--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Ownership of thought depends on the…" description: "\"Ownership of thought depends on the thinker not subordinating himself to a 'ruling thought'. This is particularly difficult, argues Stirner, ... for la..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/317/john-carroll-16284_arguing_ownership-of-thought-depends-on-the-thin_2418135.jpg" --- # Ownership of thought depends on the thinker not… ![“Ownership of thought depends on the thinker not subordinating himself to a 'ruling thought'. This is particularly difficult, argues Stirner, ... for language itself is a network of 'fixed ideas'. Truths emerge only when language is reworked and possessed individually.” quote by John Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/317/john-carroll-16284_arguing_ownership-of-thought-depends-on-the-thin_2418135.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/317/john-carroll-16284_arguing_ownership-of-thought-depends-on-the-thin_2418135.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/317/john-carroll-16284_arguing_ownership-of-thought-depends-on-the-thin_2418135.jpg) > “Ownership of thought depends on the thinker not subordinating himself to a 'ruling thought'. This is particularly difficult, argues Stirner, ... for language itself is a network of 'fixed ideas'. Truths emerge only when language is reworked and possessed individually.” [John Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-carroll/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Thought ownership requires rejecting dominant narratives and reshaping language personally. **In simple terms:** Think independently, reshape language. Key Takeaway Question prevailing ideas, craft your own terms. Themes philosophy language individualism critical thinking anarchism Mood reflective critical Type theoretical inspirational When to use this quote - writing - debate - education - activism - personal reflection Key Concepts Epistemology semiotics self-determination Questions to Reflect On - What 'fixed ideas' shape your worldview? - How can you reframe them? A Different Perspective Language structures can limit freedom. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Arguing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/arguing/) [Depends](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/depends/) [Difficult](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/difficult/) [Fixed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fixed/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Ideas Truths](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas-truths-2523919/) [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [Ownership](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ownership/) [Ownership Thought](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ownership-thought-773484/) [Philosophy of Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy-of-mind/) [Possessed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/possessed/) [Ruling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ruling/) [Ruling Thought](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ruling-thought-1276992/) [Thinker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinker/) [Thinker Subordinating](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinker-subordinating-6110562/) [Thought](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thought/) ## Related quotes > [Do you call yourself Free? It is your ruling thought that I would hear, and not that you have escaped from a yoke.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/do-you-call-yourself-free-it-is-your-ruling-thought-that-i-would-hear/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [I never ever gave ownership a thought. My thoughts before I retired were coaching and broadcasting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-kerr/i-never-ever-gave-ownership-a-thought-my-thoughts-before-i-retired/) [Steve Kerr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-kerr/) > [“though I didn’t believe everything I learned, it was important to know such ideas, such truths, were out there.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roxane-gay/though-i-didn-t-believe-everything-i-learned-it-was-important-to-know/) [Roxane Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roxane-gay/) > [“New and strange emotions arose in the mind of Gertrude. … She replied, that no one could oblige her to take the veil, without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alessandro-manzoni/new-and-strange-emotions-arose-in-the-mind-of-gertrude-she-replied/) [Alessandro Manzoni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alessandro-manzoni/) > [Since I was gay and loved disco music, it was kinda pre-programmed that my first experiences with house music and acid - which I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justus-kohncke/since-i-was-gay-and-loved-disco-music-it-was-kinda-pre-programmed/) [Justus Kohncke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justus-kohncke/) > [If my ruling disposition is self-interest, I perceive that everything that happens to me is always for or against my self-interest; if, on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oswald-chambers/if-my-ruling-disposition-is-self-interest-i-perceive-that-everything/) [Oswald Chambers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oswald-chambers/) > [The Lord Jesus sits in heaven, ruling over all, and causing all things to work for his children's good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-whitefield/the-lord-jesus-sits-in-heaven-ruling-over-all-and-causing-all-things/) [George Whitefield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-whitefield/) > [The hope of Internet anarchists was that repressive governments would have only two options: accept the Internet with its limitless possibilities of spreading information,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-singer/the-hope-of-internet-anarchists-was-that-repressive-governments-would/) [Peter Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-singer/) > [Jesus was the poorest of the poor. Roman Catholicism, which claims to be His church, is the richest of the rich, the wealthiest institution…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/avro-manhattan/jesus-was-the-poorest-of-the-poor-roman-catholicism-which-claims-to/) [Avro Manhattan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/avro-manhattan/) > [“Madoc makes a snorting sound, then turns to me. 