--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Conflict is the gadfly of thought. It…" description: "\"Conflict is the gadfly of thought. It stirs us to observation and memory. It instigates invention. It shocks us out of sheep-like passivity, and sets u..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/087/john-dewey-545_conflict_conflict-is-the-gadfly-of-thought-it-sti_346212.png" --- # Conflict is the gadfly of thought. It stirs us to… ![“Conflict is the gadfly of thought. It stirs us to observation and memory. It instigates invention. It shocks us out of sheep-like passivity, and sets us at noting and contriving…conflict is a sine qua non of reflection and ingenuity.” quote by John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/087/john-dewey-545_conflict_conflict-is-the-gadfly-of-thought-it-sti_346212.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/087/john-dewey-545_conflict_conflict-is-the-gadfly-of-thought-it-sti_346212.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/087/john-dewey-545_conflict_conflict-is-the-gadfly-of-thought-it-sti_346212.png) > “Conflict is the gadfly of thought. It stirs us to observation and memory. It instigates invention. It shocks us out of sheep-like passivity, and sets us at noting and contriving…conflict is a sine qua non of reflection and ingenuity.” [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Conflict stimulates observation, memory, and invention, acting as a catalyst for reflection and creative thinking. **In simple terms:** Conflict sparks thought and innovation. Key Takeaway Embrace conflict to foster insight. Themes conflict creativity reflection innovation Mood analytical motivational Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - team brainstorming - academic research - personal decision making - artistic creation Key Concepts cognitive dissonance critical thinking problem solving Questions to Reflect On - How can you channel conflict productively? - When does conflict become harmful? A Different Perspective Too much conflict can become destructive if not managed. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Conflict](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conflict/) [Gadflies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gadflies/) [Ingenuity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ingenuity/) [Invention](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/invention/) [Memories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memories/) [Observation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/observation/) [Passivity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/passivity/) [Reflection](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reflection/) [Shock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shock/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) ## Related quotes > [Conflict is the gadfly of thought. It stirs us to observation and memory. It instigates to invention. It shocks us out of sheeplike passivity,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/conflict-is-the-gadfly-of-thought-it-stirs-us-to-observation-and-2/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [“Things, events and people align and position themselves accordingly when a strong enough thought stirs them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-richards/things-events-and-people-align-and-position-themselves-accordingly/) [Stephen Richards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-richards/) > [I'm a chameleon, so changeable. I see myself as a gadfly and a questioner.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-johnson/i-m-a-chameleon-so-changeable-i-see-myself-as-a-gadfly-and-a/) [Philip Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-johnson/) > [“It’s an artist’s right to rebel against the world’s stupidity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-s-an-artist-s-right-to-rebel-against-the-world-s-stupidity/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“An acquaintance merely enjoys your company, a fair-weather companion flatters when all is well, a true friend has your best interests at heart and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/an-acquaintance-merely-enjoys-your-company-a-fair-weather-companion/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I am that gadfly which God has attached to the state, and all day long and in all places am always fastening upon you,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/socrates/i-am-that-gadfly-which-god-has-attached-to-the-state-and-all-day-long-2/) [Socrates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/socrates/) > [Athens is like a sluggish horse, and I am the gadfly trying to sting it into life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jostein-gaarder/athens-is-like-a-sluggish-horse-and-i-am-the-gadfly-trying-to-sting/) [Jostein Gaarder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jostein-gaarder/) > [So Socrates was a kind of gadfly. He was a sort of philosophical urban gorilla hanging around in the middle of Athens, asking these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-goldstein/so-socrates-was-a-kind-of-gadfly-he-was-a-sort-of-philosophical-urban/) [Rebecca Goldstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-goldstein/) > [“Make your lives a masterpiece, you only get one canvas.