality, and watching…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilson-cruz/i-think-about-a-young-person-who-is-sitting-at-home-13-or-14-a-person/) [Wilson Cruz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilson-cruz/) > [ Young minds - young brains - need stories and ideas like the ones in those \[censored and banned\] books in order to grow. They… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lev-grossman/young-minds-young-brains-need-stories-and-ideas-like-the-ones-in/) [Lev Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lev-grossman/) > [My idea of education is to unsettle the minds of the young and inflame their intellects.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-hutchins/my-idea-of-education-is-to-unsettle-the-minds-of-the-young-and/) [Robert M. Hutchins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-hutchins/) > [Ensure that both plan and dispositions are flexible, adaptable to circumstances. Your plan should foresee and provide for a next step in case of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-h-liddell-hart/ensure-that-both-plan-and-dispositions-are-flexible-adaptable-to/) [B. H. Liddell Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-h-liddell-hart/) > [If you don't take change by the hand, it will take you by the throat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/if-you-don-t-take-change-by-the-hand-it-will-take-you-by-the-throat/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [I desire that there be as many different persons in the world as possible; I would have each one be very careful to find…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/i-desire-that-there-be-as-many-different-persons-in-the-world-as/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [There is nothing so confining as the prisons of our own perceptions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/there-is-nothing-so-confining-as-the-prisons-of-our-own-perceptions/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Have confidence in your decisions. Make them expeditiously, and stay with them as long as you believe you are correct no matter what others…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-koch/have-confidence-in-your-decisions-make-them-expeditiously-and-stay/) [Ed Koch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-koch/) > [My opinion is a view I hold until... well, until I find something that changes it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luigi-pirandello/my-opinion-is-a-view-i-hold-until-well-until-i-find-something-that/) [Luigi Pirandello](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luigi-pirandello/) > [Too much consistency is as bad for the mind as for the body.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/too-much-consistency-is-as-bad-for-the-mind-as-for-the-body/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [You are the one who can stretch your own horizon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-magnin/you-are-the-one-who-can-stretch-your-own-horizon/) [Edgar Magnin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-magnin/) > [Prejudgments become prejudices only if they are not reversible when exposed to new knowledge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-allport/prejudgments-become-prejudices-only-if-they-are-not-reversible-when/) [Gordon Allport](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-allport/) > [If there is anything in the world that can really be called a mans property, it is surely that which is the result of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-schopenhauer/if-there-is-anything-in-the-world-that-can-really-be-called-a-mans/) [Arthur Schopenhauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-schopenhauer/) > [“Creativity is not a “thing,” it’s a process that happens as a proactive mental activity to a problem.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-zhu/creativity-is-not-a-thing-it-s-a-process-that-happens-as-a-proactive/) [Pearl Zhu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-zhu/) ## More by Arthur Koestler > [The inner defenses are unconscious. They consist of a kind of magic aura which the mind builds around cherished belief. Arguments which penetrate into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-inner-defenses-are-unconscious-they-consist-of-a-kind-of-magic/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [The temptations of God were always more dangerous for mankind than those of Satan.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-temptations-of-god-were-always-more-dangerous-for-mankind-than/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [The greatest temptation for the like of us is: to renounce violence, to repent, to make peace with oneself. Most revolutionaries fell before this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-greatest-temptation-for-the-like-of-us-is-to-renounce-violence-to/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [The revolutions of thought which shape the basic outlook of an age are not disseminated through text-books- they spread like epidemics, through contamination by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-revolutions-of-thought-which-shape-the-basic-outlook-of-an-age/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [The moment of truth, the sudden emergence of a new insight, is an act of intuition. Such intuitions give the appearance of miraculous flushes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-moment-of-truth-the-sudden-emergence-of-a-new-insight-is-an-act/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [Coincidence may be described as the chance encounter of two unrelated causal chains which - miraculously, it seems - merge into a significant event.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/coincidence-may-be-described-as-the-chance-encounter-of-two-unrelated/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [The more original a discovery, the more obvious it seems afterwards.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-more-original-a-discovery-the-more-obvious-it-seems-afterwards/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [“Revolutionary theory had frozen to a dogmatic cult, with a simplified, easily graspable catechism, and with No. 1 as the high priest celebrating the Mass.