'I am sure that Wren here wouldn't mind taking Lady Nore's castle and lands for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/holly-black/madoc-makes-a-snorting-sound-then-turns-to-me-i-am-sure-that-wren/) [Holly Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/holly-black/) > [David Rockefeller is the most conspicuous representative today of the ruling class, a multinational fraternity of men who shape the global economy and manage…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-moyers/david-rockefeller-is-the-most-conspicuous-representative-today-of-the/) [Bill Moyers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-moyers/) > [The earliest language was body language and, since this language is the language of questions, if we limit the questions, and if we only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-freire/the-earliest-language-was-body-language-and-since-this-language-is/) [Paulo Freire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-freire/) > [Consequently, citizen legislators, rotating back to their communities after a short period of public service—considered an indispensable and routine characteristic and design of representative…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/consequently-citizen-legislators-rotating-back-to-their-communities/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The flood of photos sweeps away the dams of memory. Never before has a period known so little about itself. In the hands of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siegfried-kracauer/the-flood-of-photos-sweeps-away-the-dams-of-memory-never-before-has-a/) [Siegfried Kracauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siegfried-kracauer/) > [The structure of the Swiss ruling class is rock-hard, and unchanged since the time of Napoleon. They sit on their mountains and lecture the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-ziegler/the-structure-of-the-swiss-ruling-class-is-rock-hard-and-unchanged/) [Jean Ziegler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-ziegler/) ## More by John Carroll > [Modern anthropology ... opposes the utilitarian assumption that the primitive chants as he sows seed because he believes that otherwise it will not grow,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-carroll/modern-anthropology-opposes-the-utilitarian-assumption-that-the/) [John Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-carroll/) > [The enemies of Christ ... could not bear his independence; his "Give the emperor that which is the emperor's" showed a contempt for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-carroll/the-enemies-of-christ-could-not-bear-his-independence-his-give-the/) [John Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-carroll/) > [Politics and the affairs of State are dissociated from the orbit of the individual, and in so far as they cannot be repossessed as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-carroll/politics-and-the-affairs-of-state-are-dissociated-from-the-orbit-of/) [John Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-carroll/) > [The ugliness of the ideological lies in its legitimating the pursuit of the trivial.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-carroll/the-ugliness-of-the-ideological-lies-in-its-legitimating-the-pursuit/) [John Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-carroll/) > [If man is to remain the creator and master of his world then, Stirner maintains, ... all that has been accepted, that has taken…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-carroll/if-man-is-to-remain-the-creator-and-master-of-his-world-then-stirner/) [John Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-carroll/) > [Dostoevsky's underground man ... observes his contemporaries striving to establish false goals where there are no naturally generated ones. ... He argues they should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-carroll/dostoevsky-s-underground-man-observes-his-contemporaries-striving-to/) [John Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-carroll/) > [The original of morals lies with the thought that 'the community is more valuable than the individual' (Menschliches 2.1.89](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-carroll/the-original-of-morals-lies-with-the-thought-that-the-community-is/) [John Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-carroll/) > [ The garden \[of Eden\] is the realm of pure beauty from which man is expelled when he becomes interested in ethics, in the fruit… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-carroll/the-garden-of-eden-is-the-realm-of-pure-beauty-from-which-man-is/) [John Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-carroll/) > [Unlike Hegel's progress model of history, which moves by stages, each containing its own logic of growth and decline, the economic model develops as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-carroll/unlike-hegel-s-progress-model-of-history-which-moves-by-stages-each/) [John Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-carroll/) > [There is a strain in Marx of the cleric, of the vulgar moralist. He paints the capitalist and the bourgeois as incarnations of evil;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-carroll/there-is-a-strain-in-marx-of-the-cleric-of-the-vulgar-moralist-he/) [John Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-carroll/) > [Dostoevsky believed that the gods of rationalism and materialist utilitarianism had joined in conspiracy against all other ethical systems. ... The accumulation of capital,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-carroll/dostoevsky-believed-that-the-gods-of-rationalism-and-materialist/) [John Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-carroll/) > [Nietzsche ... argues that all that passes in the life of a society is ephemeral and banausic except for the presence of great personalities,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-carroll/nietzsche-argues-that-all-that-passes-in-the-life-of-a-society-is/) [John Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-carroll/) > [ Stirner and Nietzsche \[adopt\] a mode of thinking which is personal, introspective, and which while often