--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Hold any particular thought in the mind…" description: "\"“Hold any particular thought in the mind persistently until it has formed grooves in the brain-tissue and become dominant in the brain structure, and y..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f92/orison-swett-marden-711_habits_hold-any-particular-thought-in-the-mind_2999009.png" --- # Hold any particular thought in the mind persistently until… ![“Hold any particular thought in the mind persistently until it has formed grooves in the brain-tissue and become dominant in the brain structure, and you have permanently changed the character in that direction. You have only to change your mind to a desired direction, holding it there tenaciously…” quote by Orison Swett Marden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f92/orison-swett-marden-711_habits_hold-any-particular-thought-in-the-mind_2999009.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f92/orison-swett-marden-711_habits_hold-any-particular-thought-in-the-mind_2999009.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f92/orison-swett-marden-711_habits_hold-any-particular-thought-in-the-mind_2999009.png) > ““Hold any particular thought in the mind persistently until it has formed grooves in the brain-tissue and become dominant in the brain structure, and you have permanently changed the character in that direction. You have only to change your mind to a desired direction, holding it there tenaciously until you have formed a new mental habit. Then you are, in that particular, a new creature.”” [Orison Swett Marden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orison-swett-marden/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Repeatedly focusing on a thought reshapes neural pathways, permanently altering character; changing focus creates a new mental habit and a new self. **In simple terms:** Persistent thought rewires the brain and changes who you are. Key Takeaway Use focused repetition to form positive habits. Themes self‑improvement neuroplasticity habit formation Mood motivational determined Type practical inspirational When to use this quote - goal setting - affirmations - skill development Key Concepts mental conditioning neural pathways character change Questions to Reflect On - What thought could you repeat to shift a limiting habit? - How long might it take to notice a change? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Change Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/change-mind/) [Change Your Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/change-your-mind/) [Habits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/habits/) [Mental Habit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mental-habit-777293/) [Mind Persistently](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind-persistently-4751335/) [Particular Thought](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/particular-thought-4751336/) [Philosophy of Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy-of-mind/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Thought Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thought-mind-1014755/) ## Related quotes > [The Day you change your mind it will change your life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stankyrich/the-day-you-change-your-mind-it-will-change-your-life/) [Stankyrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stankyrich/) > [Even though weve already been through so much.. I still love you and I'm not going anywhere. just because some things are changing.. doesnt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megannn/even-though-weve-already-been-through-so-much-i-still-love-you-and-i/) [Megannn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megannn/) > [They say lifes a dream, call this in insomnia cuz this ain't wonderland damn sure ain't narnia and once you cross the line you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruno-mars/they-say-lifes-a-dream-call-this-in-insomnia-cuz-this-ain-t/) [Bruno Mars](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruno-mars/) > [“Your gonna change your mind and drop me for a rock star?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-crownover/your-gonna-change-your-mind-and-drop-me-for-a-rock-star/) [Jay Crownover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-crownover/) > [I feel the less you project of yourself, the more you can be believable as a character. I also think it's just better for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evelyne-brochu/i-feel-the-less-you-project-of-yourself-the-more-you-can-be/) [Evelyne Brochu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evelyne-brochu/) > [Your heart will try to change your mind but your mind knows what's best for you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonya-parker/your-heart-will-try-to-change-your-mind-but-your-mind-knows-what-s/) [Sonya Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sonya-parker/) > [Occasions when you can change your mind should be cherished, because they mean you're smarter than you were before.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-gladwell/occasions-when-you-can-change-your-mind-should-be-cherished-because/) [Malcolm Gladwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-gladwell/) > [Disappointment is temporary. Only your thought about it is permanent. Change your mind about what has disappointed you and you will change your life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neale-donald-walsch/disappointment-is-temporary-only-your-thought-about-it-is-permanent/) [Neale Donald Walsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neale-donald-walsch/) > [I'm often struck by how a person can change your mind in very short time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikrant-parsai/i-m-often-struck-by-how-a-person-can-change-your-mind-in-very-short/) [Vikrant Parsai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikrant-parsai/) > [“There’s a technique we use in our local rationalist cluster called “Is That Your True Rejection?”, and it works like this: Before you stake…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eliezer-yudkowsky/there-s-a-technique-we-use-in-our-local-rationalist-cluster-called-is/) [Eliezer Yudkowsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eliezer-yudkowsky/) > [“You may change your mind 1,000 times a day ...yet your heart remains the same; live life from this space.