--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What is the subject of our thought?…" description: "\"What is the subject of our thought? Experience! Nothing else!\" — Hannah Arendt" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8b6/hannah-arendt-610_experience_what-is-the-subject-of-our-thought-exper_618802.jpg" --- # What is the subject of our thought? Experience! Nothing… ![“What is the subject of our thought? Experience! Nothing else!” quote by Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8b6/hannah-arendt-610_experience_what-is-the-subject-of-our-thought-exper_618802.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8b6/hannah-arendt-610_experience_what-is-the-subject-of-our-thought-exper_618802.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8b6/hannah-arendt-610_experience_what-is-the-subject-of-our-thought-exper_618802.jpg) > “What is the subject of our thought? Experience! Nothing else!” [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Thought originates from experience; without it, thinking lacks substance. **In simple terms:** Experience fuels thought. Key Takeaway Ground ideas in lived experience. Themes experience thought philosophy human condition Mood analytical inquisitive Type philosophical educational When to use this quote - education - creative writing - decision making Key Concepts existentialism cognitive theory Questions to Reflect On - How does your experience shape your ideas? - Can you think without experience? A Different Perspective Pure abstraction may miss practical relevance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Experience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/experience/) [Funny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/funny/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Philosophy of Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy-of-mind/) [Thought](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thought/) ## Related quotes > [NO error is infused into the young mind, to lie there dormant, or to be reproduced only when the subject of thought or action…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace-mann/no-error-is-infused-into-the-young-mind-to-lie-there-dormant-or-to-be/) [Horace Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace-mann/) > [Your right. We do spend a lot of time worrying about our looks, instead of focusing on what's inside. - Raven The artist has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-schreiber/your-right-we-do-spend-a-lot-of-time-worrying-about-our-looks-instead/) [Ellen Schreiber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-schreiber/) > [What you think upon grows. Whatever you allow to occupy your mind you magnify in your life. Whether the subject of your thought be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmet-fox/what-you-think-upon-grows-whatever-you-allow-to-occupy-your-mind-you/) [Emmet Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmet-fox/) > [Thoughts can create such a barrier that even if you are standing before a beautiful flower, you will not be able to see it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/thoughts-can-create-such-a-barrier-that-even-if-you-are-standing/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [Our knowledge is the amassed thought and experience of innumerable minds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/our-knowledge-is-the-amassed-thought-and-experience-of-innumerable/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [To enter into the realm of contemplation, one must in a certain sense die: but this death is in fact the entrance into a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/to-enter-into-the-realm-of-contemplation-one-must-in-a-certain-sense-2/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [The thought that all experience will be lost at the moment of my death makes me feel pain and fear... What a waste, decades…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/the-thought-that-all-experience-will-be-lost-at-the-moment-of-my/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) > [“both offer immersion in their vision without rehashing the avant-garde fetish of terrorizing the audience or the mainstream one of chaperoning it. “We abide…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maggie-nelson/both-offer-immersion-in-their-vision-without-rehashing-the-avant/) [Maggie Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maggie-nelson/) > [I remember reading once that some fellows use language to conceal thought; but it's been my experience that a good many more use it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-horace-lorimer/i-remember-reading-once-that-some-fellows-use-language-to-conceal/) [George Horace Lorimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-horace-lorimer/) > [“Every time we become aware of a thought, as opposed to being lost in a thought, we experience that opening of the mind.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-goldstein/every-time-we-become-aware-of-a-thought-as-opposed-to-being-lost-in-a/) [Joseph Goldstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-goldstein/) > [Imagination is the light by which we can penetrate new worlds of thought and experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-f-haanel/imagination-is-the-light-by-which-we-can-penetrate-new-worlds-of/) [Charles F. Haanel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-f-haanel/) > [Doubt is merely a thought. When experience proves it wrong, it will quickly go away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-marston/doubt-is-merely-a-thought-when-experience-proves-it-wrong-it-will/) [Ralph Marston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-marston/) > [Writing organizes and clarifies our thoughts. Writing is how we think our way into a subject and make it our own. Writing enables us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-zinsser/writing-organizes-and-clarifies-our-thoughts-writing-is-how-we-think/) [William Zinsser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-zinsser/) > [The whole issue of how women's management styles are viewed is an incredibly interesting subject.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-abramson/the-whole-issue-of-how-women-s-management-styles-are-viewed-is-an/) [Jill Abramson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-abramson/) > [Personally, I prefer contemporary films, but the market calls for more period choices, especially since China opened up a cinema market in Hong Kong.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donnie-yen/personally-i-prefer-contemporary-films-but-the-market-calls-for-more/) [Donnie Yen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donnie-yen/) ## More by Hannah Arendt > [“It means, first, that everything that appears in public can be seen and heard by everybody and has the widest possible publicity. For us,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/it-means-first-that-everything-that-appears-in-public-can-be-seen-and/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [Without being forgiven, released from the consequences of what we have done, our capacity to act would, as it were, be confined to one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/without-being-forgiven-released-from-the-consequences-of-what-we-have/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [What really distinguishes this generation in all countries from earlier generations ... is its determination to act, its joy in action, the assurance of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/what-really-distinguishes-this-generation-in-all-countries-from/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [The practice of violence, like all action, changes the world, but the most probable change is a more violent world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/the-practice-of-violence-like-all-action-changes-the-world-but-the/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [“Nationalism always preserved