operating on alternative systems of belief and action… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-carroll/stirner-and-nietzsche-adopt-a-mode-of-thinking-which-is-personal/) [John Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-carroll/) > [Nietzsche himself was a great moralist; his writings abound with value judgments about individuals, character types, modes of thinking, and national traits. It is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-carroll/nietzsche-himself-was-a-great-moralist-his-writings-abound-with-value/) [John Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-carroll/) > [Stirner and Nietzsche ... reveal how prone morality is to being used as a means of rationalization, a cloak for concealing violent and brutish…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-carroll/stirner-and-nietzsche-reveal-how-prone-morality-is-to-being-used-as-a/) [John Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-carroll/) [Explore all 40 John Carroll quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-carroll/) ## More Arguing quotes > [I do wish you wouldn't argue with me when I'm knitting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerald-durrell/i-do-wish-you-wouldn-t-argue-with-me-when-i-m-knitting/) [Gerald Durrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerald-durrell/) > [Any comprehensive doctrine, religious or secular, can be introduced into any political argument at any time, but I argue that people who do this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-rawls/any-comprehensive-doctrine-religious-or-secular-can-be-introduced/) [John Rawls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-rawls/) > [It's fine to talk about politics with people you agree with. But it is rude to argue about politics with people you disagree with.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-lessig/it-s-fine-to-talk-about-politics-with-people-you-agree-with-but-it-is/) [Lawrence Lessig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-lessig/) > [Men are fair, and they have learned not to personalize anger - they can disagree with you and argue to the bone, but afterward…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-farrell/men-are-fair-and-they-have-learned-not-to-personalize-anger-they-can/) [Warren Farrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-farrell/) > [When Eudæmonidas heard a philosopher arguing that only a wise man can be a good general, "This is a wonderful speech," said he; "but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plutarch/when-eud-monidas-heard-a-philosopher-arguing-that-only-a-wise-man-can/) [Plutarch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plutarch/) > [Fasting is required, staying away from fighting and arguing and bombing of masjids is still going on. Hatred is still manifested between Sunni and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-farrakhan/fasting-is-required-staying-away-from-fighting-and-arguing-and/) [Louis Farrakhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-farrakhan/) > [The problem for the Left, however, is that the moment it stops painting the Right as vile, it has to argue the issues.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-prager/the-problem-for-the-left-however-is-that-the-moment-it-stops-painting/) [Dennis Prager](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-prager/) > [To argue with a person who has renounced the use of reason is like administering medicine to the dead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/to-argue-with-a-person-who-has-renounced-the-use-of-reason-is-like/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [You can argue that the Terminator movies reboot their world each time they go back in time, but that doesn't negate the value of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hayter/you-can-argue-that-the-terminator-movies-reboot-their-world-each-time/) [David Hayter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hayter/) > [We may argue eloquently that 'Honesty is the best Policy' - unfortunately, the moment honesty is adopted for the sake of policy it mysteriously…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-l-sayers/we-may-argue-eloquently-that-honesty-is-the-best-policy-unfortunately/) [Dorothy L. Sayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-l-sayers/) > [I'm a very serious person, but I don't take myself very seriously and I would rather laugh all day than argue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stone-cold-steve-austin/i-m-a-very-serious-person-but-i-don-t-take-myself-very-seriously-and/) [Stone Cold Steve Austin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stone-cold-steve-austin/) > [These eyes, tho' clear To outward view of blemish or of spot, Bereft of light, their seeing have forgot, Nor to their idle orbs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/these-eyes-tho-clear-to-outward-view-of-blemish-or-of-spot-bereft-of/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [There's crucial distinction that has to be drawn between the Shari'a, which is this hugely expansive vision of cosmic order that I've been describing,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sadakat-kadri/there-s-crucial-distinction-that-has-to-be-drawn-between-the-shari-a/) [Sadakat Kadri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sadakat-kadri/) > [Only fools argue whether to eat meat or not. They don't understand truth nor do they meditate on it. Who can define what is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guru-nanak/only-fools-argue-whether-to-eat-meat-or-not-they-don-t-understand/) [Guru Nanak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guru-nanak/) > [The surest sign that you haven't any sense is to argue with one who hasn't.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-j-peter/the-surest-sign-that-you-haven-t-any-sense-is-to-argue-with-one-who/) [Laurence J. Peter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-j-peter/) [Browse all 1,908 Arguing quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/arguing/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Ownership of thought depends on the thinker not subordinating himself to a 'ruling thought'. This is particularly difficult, argues Stirner, ... for language itself is a network of 'fixed ideas'. 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