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rasheed-ogunlaru/you-may-change-your-mind-1-000-times-a-day-yet-your-heart-remains-the/) [Rasheed Ogunlaru](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rasheed-ogunlaru/) > [I care so deeply about this matter that I'm willing to take on the legal penalties, to sit in this prison cell, to sacrifice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/i-care-so-deeply-about-this-matter-that-i-m-willing-to-take-on-the/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [How about we give this one more try, one more chance to finally get this right, give me a chance to change your mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/how-about-we-give-this-one-more-try-one-more-chance-to-finally-get/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Nonsense. One day, the right man will come along, and you’ll change your mind.” Harriet wasn’t so sure. In all her twenty-four years, she’d…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-hawkins/nonsense-one-day-the-right-man-will-come-along-and-you-ll-change-your/) [Karen Hawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-hawkins/) > [When the facts change, you change your mind. I know that is a hard concept for people to get sometimes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-carville/when-the-facts-change-you-change-your-mind-i-know-that-is-a-hard/) [James Carville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-carville/) ## More by Orison Swett Marden > [“We can so educate the will power that it will focus the thoughts upon the bright side of things, and upon objects which elevate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orison-swett-marden/we-can-so-educate-the-will-power-that-it-will-focus-the-thoughts-upon/) [Orison Swett Marden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orison-swett-marden/) > [“Gulliver was a giant whom the dwarfs captured while he was napping by binding him with tiny threads. Each thread was a trifle which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orison-swett-marden/gulliver-was-a-giant-whom-the-dwarfs-captured-while-he-was-napping-by/) [Orison Swett Marden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orison-swett-marden/) > [“The hatred thought cannot live an instant in the presence of the love thought.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orison-swett-marden/the-hatred-thought-cannot-live-an-instant-in-the-presence-of-the-love/) [Orison Swett Marden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orison-swett-marden/) > [“About as poor business as one can engage in is that of going through life with one's eyes so fixed upon what others have,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orison-swett-marden/about-as-poor-business-as-one-can-engage-in-is-that-of-going-through/) [Orison Swett Marden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orison-swett-marden/) > [“We tend to get what we expect, and if we expect nothing we get nothing. The stream cannot rise higher than its fountainhead;”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orison-swett-marden/we-tend-to-get-what-we-expect-and-if-we-expect-nothing-we-get-nothing/) [Orison Swett Marden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orison-swett-marden/) > [There never will be a trust in excellence or a combination in superiority. As long as you can do a thing a little better…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orison-swett-marden/there-never-will-be-a-trust-in-excellence-or-a-combination-in/) [Orison Swett Marden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orison-swett-marden/) > [There are powers inside of you which, if you could discover and use, would make of you everything you ever dreamed or imagined you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orison-swett-marden/there-are-powers-inside-of-you-which-if-you-could-discover-and-use/) [Orison Swett Marden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orison-swett-marden/) > [Most men fail, not through lack of education or agreeable personal qualities, but from lack of dogged determination, from lack of dauntless will.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orison-swett-marden/most-men-fail-not-through-lack-of-education-or-agreeable-personal/) [Orison Swett Marden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orison-swett-marden/) > [Something greater than wealth, grander even than fame — that manhood, character, stand for success, and that nothing else really does.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orison-swett-marden/something-greater-than-wealth-grander-even-than-fame-that-manhood/) [Orison Swett Marden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orison-swett-marden/) > [“The universe is one great kindergarten. Everything that exists has brought with it its own peculiar lesson. The mountain teaches stability and grandeur; the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orison-swett-marden/the-universe-is-one-great-kindergarten-everything-that-exists-has/) [Orison Swett Marden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orison-swett-marden/) > [If you want to enlarge your life, you must first enlarge your thought of it and of yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orison-swett-marden/if-you-want-to-enlarge-your-life-you-must-first-enlarge-your-thought/) [Orison Swett Marden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orison-swett-marden/) > [The moment man cuts himself off from living connection with the human race and its needs, he begins to die from poor circulation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orison-swett-marden/the-moment-man-cuts-himself-off-from-living-connection-with-the-human/) [Orison Swett Marden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orison-swett-marden/) > [“There is something inside of a man which protests against doing that which tends to injure another, that which does not square with his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orison-swett-marden/there-is-something-inside-of-a-man-which-protests-against-doing-that/) [Orison Swett Marden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orison-swett-marden/) > [A good system shortens the road to the goal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orison-swett-marden/a-good-system-shortens-the-road-to-the-goal/) [Orison Swett Marden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orison-swett-marden/) > [Keep fear out of your child's mind, as you would keep poison out of his body; for fear is the deadliest of mental poisons.