--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: He thought logically, and then acted on…" description: "\"“He thought logically, and then acted on the conclusion of logical thought. Whereas most of us, I suspect, do the opposite: we make an instinctive deci..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/25f/julian-barnes-522_logical-thought_he-thought-logically-and-then-acted-on-t_1399237.jpg" --- # He thought logically, and then acted on the conclusion of… ![“He thought logically, and then acted on the conclusion of logical thought. Whereas most of us, I suspect, do the opposite: we make an instinctive decision, then build up an infrastructure of reasoning to justify it.” quote by Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/25f/julian-barnes-522_logical-thought_he-thought-logically-and-then-acted-on-t_1399237.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/25f/julian-barnes-522_logical-thought_he-thought-logically-and-then-acted-on-t_1399237.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/25f/julian-barnes-522_logical-thought_he-thought-logically-and-then-acted-on-t_1399237.jpg) > ““He thought logically, and then acted on the conclusion of logical thought. Whereas most of us, I suspect, do the opposite: we make an instinctive decision, then build up an infrastructure of reasoning to justify it.”” [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People often reverse the rational process, acting on gut feelings first and later constructing logical justifications. **In simple terms:** We justify instincts with reasoning after acting. Key Takeaway Recognize when you’re rationalizing a feeling. Themes psychology decision making reasoning instinct bias Mood reflective critical analytical Type advice philosophical observational When to use this quote - personal relationships - business decisions - political rhetoric - creative work Key Concepts cognitive bias post‑hoc rationalization intuition Questions to Reflect On - Are you aware of decisions you justify after the fact? - How can you test an instinct before rationalizing it? A Different Perspective The conclusion may be flawed if the initial instinct is unchecked. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Conclusion Logical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conclusion-logical-1976665/) [Instinctive Decision](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/instinctive-decision-1165438/) [Logical Thought](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/logical-thought-1035083/) [Logically Acted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/logically-acted-4899292/) [Thought Logically](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thought-logically-1792247/) ## Related quotes > [He had a better mind and a more rigorous temperament than me; he thought logically, and then acted on the conclusion of logical thought.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/he-had-a-better-mind-and-a-more-rigorous-temperament-than-me-he/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [“of your exploration to the end, in which case you have to introduce the question carefully at the start.2. And you need a tight,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/of-your-exploration-to-the-end-in-which-case-you-have-to-introduce/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The reality is that there is an enormous value to gut-check instinctive decision-making in the world that is not hampered by reams and reams…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hodgman/the-reality-is-that-there-is-an-enormous-value-to-gut-check/) [John Hodgman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hodgman/) > [understanding the true nature of instinctive decision making requires us to be forgiving of those people trapped in circumstances where good judgment is imperiled.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-gladwell/understanding-the-true-nature-of-instinctive-decision-making-requires/) [Malcolm Gladwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-gladwell/) > [Innovation is not the product of logical thought, although the result is tied to logical structure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstei/innovation-is-not-the-product-of-logical-thought-although-the-result/) [Albert Einstei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstei/) > [Calm, open debate, and logical thought drive strength to its maximum effectiveness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-corgan/calm-open-debate-and-logical-thought-drive-strength-to-its-maximum/) [Billy Corgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-corgan/) > [“something is easy if it is attainable by logical thought processes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugenia-cheng/something-is-easy-if-it-is-attainable-by-logical-thought-processes/) [Eugenia Cheng](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugenia-cheng/) > [“The things that fascinate me the most about mathematics are logical thought and the great importance attached to the correctness of propositions. Every step…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-meier/the-things-that-fascinate-me-the-most-about-mathematics-are-logical/) [Barbara Meier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-meier/) > [“Some could say it is the external world which has molded our thinking-that is, the operation of the human brain-into what is now called…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanislaw-m-ulam/some-could-say-it-is-the-external-world-which-has-molded-our-thinking/) [Stanislaw M. Ulam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanislaw-m-ulam/) > [Sometimes the most logical thought that come out from our head is far from logic in reality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dian-agung-yogantara/sometimes-the-most-logical-thought-that-come-out-from-our-head-is-far/) [Dian Agung Yogantara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dian-agung-yogantara/) > [“Origin of the Logical. Where has logic originated in men’s heads? Undoubtedly out of the illogical, the domain of which must originally have