--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: O teach me how I should forget to think" description: "\"“O teach me how I should forget to think”\" — Sylvia Plath" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/60b/sylvia-plath-149_education_o-teach-me-how-i-should-forget-to-think_3126043.jpg" --- # O teach me how I should forget to think ![“O teach me how I should forget to think” quote by Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/60b/sylvia-plath-149_education_o-teach-me-how-i-should-forget-to-think_3126043.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/60b/sylvia-plath-149_education_o-teach-me-how-i-should-forget-to-think_3126043.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/60b/sylvia-plath-149_education_o-teach-me-how-i-should-forget-to-think_3126043.jpg) > ““O teach me how I should forget to think”” [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker seeks a method to stop overthinking, yearning for mental peace. **In simple terms:** Want to stop overthinking. Key Takeaway Practice mindfulness to quiet the mind. Themes mental health overthinking peace self‑control Mood introspective calm hopeful Type psychological inspirational When to use this quote - stress management - creative work - meditation - therapy - daily routines Key Concepts mindfulness cognitive restraint psychological relief Questions to Reflect On - How can you gently redirect intrusive thoughts? - What practices help you achieve mental calm? A Different Perspective Complete cessation of thought is unrealistic; some mental activity is necessary. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Forget](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forget/) [Forget Think](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forget-think-845412/) [Memory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memory/) [Teach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teach/) [Teach Forget](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teach-forget-939081/) [Think](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/think/) ## Related quotes > [O teach me how I should forget to think (1.1.224)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/o-teach-me-how-i-should-forget-to-think-1-1-224/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [The history of all times, and of today especially, teaches that...women will be forgotten if they forget to think about themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-history-of-all-times-and-of-today-especially-teaches-that-women/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“But I grow old and I forget your name. (I think I made you up inside my head.)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/but-i-grow-old-and-i-forget-your-name-i-think-i-made-you-up-inside-my/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [I fancied you'd return the way you said, But I grow old and I forget your name. (I think I made you up inside…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-fancied-you-d-return-the-way-you-said-but-i-grow-old-and-i-forget/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [Earth teach me to forget myself as melted snow forgets its life. Earth teach me resignation as the leaves which die in the fall.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-alexander/earth-teach-me-to-forget-myself-as-melted-snow-forgets-its-life-earth/) [William Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-alexander/) > [You teach me, I forget. You show me, I remember. You involve me, I understand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-teach-me-i-forget-you-show-me-i-remember-you-involve-me-i/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Many books are available for teach HOW TO LOVE SOMEONE But a single book is not available for teach HOW TO FORGET THE LOVEABLE 1.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritu-ghatourey/many-books-are-available-for-teach-how-to-love-someone-but-a-single/) [Ritu Ghatourey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritu-ghatourey/) > [You taught me how to love; you taught me how to live; you taught me how to laugh; you taught me how to cry,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-taught-me-how-to-love-you-taught-me-how-to-live-you-taught-me-how/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [You tought me how to love you. You tought me how to miss you. But you forgot to teach me how to forget you.!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-tought-me-how-to-love-you-you-tought-me-how-to-miss-you-but-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If you taught me how to love, then teach me how to forget what I feel for you...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-you-taught-me-how-to-love-then-teach-me-how-to-forget-what-i-feel/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Forget everything you think to know, because when it really matters, there is only one thing that can keep you alive. Magic.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cecilia-thoden-van-velzen/forget-everything-you-think-to-know-because-when-it-really-matters/) [Cecilia Thoden van Velzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cecilia-thoden-van-velzen/) > [Do not let anybody get in your way forget what others think about you and do your thing! Do what you want to do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/do-not-let-anybody-get-in-your-way-forget-what-others-think-about-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“He is Romeo, and he is heartbroken. Every word is wistful. When he says, 'O, teach me how I should forget to think!' I,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-lacour/he-is-romeo-and-he-is-heartbroken-every-word-is-wistful-when-he-says/) [Nina LaCour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-lacour/) > [Stop and think about it. Really think about it. What is it that you really want to do with your life? Forget what you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/stop-and-think-about-it-really-think-about-it-what-is-it-that-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [We need to forget what we think we are, so that we can really become what we are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/we-need-to-forget-what-we-think-we-are-so-that-we-can-really-become/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) ## More by Sylvia Plath > [“It was a queer, sultry summer, the summer they electrocuted the Rosenbergs, and I didn't know what I was doing in New York.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/it-was-a-queer-sultry-summer-the-summer-they-electrocuted-the/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [I love life. But it is hard and I have so much, so very much to learn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-love-life-but-it-is-hard-and-i-have-so-much-so-very-much-to-learn/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [... These are my hands My knees. I may be skin and bone, Nevertheless, I am the same, identical woman. ... --Lady Lazarus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/these-are-my-hands-my-knees-i-may-be-skin-and-bone-nevertheless-i-am/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [Sure, I’m dramatic and sloppily semi-cynical and semi-sentimental. But, in leisure years I could grow and choose my way. Now I am living on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/sure-i-m-dramatic-and-sloppily-semi-cynical-and-semi-sentimental-but/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“People were made of nothing so much as dust, and I couldn't see that doctoring all that dust was a bit better than writing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/people-were-made-of-nothing-so-much-as-dust-and-i-couldn-t-see-that/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“I couldn't stand the idea of a woman having to have a single pure life and a man being able to have a double…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-couldn-t-stand-the-idea-of-a-woman-having-to-have-a-single-pure/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [I saw the gooseflesh on my skin. I did not know what made it. I was not cold. Had a ghost passed over? No,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-saw-the-gooseflesh-on-my-skin-i-did-not-know-what-made-it-i-was-not/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [I have to live my life, and it is the only one I’ll ever have.