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/make-your-lives-a-masterpiece-you-only-get-one-canvas/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [In Plato's republic, poets were considered subversive, a danger to the republic. I kind of relish that role. So I see my present role…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-ferlinghetti/in-plato-s-republic-poets-were-considered-subversive-a-danger-to-the/) [Lawrence Ferlinghetti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-ferlinghetti/) > [I don't think writers should be convenient examples. I don't think we should make people feel settled. I don't try to be a gadfly,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rodriguez/i-don-t-think-writers-should-be-convenient-examples-i-don-t-think-we/) [Richard Rodriguez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rodriguez/) > [I'm noticing an exciting trend around the country: a resurgence of interest in Christian apologetics (the defense of the faith). This is a reaction…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-strobel/i-m-noticing-an-exciting-trend-around-the-country-a-resurgence-of/) [Lee Strobel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-strobel/) > [“...it’s just another one of those things I don’t understand: everyone impresses upon you how unique you are, encouraging you to cultivate your individuality…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-s-just-another-one-of-those-things-i-don-t-understand-everyone/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Seeing clearly within himself and always able to dodge around the ends of any position, including his own, Shaw assumed from the start the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-barzun/seeing-clearly-within-himself-and-always-able-to-dodge-around-the/) [Jacques Barzun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-barzun/) > [We must not overlook the role that extremists play. They are the gadflies that keep society from being too complacent or self-satisfied; they are,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-flexner/we-must-not-overlook-the-role-that-extremists-play-they-are-the/) [Abraham Flexner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-flexner/) ## More by John Dewey > [“The deepest urge in human nature is the desire to be important.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/the-deepest-urge-in-human-nature-is-the-desire-to-be-important/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [“Empirically, things are poignant, tragic, beautiful, humorous, settled, disturbed, comfortable, annoying, barren, harsh, consoling, splendid, fearful; are such immediately and in their own right…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/empirically-things-are-poignant-tragic-beautiful-humorous-settled/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [A good aim surveys the present state of experience of pupils, and forming a tentative plan of treatment, keeps the plan constantly in view…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/a-good-aim-surveys-the-present-state-of-experience-of-pupils-and/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [Experiences in order to be educative must lead out into an expanding world of subject matter, a subject matter of facts or information and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/experiences-in-order-to-be-educative-must-lead-out-into-an-expanding/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [A tribe, let us say, is warlike. The successes for which it strives, the achievements upon which it sets store, are connected with fighting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/a-tribe-let-us-say-is-warlike-the-successes-for-which-it-strives-the/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [The phrase "think for one's self" is a pleonasm. Unless one does it for one's self, it isn't thinking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/the-phrase-think-for-one-s-self-is-a-pleonasm-unless-one-does-it-for/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [Doctrine that eliminates or even obscures the function of choice of values and enlistment of desires and emotions in behalf of those chosen weakens…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/doctrine-that-eliminates-or-even-obscures-the-function-of-choice-of/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [There is no such thing as educational value in the abstract. The notion that some subjects and methods and that acquaintance with certain facts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/there-is-no-such-thing-as-educational-value-in-the-abstract-the/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [Men live in a community in virtue of the things which they have in common; and communication is the way in which they come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/men-live-in-a-community-in-virtue-of-the-things-which-they-have-in/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [We can have facts without thinking but we cannot have thinking without facts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/we-can-have-facts-without-thinking-but-we-cannot-have-thinking/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [But progress in knowledge has made us aware of the superficiality of Plato's lumping of individuals and their original powers into a few sharply…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/but-progress-in-knowledge-has-made-us-aware-of-the-superficiality-of/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [Even the alleged benefits of war, so far as more than alleged, spring from the fact that conflict of peoples at least enforces intercourse…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/even-the-alleged-benefits-of-war-so-far-as-more-than-alleged-spring/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [“When the organization called soul is free, moving and operative, initial as well as terminal, it is spirit. Qualities are both static, substantial, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/when-the-organization-called-soul-is-free-moving-and-operative/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [Since