--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A word grows to a thought – a thought to…" description: "\"A word grows to a thought – a thought to an idea – an idea to an act. The change is slow, and the Present is a sluggish traveler loafing in the path To..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/390/beryl-markham-6709_change_a-word-grows-to-a-thought-a-thought-to-a_2336718.jpg" --- # A word grows to a thought – a thought to an idea – an idea… ![“A word grows to a thought – a thought to an idea – an idea to an act. The change is slow, and the Present is a sluggish traveler loafing in the path Tomorrow wants to take.” quote by Beryl Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/390/beryl-markham-6709_change_a-word-grows-to-a-thought-a-thought-to-a_2336718.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/390/beryl-markham-6709_change_a-word-grows-to-a-thought-a-thought-to-a_2336718.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/390/beryl-markham-6709_change_a-word-grows-to-a-thought-a-thought-to-a_2336718.jpg) > “A word grows to a thought – a thought to an idea – an idea to an act. The change is slow, and the Present is a sluggish traveler loafing in the path Tomorrow wants to take.” [Beryl Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beryl-markham/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Ideas develop gradually from words to actions, with the present often lagging behind future intentions. **In simple terms:** Ideas grow slowly from words to actions. Key Takeaway Act now instead of waiting. Themes growth action future patience Mood reflective determined Type inspirational philosophical When to use this quote - personal projects - career planning - creative writing - social activism Key Concepts cognitive development psychology behavioral change Questions to Reflect On - What small action can you take today to move an idea forward? - How does the present hinder your future plans? A Different Perspective Progress can be stalled by procrastination and fear of change. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Change](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/change/) [Change Slow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/change-slow-702614/) [Grows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grows/) [Grows Thought](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grows-thought-5641039/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Journey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/journey/) [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [Path](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/path/) [Philosophy of Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy-of-mind/) [Thought](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thought/) [Tomorrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tomorrow/) [Traveler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/traveler/) [Want](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/want/) [Word](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/word/) [Word Grows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/word-grows-5641038/) ## Related quotes > [Change is very slow, it takes time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harrison-barnes/change-is-very-slow-it-takes-time/) [Harrison Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harrison-barnes/) > [A tweet is fast. But everything about policy change is very slow. And a lot of us are impatient.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shaun-king/a-tweet-is-fast-but-everything-about-policy-change-is-very-slow-and-a/) [Shaun King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shaun-king/) > [My experience to date has been that change, particularly relative to business, rarely happens in a revolutionary way. That isn't to say there are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-hollender/my-experience-to-date-has-been-that-change-particularly-relative-to/) [Jeffrey Hollender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-hollender/) > [It's the need for change that drives us to join forces with our brothers and sisters all around the world - but change is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-burdon/it-s-the-need-for-change-that-drives-us-to-join-forces-with-our/) [Eric Burdon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-burdon/) > [“\* Real change is slow, hard, and imperceptible. It resists deconstruction. Likewise,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lindy-west/real-change-is-slow-hard-and-imperceptible-it-resists-deconstruction/) [Lindy West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lindy-west/) > [Watch out for trees and traffic. The change is slow, the impact great, yet we miss the one and mistake the other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-macunovich/watch-out-for-trees-and-traffic-the-change-is-slow-the-impact-great/) [Janet Macunovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-macunovich/) > [“there are no magic bullets.\* Real change is slow, hard, and imperceptible. It resists deconstruction. Likewise,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lindy-west/there-are-no-magic-bullets-real-change-is-slow-hard-and-imperceptible/) [Lindy West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lindy-west/) > [“Change is a slow flower to bloom. Most of us will not see its full radiance. We plant it not for ourselves, but for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-jackson-bennett/change-is-a-slow-flower-to-bloom-most-of-us-will-not-see-its-full/) [Robert Jackson Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-jackson-bennett/) > [Becoming Christlike is a lifetime pursuit and very often involves growth and change that is slow, almost imperceptible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-taft-benson/becoming-christlike-is-a-lifetime-pursuit-and-very-often-involves/) [Ezra Taft Benson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-taft-benson/) > [Travelers must be content.