--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Acquire a government over your ideas…" description: "\"Acquire a government over your ideas, that they may come down when they are called, and depart when they are bidden.\" — Isaac Watts" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e2/isaac-watts-3445_acquire_acquire-a-government-over-your-ideas-tha_2676959.png" --- # Acquire a government over your ideas, that they may come… ![“Acquire a government over your ideas, that they may come down when they are called, and depart when they are bidden.” quote by Isaac Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e2/isaac-watts-3445_acquire_acquire-a-government-over-your-ideas-tha_2676959.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e2/isaac-watts-3445_acquire_acquire-a-government-over-your-ideas-tha_2676959.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e2/isaac-watts-3445_acquire_acquire-a-government-over-your-ideas-tha_2676959.png) > “Acquire a government over your ideas, that they may come down when they are called, and depart when they are bidden.” [Isaac Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-watts/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Control over thoughts allows disciplined action, enabling one to summon ideas when needed and release them when not. **In simple terms:** Manage your thoughts to act wisely. Key Takeaway Practice mental discipline. Themes self‑control thoughts discipline Mood calm focused Type spiritual practical When to use this quote - meditation - goal setting - decision making - stress reduction Key Concepts cognitive psychology mindfulness Questions to Reflect On - What thoughts do you need to summon or release? - How can you train mental discipline? A Different Perspective It may imply suppressing useful spontaneous ideas. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Government](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/government/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) ## Related quotes > [I would like new people with new ideas to come into it and change it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neville-marriner/i-would-like-new-people-with-new-ideas-to-come-into-it-and-change-it/) [Neville Marriner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neville-marriner/) > [It's always better if you're next door. Ideas come up at the oddest times. They don't always come up in a conference call.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-scott/it-s-always-better-if-you-re-next-door-ideas-come-up-at-the-oddest/) [John Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-scott/) > [When ideas come, I write them; when they don't come, I don't.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-faulkner/when-ideas-come-i-write-them-when-they-don-t-come-i-don-t/) [William Faulkner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-faulkner/) > [I have reached the point where I know that as long as I sit down to write, the ideas will come. What they will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-b-parker/i-have-reached-the-point-where-i-know-that-as-long-as-i-sit-down-to/) [Robert B. Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-b-parker/) > [I've no idea where ideas come from and I hope I never find out; it would spoil the excitement for me if it turned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-k-rowling-2/i-ve-no-idea-where-ideas-come-from-and-i-hope-i-never-find-out-it/) [J. K. Rowling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-k-rowling-2/) > [Solutions and ideas should come from the bottom up, generated by local communities and not mandated from Washington.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mercedes-schlapp/solutions-and-ideas-should-come-from-the-bottom-up-generated-by-local/) [Mercedes Schlapp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mercedes-schlapp/) > [“Good ideas come with a heavy burden. Which is why so few people have them. So few people can handle it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-macleod/good-ideas-come-with-a-heavy-burden-which-is-why-so-few-people-have/) [Hugh MacLeod](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-macleod/) > [Good ideas come from everywhere. It's more important to recognize a good idea than to author it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanne-gang/good-ideas-come-from-everywhere-it-s-more-important-to-recognize-a/) Jeanne Gang > [Ideas come when we do not expect them, and not when we are brooding and searching at our desks. Yet ideas would certainly not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-weber/ideas-come-when-we-do-not-expect-them-and-not-when-we-are-brooding/) [Max Weber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-weber/) > [My ideas come when I least expect it, so I've always got to have a studio nearby or close by somewhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/akon/my-ideas-come-when-i-least-expect-it-so-i-ve-always-got-to-have-a/) [Akon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/akon/) > [I don't believe in traditional company structures because the best ideas do not always come from the top.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-don-t-believe-in-traditional-company-structures-because-the-best/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [When we sit down each day and do our work, power concentrates around us... Ideas come. Insights accrete.