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orison-swett-marden/keep-fear-out-of-your-child-s-mind-as-you-would-keep-poison-out-of/) [Orison Swett Marden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orison-swett-marden/) [Explore all 396 Orison Swett Marden quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orison-swett-marden/) ## More Habits quotes > [“Malchut is also the Alma D’Itgalya, “the Revealed World.” Here our latent potential is actualized through behavior and expression.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laibl-wolf/malchut-is-also-the-alma-d-itgalya-the-revealed-world-here-our-latent/) [Laibl Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laibl-wolf/) > [I would drink gallons of coffee a day. Even now, off caffeine, I talk faster than anyone you've ever met. I finally recognized that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-englander/i-would-drink-gallons-of-coffee-a-day-even-now-off-caffeine-i-talk/) [Nathan Englander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-englander/) > [The vision of the left, full of envy and resentment, takes its worst toll on those at the bottom - whether black or white…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/the-vision-of-the-left-full-of-envy-and-resentment-takes-its-worst/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [I doubt that we Americans can come to terms with our money neuroses without understanding the more florid pathology of the very rich for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-slater/i-doubt-that-we-americans-can-come-to-terms-with-our-money-neuroses/) [Philip Slater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-slater/) > [Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vince-lombardi/winning-is-a-habit-unfortunately-so-is-losing/) [Vince Lombardi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vince-lombardi/) > [“the mind-numbing routine. It was the castration of thought,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-howey/the-mind-numbing-routine-it-was-the-castration-of-thought/) [Hugh Howey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-howey/) > [By making conscious choices in our behavior and where we focus our attention, we can transform our experience of our body, decrease our biological…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/by-making-conscious-choices-in-our-behavior-and-where-we-focus-our/) [Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/) > [As you begin changing your thinking, start immediately to change your behaviour. Begin to act the part of the person you would like to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/as-you-begin-changing-your-thinking-start-immediately-to-change-your/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“When it comes to smarts, adolescents like Jesse have plenty. What they lack, however, are some of the brain-based skills that we all need…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-guare/when-it-comes-to-smarts-adolescents-like-jesse-have-plenty-what-they/) [Richard Guare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-guare/) > [“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/) > [We need to discover all over again that worship is natural to the Christian, as it was to the godly Israelites who wrote the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-i-packer/we-need-to-discover-all-over-again-that-worship-is-natural-to-the/) [J. I. Packer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-i-packer/) > [Chaos often breeds life, when order breeds habit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-adams/chaos-often-breeds-life-when-order-breeds-habit/) [Henry Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-adams/) > [“Prayer of an Anonymous Abbess: Lord, thou knowest better than myself that I am growing older and will soon be old. Keep me from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/prayer-of-an-anonymous-abbess-lord-thou-knowest-better-than-myself/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If you're in a meeting and a man talks loudly over you, rather than copying that behaviour and normalising it, what you could do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dawn-foster/if-you-re-in-a-meeting-and-a-man-talks-loudly-over-you-rather-than/) [Dawn Foster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dawn-foster/) > [Transparency pertains to impartial behavior, implies openness, communication, and accountability. Inculcate transparency in attitude and experience a life free of controversy and blame](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-anil-kr-sinha/transparency-pertains-to-impartial-behavior-implies-openness/) [Dr Anil Kr Sinha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-anil-kr-sinha/) [Browse all 12,567 Habits quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/habits/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Hold any particular thought in the mind persistently until it has formed grooves in the brain-tissue and become dominant in the brain structure, and you have permanently changed the character in that direction. You have only to change your mind to a desired direction, holding it there tenaciously until you have formed a new mental habit. 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