--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: You can kill a thinker, but you can't…" description: "\"“You can kill a thinker, but you can't kill the thought.”\" — Terry Hayes" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fcc/terry-hayes-16359_thinker_you-can-kill-a-thinker-but-you-can-t-kil_2766494.png" --- # You can kill a thinker, but you can't kill the thought. ![“You can kill a thinker, but you can't kill the thought.” quote by Terry Hayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fcc/terry-hayes-16359_thinker_you-can-kill-a-thinker-but-you-can-t-kil_2766494.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fcc/terry-hayes-16359_thinker_you-can-kill-a-thinker-but-you-can-t-kil_2766494.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fcc/terry-hayes-16359_thinker_you-can-kill-a-thinker-but-you-can-t-kil_2766494.png) > ““You can kill a thinker, but you can't kill the thought.”” [Terry Hayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-hayes/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Even if a thinker dies, their ideas persist and continue to influence. **In simple terms:** Ideas outlive thinkers. Key Takeaway Preserve and share ideas. Themes philosophy legacy freedom Mood inspirational reflective Type political cultural When to use this quote - education - cultural movements Key Concepts intellectual history memetics Questions to Reflect On - How do ideas survive oppression? - What protects intellectual freedom? A Different Perspective Ideas can be suppressed. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Philosophy of Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy-of-mind/) [Thinker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinker/) [Thought](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thought/) ## Related quotes > [“The individual who kills who they ‘are’ out of the belief that they are liberating who they are ‘not’ will eventually kill both. 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You know, I just felt that in a Godless universe, I didn't want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woody-allen/one-day-about-a-month-ago-i-really-hit-bottom-you-know-i-just-felt/) [Woody Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woody-allen/) > [“While she lay there with these old worn thoughts coming obediently into her mind, called there by habit and the familiar quiet of early…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stella-gibbons/while-she-lay-there-with-these-old-worn-thoughts-coming-obediently/) [Stella Gibbons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stella-gibbons/) > [“I saw him save the day dozens of times with nothing but his wits, body and will. But I saw something else as the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-timm/i-saw-him-save-the-day-dozens-of-times-with-nothing-but-his-wits-body/) [Bruce Timm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-timm/) > [“He thought about alone in Constantinople that time, having quarreled in Paris before he had gone out. He had whored the whole time and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/he-thought-about-alone-in-constantinople-that-time-having-quarreled/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“He doesn’t look like the kind of person that could kill anyone? She thought. - Immortal Door”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marion-tucker/he-doesn-t-look-like-the-kind-of-person-that-could-kill-anyone-she/) Marion Tucker > [“I cannot kill someone, he thought.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lois-lowry/i-cannot-kill-someone-he-thought/) [Lois Lowry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lois-lowry/) > [“I can't kill myself, I thought. I'm too insignificant. I'm nothing. I'm a thumbprint on the first-floor window of a skyscraper, a smudge of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-pickett/i-can-t-kill-myself-i-thought-i-m-too-insignificant-i-m-nothing-i-m-a/) [Rex Pickett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-pickett/) > [“Gregori stood his ground, his mind carefully blank. This was his life. His reason for existing. He was the dark justice necessary for his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christine-feehan/gregori-stood-his-ground-his-mind-carefully-blank-this-was-his-life/) [Christine Feehan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christine-feehan/) > [“A great thinker does not necessary have to discover a master idea but has to rediscover and to affirm a true but forgotten, ignored…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wan-mohd-nor-wan-daud/a-great-thinker-does-not-necessary-have-to-discover-a-master-idea-but/) [Wan Mohd Nor Wan Daud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wan-mohd-nor-wan-daud/) > [Thought determines action. Do not let your whole life be a reaction to the things that happen around you each day. Let your life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-kelly/thought-determines-action-do-not-let-your-whole-life-be-a-reaction-to/) [Matthew Kelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-kelly/) > [All that we are is the result of what we have thought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/all-that-we-are-is-the-result-of-what-we-have-thought/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Forgotten thought is the ultimate entropy!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-lintern/forgotten-thought-is-the-ultimate-entropy/) Neil Lintern ## More by Terry Hayes > [“with bee-stung lips and bolt-on boobs,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-hayes/with-bee-stung-lips-and-bolt-on-boobs/) [Terry Hayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-hayes/) > [“The interior of the arms dealer's private jet was so ugly it hurt my feelings as well as my eyeballs.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-hayes/the-interior-of-the-arms-dealer-s-private-jet-was-so-ugly-it-hurt-my/) [Terry Hayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-hayes/) > [“Protected by a security gate and an electronic keypad. You”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-hayes/protected-by-a-security-gate-and-an-electronic-keypad-you/) [Terry Hayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-hayes/) > [“the complex of seven luxurious homes, swimming pools and lavish stables was surrounded by a twelve-foot wall patrolled by what we believed to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-hayes/the-complex-of-seven-luxurious-homes-swimming-pools-and-lavish/) [Terry Hayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-hayes/) > [“so hot that the locals claimed a pervert was a man who preferred women to beer”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-hayes/so-hot-that-the-locals-claimed-a-pervert-was-a-man-who-preferred/) [Terry Hayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-hayes/) > [“The driver thought I was crazy—but then his religion thinks stoning a woman to death for adultery is reasonable, so I figured we were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-hayes/the-driver-thought-i-was-crazy-but-then-his-religion-thinks-stoning-a/) [Terry Hayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-hayes/) > [“Like people say—if you want to make God laugh, tell him you’ve got plans.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-hayes/like-people-say-if-you-want-to-make-god-laugh-tell-him-you-ve-got/) [Terry Hayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-hayes/) > [“I've always been pretty much on the outside of any side you can find.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-hayes/i-ve-always-been-pretty-much-on-the-outside-of-any-side-you-can-find/) [Terry Hayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-hayes/) > [“As a Turkish proverb says--it was going to be like digging a well with a needle.