in reality there is nothing to which growth is relative save more growth, there is nothing to which education is subordinate save more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/since-in-reality-there-is-nothing-to-which-growth-is-relative-save/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [Creative thinking will improve as we relate the new fact to the old and all facts to each other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/creative-thinking-will-improve-as-we-relate-the-new-fact-to-the-old/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) [Explore all 486 John Dewey quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) ## More Conflict quotes > [The history of mankind interests us only as it exhibits a steady gain of truth and right, in the incessant conflict which it records…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-history-of-mankind-interests-us-only-as-it-exhibits-a-steady-gain/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [The U.S.-Mexican border es un herida abierta where the Third World grates against the first and bleeds. And before a scab forms it hemorrhages…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-e-anzald-a/the-u-s-mexican-border-es-un-herida-abierta-where-the-third-world/) [Gloria E. Anzaldúa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-e-anzald-a/) > [There is a conflict in the Middle East between two entities, and they're both right, each in their own way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reuven-rivlin/there-is-a-conflict-in-the-middle-east-between-two-entities-and-they/) [Reuven Rivlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reuven-rivlin/) > [Conflict isn't negative, it just is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-crum/conflict-isn-t-negative-it-just-is/) [Thomas Crum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-crum/) > [I have lived in countries that were coming out of conflict: Ireland, South Africa, the Czech republic. People there are overflowing with energy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-eno/i-have-lived-in-countries-that-were-coming-out-of-conflict-ireland/) [Brian Eno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-eno/) > [Africa, being the major target of colonial plunder, therefore becomes a major source of conflict.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerald-horne/africa-being-the-major-target-of-colonial-plunder-therefore-becomes-a/) [Gerald Horne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerald-horne/) > [All drama is conflict. Without conflict, there is no action. Without action, there is no character. Without character, there is no story. And without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/syd-field/all-drama-is-conflict-without-conflict-there-is-no-action-without/) [Syd Field](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/syd-field/) > [The irrepressible conflict propounded by abolitionism has produced now its legitimate fruits - disunion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-irrepressible-conflict-propounded-by-abolitionism-has-produced/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“These are all good things, I said. But no one knows where your country is or who you are. You don't have a familiar…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-shteyngart/these-are-all-good-things-i-said-but-no-one-knows-where-your-country/) [Gary Shteyngart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-shteyngart/) > [I understand the formula that producers hire directors and directors are hired to direct and actors are hired to act. I don't have any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danny-trejo/i-understand-the-formula-that-producers-hire-directors-and-directors/) [Danny Trejo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danny-trejo/) > [“While there is battle and hatred men have eyes for nothing save the fact that the enemy is the cause of all the troubles;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-butterfield/while-there-is-battle-and-hatred-men-have-eyes-for-nothing-save-the/) [Herbert Butterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-butterfield/) > [UN peacekeeping operations are now increasingly complex and multi-dimensional, going beyond monitoring a ceasefire to actually bringing failed States back to life, often after…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kofi-annan/un-peacekeeping-operations-are-now-increasingly-complex-and-multi/) [Kofi Annan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kofi-annan/) > [All men have an instinct for conflict: at least, all healthy men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilaire-belloc/all-men-have-an-instinct-for-conflict-at-least-all-healthy-men/) [Hilaire Belloc](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilaire-belloc/) > [I didnt like the Survivor shows because of the mean-spirited aspect, and women certainly were part of whatever conflict they would create.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-lawrence/i-didnt-like-the-survivor-shows-because-of-the-mean-spirited-aspect/) [Sharon Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-lawrence/) > [“How we traverse the space between us when conflict arises has a profound effect on the health and longevity of our relationships.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-salzberg/how-we-traverse-the-space-between-us-when-conflict-arises-has-a/) [Sharon Salzberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-salzberg/) [Browse all 3,969 Conflict quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conflict/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Conflict is the gadfly of thought. 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