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/travelers-must-be-content/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [“We are all travelers in the wilderness of this world, and the best that we find is an honest friend. He is a fortunate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-louis-stevenson/we-are-all-travelers-in-the-wilderness-of-this-world-and-the-best/) [Robert Louis Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-louis-stevenson/) > ['You spin in the sky, the world spins under you, and you step from land to land, while we . . .' She turned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-r-delany/you-spin-in-the-sky-the-world-spins-under-you-and-you-step-from-land/) [Samuel R. Delany](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-r-delany/) > [“Go out into the world, traveler. See what the long nights and hard days feel like, after a week of them.” “Perhaps I will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-arden/go-out-into-the-world-traveler-see-what-the-long-nights-and-hard-days/) [Katherine Arden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-arden/) > [Kilometers are shorter than miles. Save gas, take your next trip in kilometers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-carlin/kilometers-are-shorter-than-miles-save-gas-take-your-next-trip-in/) [George Carlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-carlin/) > [A traveler who looks at things with an impartial eye may see what the oldest inhabitant has not observed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/a-traveler-who-looks-at-things-with-an-impartial-eye-may-see-what-the/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) ## More by Beryl Markham > [I have lifted my plane . . . for perhaps a thousand flights and I have never felt her wheels glide from the Earth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beryl-markham/i-have-lifted-my-plane-for-perhaps-a-thousand-flights-and-i-have/) [Beryl Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beryl-markham/) > [“(Quoting her friend Tom Black on an amateur hunter's injury:) "Lion, rifles -- and stupidity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beryl-markham/quoting-her-friend-tom-black-on-an-amateur-hunter-s-injury-lion/) [Beryl Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beryl-markham/) > [“The only disadvantage in surviving a dangerous experience lies in the fact that your story of it tends to be anticlimactic. You can never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beryl-markham/the-only-disadvantage-in-surviving-a-dangerous-experience-lies-in-the/) [Beryl Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beryl-markham/) > [“All this, and discontent too! Otherwise, why am I sitting here dreaming of England? Why am I gazing at this campfire like a lost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beryl-markham/all-this-and-discontent-too-otherwise-why-am-i-sitting-here-dreaming/) [Beryl Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beryl-markham/) > [We swung over the hills and over the town and back again, and I saw how a man can be master of a craft,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beryl-markham/we-swung-over-the-hills-and-over-the-town-and-back-again-and-i-saw/) [Beryl Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beryl-markham/) > [there are many Africas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beryl-markham/there-are-many-africas/) [Beryl Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beryl-markham/) > [Talk lives in a man’s head, but sometimes it is very lonely because in the heads of many men there is nothing to keep…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beryl-markham/talk-lives-in-a-man-s-head-but-sometimes-it-is-very-lonely-because-in/) [Beryl Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beryl-markham/) > [There is a certain silence that can emanate from a lifeless object as from a chair lately used, or from a piano with old…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beryl-markham/there-is-a-certain-silence-that-can-emanate-from-a-lifeless-object-as/) [Beryl Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beryl-markham/) > [ \[The lion\] began to contemplate me with a kind of quiet premeditation, like that of a slow-witted man fondling an unaccustomed thought. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beryl-markham/the-lion-began-to-contemplate-me-with-a-kind-of-quiet-premeditation/) [Beryl Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beryl-markham/) > [“From the time I arrived in British East Africa at the indifferent age of four and went through the barefoot stage of early youth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beryl-markham/from-the-time-i-arrived-in-british-east-africa-at-the-indifferent-age/) [Beryl Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beryl-markham/) > [But, for a little while, this is the place for us -- a good place too--a place of good omen, a place of beginning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beryl-markham/but-for-a-little-while-this-is-the-place-for-us-a-good-place-too-a/) [Beryl Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beryl-markham/) > [There are all kinds of silences and each of them means a different thing. There is the silence that comes with morning in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beryl-markham/there-are-all-kinds-of-silences-and-each-of-them-means-a-different/) [Beryl Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beryl-markham/) > [“There are as many Africas as there are books about Africa -- and as many books about it as you could read in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beryl-markham/there-are-as-many-africas-as-there-are-books-about-africa-and-as-many/) [Beryl Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beryl-markham/) > [There's an old adage," he said, "translated from the ancient Coptic, that contains all the wisdom of the ages -- "Life is life and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beryl-markham/there-s-an-old-adage-he-said-translated-from-the-ancient-coptic-that/) [Beryl Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beryl-markham/) > [The way to find a needle in a haystack is to sit down.