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pressfield/when-we-sit-down-each-day-and-do-our-work-power-concentrates-around/) [Steven Pressfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pressfield/) > [My best ideas come to me at unexpected moments, like when I'm reading children's books to my kids (the pictures inspire me), shopping, driving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-engelbreit/my-best-ideas-come-to-me-at-unexpected-moments-like-when-i-m-reading/) [Mary Engelbreit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-engelbreit/) > [Some of the best ideas come sort of out of nowhere and when you're not expecting it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-gordon/some-of-the-best-ideas-come-sort-of-out-of-nowhere-and-when-you-re/) [Seth Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-gordon/) > [I have learned to respect ideas, wherever they come from. Often they come from clients. Account executives often have big creative ideas, regardless of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-burnett/i-have-learned-to-respect-ideas-wherever-they-come-from-often-they/) [Leo Burnett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-burnett/) ## More by Isaac Watts > [“Lord, we confess our numerous faults, How great our guilt has been! Foolish and vain were all our thoughts, And all our lives were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-watts/lord-we-confess-our-numerous-faults-how-great-our-guilt-has-been/) [Isaac Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-watts/) > [“When the Eternal bows the skies To visit earthly things, With scorn divine he turns his eyes From towers of haughty kings. He bids…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-watts/when-the-eternal-bows-the-skies-to-visit-earthly-things-with-scorn/) [Isaac Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-watts/) > [Whatever brawls disturb the street, There should be peace at home.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-watts/whatever-brawls-disturb-the-street-there-should-be-peace-at-home/) [Isaac Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-watts/) > [The Fondness we have for Self, and the Relation which other Persons and Things have to ourselves, furnish us with another long Rank of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-watts/the-fondness-we-have-for-self-and-the-relation-which-other-persons/) [Isaac Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-watts/) > [Salvation, O the joyful sound! 'Tis pleasure to our ears; A sov'reign balm for ev'ry wound, A cordial for our fears.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-watts/salvation-o-the-joyful-sound-tis-pleasure-to-our-ears-a-sov-reign/) [Isaac Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-watts/) > [For one drop calls another down, till we are drowned in seas of grief.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-watts/for-one-drop-calls-another-down-till-we-are-drowned-in-seas-of-grief/) [Isaac Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-watts/) > [What bliss will fill the ransomed souls, when they in glory dwell, to see the sinner as he rolls, in quenchless flames of hell.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-watts/what-bliss-will-fill-the-ransomed-souls-when-they-in-glory-dwell-to/) [Isaac Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-watts/) > [What's amiss I'll strive to mend,And endure what can't be mended.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-watts/what-s-amiss-i-ll-strive-to-mend-and-endure-what-can-t-be-mended/) [Isaac Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-watts/) > [Let dogs delight to bark and bite, for God hath made them so.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-watts/let-dogs-delight-to-bark-and-bite-for-god-hath-made-them-so/) [Isaac Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-watts/) > [“The Spirit is sent down to breathe On such dry bones as we. 6 Rais'd from the dead we live anew; And justify'd by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-watts/the-spirit-is-sent-down-to-breathe-on-such-dry-bones-as-we-6-rais-d/) [Isaac Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-watts/) > [Vice and virtue chiefly imply the relation of our actions to men in this world; sin and holiness rather imply their relation to God…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-watts/vice-and-virtue-chiefly-imply-the-relation-of-our-actions-to-men-in/) [Isaac Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-watts/) > [Ten thousand things there are which we believe merely upon the authority or credit of those who have spoken or written them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-watts/ten-thousand-things-there-are-which-we-believe-merely-upon-the/) [Isaac Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-watts/) > [Do not spend the day in gathering flowers by the way side, lest night come upon you before you arrive at your journey's end,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-watts/do-not-spend-the-day-in-gathering-flowers-by-the-way-side-lest-night/) [Isaac Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-watts/) > [Once a day, especially in the early years of life and study, call yourselves to an account what new ideas, what new proposition or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-watts/once-a-day-especially-in-the-early-years-of-life-and-study-call/) [Isaac Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-watts/) > [Instructors should not only be skilful in those sciences which they teach, but have skill in the method of teaching, and patience in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-watts/instructors-should-not-only-be-skilful-in-those-sciences-which-they/) [Isaac Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-watts/) [Explore all 130 Isaac Watts quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-watts/) ## More Acquire quotes > [Most people seek after what they do not possess and are enslaved by the very things they want to acquire.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anwar-sadat/most-people-seek-after-what-they-do-not-possess-and-are-enslaved-by/) [Anwar Sadat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anwar-sadat/) > [ If the State does not acquire supremacy over \[vast private\] enterprises, it becomes their puppet, and they become the real State. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/if-the-state-does-not-acquire-supremacy-over-vast-private-enterprises/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [Humility is an elusive virtue. 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Didn't Milosevic go to the Hague? All true. But Stalin survived. 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