been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/origin-of-the-logical-where-has-logic-originated-in-men-s-heads/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [My route so far through life hasn't been particularly logical, or even thought out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarvis-cocker/my-route-so-far-through-life-hasn-t-been-particularly-logical-or-even/) [Jarvis Cocker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarvis-cocker/) > [There is a kind, I might almost say, of artistic satisfaction, when we are able to survey the enormous wealth of Nature as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-von-helmholtz/there-is-a-kind-i-might-almost-say-of-artistic-satisfaction-when-we/) [Hermann von Helmholtz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-von-helmholtz/) > [Philosophy does provide me a structure and a way of thinking. Religion - like the religion I grew up with, Mormonism - also provides…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-evenson/philosophy-does-provide-me-a-structure-and-a-way-of-thinking-religion/) [Brian Evenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-evenson/) > [“The capacity for logical thought is one of the things that makes us human. But in a world of ubiquitous information and advanced analytical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-pink/the-capacity-for-logical-thought-is-one-of-the-things-that-makes-us/) [Daniel Pink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-pink/) ## More by Julian Barnes > [“You put together two things that have not been put together before. And the world is changed. People may not notice at the time,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/you-put-together-two-things-that-have-not-been-put-together-before/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [“I settled into a contented routine of working, spending my free time with Veronica and, back in my student room, wanking explosively to fantasies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/i-settled-into-a-contented-routine-of-working-spending-my-free-time/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [The greatest patriotism is to tell your country when it is behaving dishonorably, foolishly, viciously.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/the-greatest-patriotism-is-to-tell-your-country-when-it-is-behaving/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [“There is only good vodka and very good vodka—there is no such thing as bad vodka.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/there-is-only-good-vodka-and-very-good-vodka-there-is-no-such-thing/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [Alice Munro can move characters through time in a way that no other writer can.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/alice-munro-can-move-characters-through-time-in-a-way-that-no-other/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [How rarely do our emotions meet the object they seem to deserve? How hopelessly we signal; how dark the sky; how big the waves.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/how-rarely-do-our-emotions-meet-the-object-they-seem-to-deserve-how/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [You put together two people who have not been put together before. Sometimes it is like that first attempt to harness a hydrogen balloon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/you-put-together-two-people-who-have-not-been-put-together-before/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [“Also, when you are young, you think you can predict the likely pains and bleaknesses that age might bring. You imagine yourself being lonely,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/also-when-you-are-young-you-think-you-can-predict-the-likely-pains/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [“Why slum it where people were burdened by yesterday, and the day before, and the day before that? By history? Here, on the Island,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/why-slum-it-where-people-were-burdened-by-yesterday-and-the-day/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [“In those years before mobile phones, email and Skype, travelers depended on the rudimentary communications system known as the postcard. Other methods--the long-distance phone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/in-those-years-before-mobile-phones-email-and-skype-travelers/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [“My train was late, slowed by the usual Sunday engineering work. I got home in the early evening. I remember that I had a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/my-train-was-late-slowed-by-the-usual-sunday-engineering-work-i-got/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [In life, every ending is just the start of another story.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/in-life-every-ending-is-just-the-start-of-another-story/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [“Indeed, isn’t the whole business of ascribing responsibility kind of a cop-out? We want to blame an individual so that everyone else is exculpated.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/indeed-isn-t-the-whole-business-of-ascribing-responsibility-kind-of-a/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [Some of the freckles I once loved are now closer to liver spots. But it’s still the eyes we look at, isn’t it? That’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/some-of-the-freckles-i-once-loved-are-now-closer-to-liver-spots-but/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [“And what percentage of people take up the option to die off?’ She looked at me, her glance telling me to be calm. ‘Oh,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/and-what-percentage-of-people-take-up-the-option-to-die-off-she/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) [Explore all 454 Julian Barnes quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) ## More Logical Thought quotes > [“Some could say it is the external world which has molded our thinking-that is, the operation of the human brain-into what is now called…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanislaw-m-ulam/some-could-say-it-is-the-external-world-which-has-molded-our-thinking/) [Stanislaw M. Ulam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanislaw-m-ulam/) > [Philosophy does provide me a structure and a way of thinking. Religion - like the religion I grew up with, Mormonism - also provides…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-evenson/philosophy-does-provide-me-a-structure-and-a-way-of-thinking-religion/) [Brian Evenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-evenson/) > [There is a kind, I might almost say, of artistic satisfaction, when we are able to survey the enormous wealth of Nature as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-von-helmholtz/there-is-a-kind-i-might-almost-say-of-artistic-satisfaction-when-we/) [Hermann von Helmholtz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-von-helmholtz/) > [My route so far through life hasn't been particularly logical, or even thought out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarvis-cocker/my-route-so-far-through-life-hasn-t-been-particularly-logical-or-even/) [Jarvis Cocker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarvis-cocker/) > [“Origin of the Logical. Where has logic originated in men’s heads? Undoubtedly out of the illogical, the domain of which must originally have been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/origin-of-the-logical-where-has-logic-originated-in-men-s-heads/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Sometimes the most logical thought that come out from our head is far from logic in reality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dian-agung-yogantara/sometimes-the-most-logical-thought-that-come-out-from-our-head-is-far/) [Dian Agung Yogantara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dian-agung-yogantara/) > [He had a better mind and a more rigorous temperament than me; he thought logically, and then acted on the conclusion of logical thought.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/he-had-a-better-mind-and-a-more-rigorous-temperament-than-me-he/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [“The things that fascinate me the most about mathematics are logical thought and the great importance attached to the correctness of propositions. Every step…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-meier/the-things-that-fascinate-me-the-most-about-mathematics-are-logical/) [Barbara Meier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-meier/) > [“something is easy if it is attainable by logical thought processes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugenia-cheng/something-is-easy-if-it-is-attainable-by-logical-thought-processes/) [Eugenia Cheng](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugenia-cheng/) > [Calm, open debate, and logical thought drive strength to its maximum effectiveness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-corgan/calm-open-debate-and-logical-thought-drive-strength-to-its-maximum/) [Billy Corgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-corgan/) > [Innovation is not the product of logical thought, although the result is tied to logical structure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstei/innovation-is-not-the-product-of-logical-thought-although-the-result/) [Albert Einstei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstei/) > [“The capacity for logical thought is one of the things that makes us human. But in a world of ubiquitous information and advanced analytical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-pink/the-capacity-for-logical-thought-is-one-of-the-things-that-makes-us/) [Daniel Pink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-pink/) > [“Aristotle was convinced that a trained memory helped the development of logical thought processes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-m-tavakoli/aristotle-was-convinced-that-a-trained-memory-helped-the-development/) [Janet M. Tavakoli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-m-tavakoli/) > [Innovation is not the product of logical thought, even though the final product is tied to a logical structure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/innovation-is-not-the-product-of-logical-thought-even-though-the/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) [Browse all 15 Logical Thought quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/logical-thought-1035083/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“He thought logically, and then acted on the conclusion of logical thought. Whereas most of us, I suspect, do the opposite: we make an instinctive decision, then build up an infrastructure of reasoning to justify it.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Julian Barnes" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/he-thought-logically-and-then-acted-on-the-conclusion-of-logical/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Logical Thought" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/he-thought-logically-and-then-acted-on-the-conclusion-of-logical/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/25f/julian-barnes-522_logical-thought_he-thought-logically-and-then-acted-on-t_1399237.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/25f/julian-barnes-522_logical-thought_he-thought-logically-and-then-acted-on-t_1399237.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/25f/julian-barnes-522_logical-thought_he-thought-logically-and-then-acted-on-t_1399237.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“He thought logically, and then acted on the conclusion of logical thought. Whereas most of us, I suspect, do…” — Julian Barnes", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Julian Barnes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“He thought logically, and then acted...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/he-thought-logically-and-then-acted-on-the-conclusion-of-logical/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/he-thought-logically-and-then-acted-on-the-conclusion-of-logical/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```