--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I once read a theory about ‘positive…" description: "\"“I once read a theory about ‘positive thinking’ that seems to be true or, at least, made a sufficient impression on me to remember it. I have always be..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/375/sally-brampton-19544_brick-wall_i-once-read-a-theory-about-positive-thin_500375.jpg" --- # I once read a theory about ‘positive thinking’ that seems… ![“I once read a theory about ‘positive thinking’ that seems to be true or, at least, made a sufficient impression on me to remember it. I have always been distrustful of positive thinking, believing it to be as fixed and unyielding as negative thinking. Yet it is the advice most often offered to…” quote by Sally Brampton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/375/sally-brampton-19544_brick-wall_i-once-read-a-theory-about-positive-thin_500375.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/375/sally-brampton-19544_brick-wall_i-once-read-a-theory-about-positive-thin_500375.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/375/sally-brampton-19544_brick-wall_i-once-read-a-theory-about-positive-thin_500375.jpg) > ““I once read a theory about ‘positive thinking’ that seems to be true or, at least, made a sufficient impression on me to remember it. I have always been distrustful of positive thinking, believing it to be as fixed and unyielding as negative thinking. Yet it is the advice most often offered to depressives. That it does not work seems not to occur to those who offer it up like some benevolent panacea. Perhaps it works for them or perhaps they are a product of some positive thinking gene pool. Who knows? Anywhere, here is the theory that helped me. I hope that it will help you too. Imagine you are driving a car, and you are heading straight for a brick wall. If you stay in habitual or rigid thinking (the kind of thinking that says, ‘this is the way I always do things’) and do not change the direction in the way you are headed, you will drive you car into the brick wall. Now imagine you are driving that same car towards that same brick wall. Now use positive thinking to imagine that wall is, in fact, a tunnel. It is not, of course, you simply hope or wish that it is a tunnel but it is the same old, intractable brick. You still drive your car into the wall. You are in the same car, facing the same wall except that you use creative or constructive thinking. You see the wall as an obstacle set dead ahead and see that it is solid and immoveable. You use your thinking to change direction and drive your car around it. Understanding that our thinking is not always helpful sounds so obvious and simple. So does changing our thinking, yet both are formidably difficult to do, perhaps because, most of the time, we never question it. We go right ahead and do what we have always done, in the same way we have always done it. We crash into relationships, mess up jobs, ruin friendships and all because we believe that our way is the right way. There is a saying: ‘I’d rather be right than happy.’ And here is another: ‘My way or no way.’ I see that wall as a symbol for an obstacle (or obstacles, there may be many) in our emotional make-up. If we go on behaving in the same way, we will crash. If we pretend that those obstacles in our character don’t exist, or are something else entirely, we will still crash. But if we acknowledge them and behave in a different way, we will come to a better and safer place. Or at least we will, until we meet the next obstacle.”” [Sally Brampton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sally-brampton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote illustrates that simply reframing a problem without changing actions does not solve it; true change requires altering behavior, not just mindset. **In simple terms:** Changing thoughts alone isn’t enough; you must change actions. Key Takeaway Adapt behavior, not just perspective. Themes self-improvement psychology mindset Mood reflective motivational Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - career decisions - personal relationships - health goals - conflict resolution Key Concepts cognitive flexibility behavioral change Questions to Reflect On - How can you turn insight into concrete change? - What habits keep you stuck in old patterns? A Different Perspective Positive thinking can become denial if not paired with action. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Brick wall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brick-wall/) [Driving A Car](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/driving-a-car/) [Negative thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/negative-thinking/) [Positive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/positive/) [Positive thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/positive-thinking/) [Right way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/right-way/) [Theory Helped](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/theory-helped-4261790/) [Theory Positive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/theory-positive-4261788/) [Thinking Advice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking-advice-4261789/) ## Related quotes > [“The Broaden-and-Build Theory in Positive Psychology suggests that positive emotions initiate upward spirals of positivity which contribute to our optimal well-being. 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Try never to abandon hope for if you do, hope will surely try to abandon you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sally-brampton/one-thing-i-know-is-true-try-never-to-abandon-hope-for-if-you-do-hope/) [Sally Brampton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sally-brampton/) > [“If our minds can hold us back, then they can push us forwards too.