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-have-to-live-my-life-and-it-is-the-only-one-i-ll-ever-have/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“The city had faded my tan, though. I looked yellow as a Chinaman. Ordinarily, I would have been nervous about my dress and my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/the-city-had-faded-my-tan-though-i-looked-yellow-as-a-chinaman/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [Joy:show joy & enjoy: then others will be joyful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/joy-show-joy-enjoy-then-others-will-be-joyful/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [A million years of evolution, Eric said bitterly, and what are we? Animals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/a-million-years-of-evolution-eric-said-bitterly-and-what-are-we/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“I have stitched life into me like a rare organ --from "Three Women: A Poem for Three Voices", written 1962”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-have-stitched-life-into-me-like-a-rare-organ-from-three-women-a/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [It is so much safer not to feel, not to let the world touch me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/it-is-so-much-safer-not-to-feel-not-to-let-the-world-touch-me/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“Flute Notes from a Reedy Pond" Now coldness comes sifting down, layer after layer, To our bower at the lily root. Overhead the old…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/flute-notes-from-a-reedy-pond-now-coldness-comes-sifting-down-layer/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“The most saddening thing is to admit that I am not in love. I can only love (if that means self denial - or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/the-most-saddening-thing-is-to-admit-that-i-am-not-in-love-i-can-only/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) [Explore all 1,098 Sylvia Plath quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) ## More Education quotes > [I put myself in the student's place and remember the frustrations, doubts, determination, and desires I felt when I was going through the initial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-martinez/i-put-myself-in-the-student-s-place-and-remember-the-frustrations/) [Ted Martinez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-martinez/) > [“In school you are taught to obey and not to think straight for your own good. Otherwise the world would be full of millionaires…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mwanandeke-kindembo/in-school-you-are-taught-to-obey-and-not-to-think-straight-for-your/) [Mwanandeke Kindembo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mwanandeke-kindembo/) > [For successful education there must always be a certain freshness in the knowledge dealt with. It must be either new in itself or invested…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/for-successful-education-there-must-always-be-a-certain-freshness-in/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [Where I grew up, learning was a collective activity. But when I got to school and tried to share learning with other students that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/where-i-grew-up-learning-was-a-collective-activity-but-when-i-got-to/) [Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/) > [There's no authoritarian structure at Reed College, but the education is conservative. So what you have is a lot of students who are very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-miller/there-s-no-authoritarian-structure-at-reed-college-but-the-education/) [Donald Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-miller/) > [“What's the best thing about being in college? Good teachers. They inspire you, they entertain you, and you end up learning a ton even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-sparks/what-s-the-best-thing-about-being-in-college-good-teachers-they/) [Nicholas Sparks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-sparks/) > [“If one has not a head of steel it will burst; if he has not within it a brain of liquid quicksilver, he will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ioannes-amos-commenius/if-one-has-not-a-head-of-steel-it-will-burst-if-he-has-not-within-it/) [Ioannes Amos Commenius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ioannes-amos-commenius/) > [“let us not teach / what we have learned badly / and not profited by”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-d-hilda-doolittle/let-us-not-teach-what-we-have-learned-badly-and-not-profited-by/) [H.D. (Hilda Doolittle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-d-hilda-doolittle/) > [“It took me years to learn to sit at my desk for more than two minutes at a time, to put up with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/it-took-me-years-to-learn-to-sit-at-my-desk-for-more-than-two-minutes/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [According to Plato, we don't learn anything. Our soul has lived so many lives that we know everything. Teachers and education can only remind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/according-to-plato-we-don-t-learn-anything-our-soul-has-lived-so-many/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [“I only began to enjoy studying after I got through the educational system and became a so-called member of society. If something interested me,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-only-began-to-enjoy-studying-after-i-got-through-the-educational/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If you had made the acquiring of ignorance the study of your life, you could not have graduated with higher honor than you could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/if-you-had-made-the-acquiring-of-ignorance-the-study-of-your-life-you/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [How wonderful it would be, I thought, if only we could practice the teachings of the Buddha as he really taught them from his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dzogchen-ponlop-rinpoche/how-wonderful-it-would-be-i-thought-if-only-we-could-practice-the/) [Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dzogchen-ponlop-rinpoche/) > [English teachers tend to put more thought in the books than the author did](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/english-teachers-tend-to-put-more-thought-in-the-books-than-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [When will society, like a mother, take care of all her children?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace-mann/when-will-society-like-a-mother-take-care-of-all-her-children/) [Horace Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace-mann/) [Browse all 37,666 Education quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“O teach me how I should forget to think”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sylvia Plath" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/o-teach-me-how-i-should-forget-to-think/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Education" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/o-teach-me-how-i-should-forget-to-think/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/60b/sylvia-plath-149_education_o-teach-me-how-i-should-forget-to-think_3126043.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/60b/sylvia-plath-149_education_o-teach-me-how-i-should-forget-to-think_3126043.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/60b/sylvia-plath-149_education_o-teach-me-how-i-should-forget-to-think_3126043.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“O teach me how I should forget to think” — Sylvia Plath", "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": "Sylvia Plath", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“O teach me how I should...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/o-teach-me-how-i-should-forget-to-think/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/o-teach-me-how-i-should-forget-to-think/#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 } } ] } ```