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/revolutionary-theory-had-frozen-to-a-dogmatic-cult-with-a-simplified/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [Coincidence may be described as the chance encounter of two unrelated causal chains which](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/coincidence-may-be-described-as-the-chance-encounter-of-two-unrelated-2/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [The more backwoodish a social group, juvenile or adult, the stricter its conception of the normal, and the readier it will ridicule any departure…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-more-backwoodish-a-social-group-juvenile-or-adult-the-stricter/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [As modern physics started with the Newtonian revolution, so modern philosophy starts with what one might call the Cartesian Catastrophe. The catastrophe consisted in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/as-modern-physics-started-with-the-newtonian-revolution-so-modern/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [If one looks with a cold eye at the mess man has made of history, it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/if-one-looks-with-a-cold-eye-at-the-mess-man-has-made-of-history-it/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [The ultimate truth is penultimately always a falsehood. He who will be proved right in the end appears to be wrong and harmful before…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-ultimate-truth-is-penultimately-always-a-falsehood-he-who-will-be/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [The real achievement in discoveries... is seeing an analogy where no one saw one before... The essence of discovery is that unlikely marriage of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-real-achievement-in-discoveries-is-seeing-an-analogy-where-no-one/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [The jester is brother to the sage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-jester-is-brother-to-the-sage/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) [Explore all 199 Arthur Koestler quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) ## More Accustomed quotes > [We are puzzled and bewildered whenever we see suffering in this world because we have become accustomed to the mercy and the long-suffering of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-c-sproul/we-are-puzzled-and-bewildered-whenever-we-see-suffering-in-this-world/) [R. C. 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But we are really not encouragers of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esther-hicks/there-are-those-that-say-if-you-do-the-uncomfortable-thing-long/) [Esther Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esther-hicks/) > [Early on a difficult climb, especially a solo climb, you’re hyper-aware of the abyss pulling at your back, constantly feeling its call, its immense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-krakauer/early-on-a-difficult-climb-especially-a-solo-climb-you-re-hyper-aware/) [Jon Krakauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-krakauer/) > [Democracy is not being well served as we're accustomed to. There is less information, there's less investigation, there's less analysis, there's less accountability.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-greenspon/democracy-is-not-being-well-served-as-we-re-accustomed-to-there-is/) [Edward Greenspon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-greenspon/) > [To one who is accustomed to thinking a lot, every new thought that he hears or reads about immediately appears as a link in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/to-one-who-is-accustomed-to-thinking-a-lot-every-new-thought-that-he/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [I have been in relatively high-risk businesses all of my adult life. Few of the others, however, had the possibility of direct gains in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-armstrong/i-have-been-in-relatively-high-risk-businesses-all-of-my-adult-life/) [Neil Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-armstrong/) > [We have become accustomed to living our life with joy amidst pain and challenges.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dana-reeve/we-have-become-accustomed-to-living-our-life-with-joy-amidst-pain-and/) [Dana Reeve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dana-reeve/) > [Security is a component of everyday life that one spending time in Washington, D.C., gets accustomed to. Metal detectors, police vehicle barriers and heavily-armed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-crapo/security-is-a-component-of-everyday-life-that-one-spending-time-in/) [Mike Crapo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-crapo/) > [If you're a Firefox user, you get accustomed to your history and the URL bar and finding things. That should be available on your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitchell-baker/if-you-re-a-firefox-user-you-get-accustomed-to-your-history-and-the/) [Mitchell Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitchell-baker/) > [It is amazing how soon one becomes accustomed to the sound of ones voice, when forced to repeat a speech five or six times…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-william-fulbright/it-is-amazing-how-soon-one-becomes-accustomed-to-the-sound-of-ones/) [J. William Fulbright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-william-fulbright/) > [We are too much accustomed to attribute to a single cause that which is the product of several, and the majority of our controversies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/we-are-too-much-accustomed-to-attribute-to-a-single-cause-that-which/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [Once you grow accustomed to being famous, you do not realize it, but you are never quite your humble, honest self. No matter how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/corra-may-harris/once-you-grow-accustomed-to-being-famous-you-do-not-realize-it-but/) [Corra May Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/corra-may-harris/) > [I love physical kinds of comedy and getting down and dirty and doing stunts. When I was growing up, I was always getting into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cameron-diaz/i-love-physical-kinds-of-comedy-and-getting-down-and-dirty-and-doing/) [Cameron Diaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cameron-diaz/) > [Books should confuse. Literature abhors the typical. 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