--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The mind is a vagrant thing ... Thinking…" description: "\"The mind is a vagrant thing ... Thinking is not analogous to a person working in a laboratory who invents something on company time. Answering criticis..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/22a/daniel-j-boorstin-3089_book_the-mind-is-a-vagrant-thing-thinking-is_1503224.jpg" --- # The mind is a vagrant thing ... Thinking is not analogous… ![“The mind is a vagrant thing ... Thinking is not analogous to a person working in a laboratory who invents something on company time. Answering criticism that the book for which he won a Pulitzer Prize was written in the years he had been employed at the Smithsonian. He specified that did not write…” quote by Daniel J. Boorstin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/22a/daniel-j-boorstin-3089_book_the-mind-is-a-vagrant-thing-thinking-is_1503224.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/22a/daniel-j-boorstin-3089_book_the-mind-is-a-vagrant-thing-thinking-is_1503224.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/22a/daniel-j-boorstin-3089_book_the-mind-is-a-vagrant-thing-thinking-is_1503224.jpg) > “The mind is a vagrant thing ... Thinking is not analogous to a person working in a laboratory who invents something on company time. Answering criticism that the book for which he won a Pulitzer Prize was written in the years he had been employed at the Smithsonian. He specified that did not write on the premises there, but only at home outside of working hours.” [Daniel J. Boorstin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-j-boorstin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Creative work often occurs outside formal workspaces; intellectual labor can be personal and private. **In simple terms:** Ideas are born at home, not just at work. Key Takeaway Protect personal creative time. Themes creativity work-life balance intellectual property Mood reflective analytical Type historical explanatory When to use this quote - academic research - writing - innovation - freelance work Key Concepts labor economics creative process Questions to Reflect On - How do you separate personal and professional creativity? - What policies support off-hours invention? A Different Perspective May overlook collaborative benefits of workplace resources. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Business](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/business/) [Company](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/company/) [Criticism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/criticism/) [Home](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/home/) [Invention](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/invention/) [Laboratory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/laboratory/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Prize](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prize/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Smithsonian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/smithsonian/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Vagrants](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vagrants/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [The mind is a vagrant thing… Thinking is not analogous to a person working in a laboratory who invents something on company time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-j-boorstin/the-mind-is-a-vagrant-thing-thinking-is-not-analogous-to-a-person-2/) [Daniel J. 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Nick…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-evanovich/we-want-you-to-break-into-the-smithsonian-always-a-pleasure-nick-said/) [Janet Evanovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-evanovich/) > [Perhaps the worst example of Smithsonian contempt for Jesus Christ is seen in its 1994 publication of a coffee-table book entitled Smithsonian Time Lines…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-lahaye/perhaps-the-worst-example-of-smithsonian-contempt-for-jesus-christ-is/) [Tim LaHaye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-lahaye/) > [Imagine foreign troops sitting idly, laughing as hooligans trashed the Smithsonian, stole the gold from Fort Knox and burned down the Department of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-rall/imagine-foreign-troops-sitting-idly-laughing-as-hooligans-trashed-the/) [Ted Rall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-rall/) > [The Mothership is in the Smithsonian now. 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Boorstin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-j-boorstin/) > [ \[The Library of Congress\] is a multimedia encyclopedia. These are the tentacles of a nation. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-j-boorstin/the-library-of-congress-is-a-multimedia-encyclopedia-these-are-the/) [Daniel J. Boorstin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-j-boorstin/) > [It is only a short step from exaggerating what we can find in the world to exaggerating our power to remake the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-j-boorstin/it-is-only-a-short-step-from-exaggerating-what-we-can-find-in-the/) [Daniel J. Boorstin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-j-boorstin/) > [Not so many years ago there was no simpler or more intelligible notion than that of going on a journey. Travel -movement through space…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-j-boorstin/not-so-many-years-ago-there-was-no-simpler-or-more-intelligible/) [Daniel J. 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