this initial intimate loyalty to the government and never quite lost its function of preserving a precarious balance between nation and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/nationalism-always-preserved-this-initial-intimate-loyalty-to-the/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [There is all the difference in the world between the criminal's avoiding the public eye and the civil disobedience's taking the law into his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/there-is-all-the-difference-in-the-world-between-the-criminal-s/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [“What imperialists actually wanted was expansion of political power without the foundation of the body politic. Imperialist expansion had been touched off by a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/what-imperialists-actually-wanted-was-expansion-of-political-power/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [the greater the bureaucratization of public life, the greater will be the attraction of violence. In a fully developed bureaucracy there is nobody left…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/the-greater-the-bureaucratization-of-public-life-the-greater-will-be/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [Forgiveness is the key to action and freedom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/forgiveness-is-the-key-to-action-and-freedom/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [Death not merely ends life, it also bestows upon it a silent completeness, snatched from the hazardous flux to which all things human are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/death-not-merely-ends-life-it-also-bestows-upon-it-a-silent/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [Only crime and the criminal, it is true, confront us with the perplexity of radical evil; but only the hypocrite is really rotten to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/only-crime-and-the-criminal-it-is-true-confront-us-with-the/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [We have almost succeeded in leveling all human activities to the common denominator of securing the necessities of life and providing for their abundance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/we-have-almost-succeeded-in-leveling-all-human-activities-to-the/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [“Totalitarian politics—far from being simply antisemitic or racist or imperialist or communist—use and abuse their own ideological and political elements until the basis of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/totalitarian-politics-far-from-being-simply-antisemitic-or-racist-or/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [“It is like the distinction between war and peace: just as war takes place for the sake of peace, thus every kind of activity,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/it-is-like-the-distinction-between-war-and-peace-just-as-war-takes/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [Every end in history necessarily contains a new beginning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/every-end-in-history-necessarily-contains-a-new-beginning/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) [Explore all 405 Hannah Arendt quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) ## More Experience quotes > [Experience makes a lesson to us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/experience-makes-a-lesson-to-us/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The Derby experience had not been good for me and the way it finished left a very bad taste in my mouth so I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigel-pearson/the-derby-experience-had-not-been-good-for-me-and-the-way-it-finished/) [Nigel Pearson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nigel-pearson/) > [Well, I've been politically involved for a really long time. Growing up in the segregated South, it was a very painful experience for me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cybill-shepherd/well-i-ve-been-politically-involved-for-a-really-long-time-growing-up/) [Cybill Shepherd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cybill-shepherd/) > [From my experience of having served for 3000 days, I can say that anything can be achieved.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/narendra-modi/from-my-experience-of-having-served-for-3000-days-i-can-say-that/) [Narendra Modi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/narendra-modi/) > [My favorite job is the next one. Its such a gratifying experience getting to creatively keep trying something new and push things in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-craig-smith/my-favorite-job-is-the-next-one-its-such-a-gratifying-experience/) [Roger Craig Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-craig-smith/) > [I happen to think it's the politics that makes you electable, but the reason for that is politicians sometimes talk about electability as if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-blair/i-happen-to-think-it-s-the-politics-that-makes-you-electable-but-the/) [Tony Blair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-blair/) > [Iranians hate Arabs. They're a fairly well-educated population and they have centuries of experience with self-government.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ledeen/iranians-hate-arabs-they-re-a-fairly-well-educated-population-and/) [Michael Ledeen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ledeen/) > [Education is a lifelong experience. Experience is a lifelong education. Education plus experience equals expertise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bugeja/education-is-a-lifelong-experience-experience-is-a-lifelong-education/) Michael Bugeja > [Prison experience puts distance between me and any person who hasn't been there, done that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-mcconnell/prison-experience-puts-distance-between-me-and-any-person-who-hasn-t/) [Patricia McConnell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-mcconnell/) > [Experience is a thorough teacher.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-jane-holmes/experience-is-a-thorough-teacher/) [Mary Jane Holmes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-jane-holmes/) > [It definitely helps to have the acting experience going into singing, because when you're singing, you have to portray the emotion you were feeling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-newman/it-definitely-helps-to-have-the-acting-experience-going-into-singing/) Ryan Newman > [I have no physical genius about me. I can't dribble a ball and run at the same time, I can't do lay-ups - I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rich-mullins/i-have-no-physical-genius-about-me-i-can-t-dribble-a-ball-and-run-at/) [Rich Mullins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rich-mullins/) > [I've had a great experience with pretty much everybody I've worked with.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mia-wasikowska/i-ve-had-a-great-experience-with-pretty-much-everybody-i-ve-worked/) [Mia Wasikowska](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mia-wasikowska/) > [It wasn't a mistake, it was a fun learning experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-wasn-t-a-mistake-it-was-a-fun-learning-experience/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I worked a lot in Chicago's theater scene as a fight choreographer. And so I do have a lot of experience in stage combat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-offerman/i-worked-a-lot-in-chicago-s-theater-scene-as-a-fight-choreographer/) [Nick Offerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-offerman/) [Browse all 11,792 Experience quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/experience/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "What is the subject of our thought? Experience! 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