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sally-brampton/if-our-minds-can-hold-us-back-then-they-can-push-us-forwards-too/) [Sally Brampton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sally-brampton/) > [“Imagine saying to somebody that you have a life-threatening illness, such as cancer, and being told to pull yourself together or get over it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sally-brampton/imagine-saying-to-somebody-that-you-have-a-life-threatening-illness/) [Sally Brampton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sally-brampton/) > [“Bad enough to be ill, but to feel compelled to deny the very thing that, in its worst and most active state, defines you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sally-brampton/bad-enough-to-be-ill-but-to-feel-compelled-to-deny-the-very-thing/) [Sally Brampton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sally-brampton/) > [“What we resist, will persist.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sally-brampton/what-we-resist-will-persist/) [Sally Brampton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sally-brampton/) > [“Killing oneself is, anyway, a misnomer. 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It can only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glennon-doyle-melton/grief-is-nothing-but-a-painful-waiting-a-horrible-patience-grief/) [Glennon Doyle Melton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glennon-doyle-melton/) [Browse all 253 Brick wall quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brick-wall/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I once read a theory about ‘positive thinking’ that seems to be true or, at least, made a sufficient impression on me to remember it. I have always been distrustful of positive thinking, believing it to be as fixed and unyielding as negative thinking. Yet it is the advice most often offered to depressives. That it does not work seems not to occur to those who offer it up like some benevolent panacea. Perhaps it works for them or perhaps they are a product of some positive thinking gene pool. Who knows? Anywhere, here is the theory that helped me. I hope that it will help you too. Imagine you are driving a car, and you are heading straight for a brick wall. If you stay in habitual or rigid thinking (the kind of thinking that says, ‘this is the way I always do things’) and do not change the direction in the way you are headed, you will drive you car into the brick wall. Now imagine you are driving that same car towards that same brick wall. Now use positive thinking to imagine that wall is, in fact, a tunnel. It is not, of course, you simply hope or wish that it is a tunnel but it is the same old, intractable brick. You still drive your car into the wall. You are in the same car, facing the same wall except that you use creative or constructive thinking. You see the wall as an obstacle set dead ahead and see that it is solid and immoveable. You use your thinking to change direction and drive your car around it. Understanding that our thinking is not always helpful sounds so obvious and simple. So does changing our thinking, yet both are formidably difficult to do, perhaps because, most of the time, we never question it. We go right ahead and do what we have always done, in the same way we have always done it. We crash into relationships, mess up jobs, ruin friendships and all because we believe that our way is the right way. There is a saying: ‘I’d rather be right than happy.’ And here is another: ‘My way or no way.’ I see that wall as a symbol for an obstacle (or obstacles, there may be many) in our emotional make-up. If we go on behaving in the same way, we will crash. If we pretend that those obstacles in our character don’t exist, or are something else entirely, we will still crash. But if we acknowledge them and behave in a different way, we will come to a better and safer place. Or at least we will, until we meet the next obstacle.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sally Brampton" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sally-brampton/i-once-read-a-theory-about-positive-thinking-that-seems-to-be-true-or/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Brick wall" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sally-brampton/i-once-read-a-theory-about-positive-thinking-that-seems-to-be-true-or/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/375/sally-brampton-19544_brick-wall_i-once-read-a-theory-about-positive-thin_500375.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/375/sally-brampton-19544_brick-wall_i-once-read-a-theory-about-positive-thin_500375.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/375/sally-brampton-19544_brick-wall_i-once-read-a-theory-about-positive-thin_500375.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I once read a theory about ‘positive thinking’ that seems to be true or, at least, made a sufficient…” — Sally Brampton", "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": "Sally Brampton", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sally-brampton/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“I once read a theory about...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sally-brampton/i-once-read-a-theory-about-positive-thinking-that-seems-to-be-true-or/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sally-brampton/i-once-read-a-theory-about-positive-thinking-that-seems-to-be-true-or/#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 } } ] } ```