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beryl-markham/the-way-to-find-a-needle-in-a-haystack-is-to-sit-down/) [Beryl Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beryl-markham/) [Explore all 98 Beryl Markham quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beryl-markham/) ## More Change quotes > [Only within yourself exists the other reality for which you long. I can give you nothing that has not already its being within yourself.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/only-within-yourself-exists-the-other-reality-for-which-you-long-i/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [Life is full of change. That's how we learn and grow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-full-of-change-that-s-how-we-learn-and-grow/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I can't believe that I'm sitting in meetings with Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, and Annette Bening. I want to take on that responsibility to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ross-williams/i-can-t-believe-that-i-m-sitting-in-meetings-with-steven-spielberg/) [Roger Ross Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ross-williams/) > [“…progress isn't necessarily about change but about things turning out as we want them to”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-hogan/progress-isn-t-necessarily-about-change-but-about-things-turning-out/) [Phil Hogan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-hogan/) > [Nobody can tell me that no changes are necessary in Washington.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-weld/nobody-can-tell-me-that-no-changes-are-necessary-in-washington/) [William Weld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-weld/) > [If my campaign is not in the debate, we will not be talking about how we really fix this problem of endless and expanding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-stein/if-my-campaign-is-not-in-the-debate-we-will-not-be-talking-about-how/) [Jill Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-stein/) > [When you walk down the street of Kabul your values for life changes, they do change.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marco-pierre-white/when-you-walk-down-the-street-of-kabul-your-values-for-life-changes/) [Marco Pierre White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marco-pierre-white/) > [Your world will change whether or not you choose to change, but you have the power to choose it's direction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-hill/your-world-will-change-whether-or-not-you-choose-to-change-but-you/) [Napoleon Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-hill/) > [I hope I continue to evolve.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-flair/i-hope-i-continue-to-evolve/) [Charlotte Flair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-flair/) > [“Stay focused on bringing people together and more on positive messaging so that you can be the change you wish to see in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/germany-kent/stay-focused-on-bringing-people-together-and-more-on-positive/) [Germany Kent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/germany-kent/) > [The biggest change for me as a mom was realizing I needed to put someone else before me. Now the hardest part about the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-alexis/the-biggest-change-for-me-as-a-mom-was-realizing-i-needed-to-put/) [Kim Alexis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-alexis/) > [“After the funeral, my life changed. I felt as if time were suddenly precious, water going down an open drain, and I could not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/after-the-funeral-my-life-changed-i-felt-as-if-time-were-suddenly/) [Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/) > [You practice mindfulness, on the one hand, to be calm and peaceful. On the other hand, as you practice mindfulness and live a life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-practice-mindfulness-on-the-one-hand-to-be-calm-and-peaceful-on/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Irish research will contribute to global progress and have the potential to help all countries realise the potential of their land sectors in addressing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/enda-kenny/irish-research-will-contribute-to-global-progress-and-have-the/) [Enda Kenny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/enda-kenny/) > [No man can change himself into anything from sheer reason; he can only change into what he potentially is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/no-man-can-change-himself-into-anything-from-sheer-reason-he-can-only/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) [Browse all 33,920 Change quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/change/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "A word grows to a thought – a thought to an idea – an idea to an act. 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