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-hayes/as-a-turkish-proverb-says-it-was-going-to-be-like-digging-a-well-with/) [Terry Hayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-hayes/) > [“was the maître d’ and, unlike his clientele he was class all the way: French was my guess, Berluti handmade shoes, lightweight Brioni suit,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-hayes/was-the-ma-tre-d-and-unlike-his-clientele-he-was-class-all-the-way/) [Terry Hayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-hayes/) > [“We wanted a labour force, but human beings came.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-hayes/we-wanted-a-labour-force-but-human-beings-came/) [Terry Hayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-hayes/) > [“ If Only --but it has been my unfortunate experience that you can't rely on divine intervention and that fate favors the bad as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-hayes/if-only-but-it-has-been-my-unfortunate-experience-that-you-can-t-rely/) [Terry Hayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-hayes/) > [“there was this book I'd read by somebody whose name I couldn't remember and he had this expression 'sorrow floats”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-hayes/there-was-this-book-i-d-read-by-somebody-whose-name-i-couldn-t/) [Terry Hayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-hayes/) > [“In war, the first casualty is truth.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-hayes/in-war-the-first-casualty-is-truth/) [Terry Hayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-hayes/) > [“Better not, I decided: hope was even more dangerous than despair. What”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-hayes/better-not-i-decided-hope-was-even-more-dangerous-than-despair-what/) [Terry Hayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-hayes/) [Explore all 38 Terry Hayes quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-hayes/) ## More Thinker quotes > [No accurate thinker will judge another person by that which the other person's enemies say about him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-hill/no-accurate-thinker-will-judge-another-person-by-that-which-the-other/) [Napoleon Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-hill/) > [The thinker is going to find a way to put clothes on his back.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marlon-cortez-stanfield/the-thinker-is-going-to-find-a-way-to-put-clothes-on-his-back/) [Marlon Cortez Stanfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marlon-cortez-stanfield/) > [“I am neither a philosopher nor a thinker, but simply follower of my own thoughts.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-f-moonzajer/i-am-neither-a-philosopher-nor-a-thinker-but-simply-follower-of-my/) [M.F. Moonzajer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-f-moonzajer/) > [It may be important to great thinkers to examine the world, to explain and despise it. But I think it is only important to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/it-may-be-important-to-great-thinkers-to-examine-the-world-to-explain/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [Autism is a big continuum, going from someone who remains nonverbal, all the way up to geniuses on Silicon Valley. And some kids are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/temple-grandin/autism-is-a-big-continuum-going-from-someone-who-remains-nonverbal/) [Temple Grandin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/temple-grandin/) > [“The same Sermon on the Mount that influenced Tolstoy to write “The Kingdom of God is Within You”, inspired me to a great extent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/the-same-sermon-on-the-mount-that-influenced-tolstoy-to-write-the/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [The benevolence of wrapping the partridge in a vine leaf brings out its quality, just as the barrel of Diogenes brought forth the qualities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmanuel-des-essarts/the-benevolence-of-wrapping-the-partridge-in-a-vine-leaf-brings-out/) Emmanuel des Essarts > [The herd instinct among forecasters makes sheep look like independent thinkers..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-fiedler/the-herd-instinct-among-forecasters-makes-sheep-look-like-independent/) [Edgar Fiedler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-fiedler/) > [Beware when the great God lets loose a thinker on this planet. Then all things are at risk. It is as when a conflagration…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/beware-when-the-great-god-lets-loose-a-thinker-on-this-planet-then/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [The bourgeois thinkers of the eighteenth century thus turned Aristotle's formula on its head: satisfactions which the Greek philosopher had identified with leisure were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/the-bourgeois-thinkers-of-the-eighteenth-century-thus-turned/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [Science will always raise philosophical questions like, is any scientific theory or model correct? How do we know? Are unobserved things real? etc. and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-crane/science-will-always-raise-philosophical-questions-like-is-any/) [Tim Crane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-crane/) > [Some writers are writing one great, big book and just taking all these different avenues towards it. They might seem on the outside to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chang-rae-lee/some-writers-are-writing-one-great-big-book-and-just-taking-all-these/) [Chang-Rae Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chang-rae-lee/) > [“I am not an individual – I am an idea – an idea of unity – an idea of harmony – an idea of humanhood above everything else.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/i-am-not-an-individual-i-am-an-idea-an-idea-of-unity-an-idea-of/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [You can think negatively or positively. If you are a positive thinker, you will base your decisions on faith rather than fear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-h-schuller/you-can-think-negatively-or-positively-if-you-are-a-positive-thinker/) [Robert H. Schuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-h-schuller/) > [Positive Thinkers get positive results because they appreciate the inestimable value of a day, this day, not the next day, but this day, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-vincent-peale/positive-thinkers-get-positive-results-because-they-appreciate-the/) [Norman Vincent Peale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-vincent-peale/) [Browse all 926 Thinker quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinker/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“You can kill a thinker, but you can't kill the thought.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Terry Hayes" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-hayes/you-can-kill-a-thinker-but-you-can-t-kill-the-thought/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Thinker" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-hayes/you-can-kill-a-thinker-but-you-can-t-kill-the-thought/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fcc/terry-hayes-16359_thinker_you-can-kill-a-thinker-but-you-can-t-kil_2766494.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fcc/terry-hayes-16359_thinker_you-can-kill-a-thinker-but-you-can-t-kil_2766494.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fcc/terry-hayes-16359_thinker_you-can-kill-a-thinker-but-you-can-t-kil_2766494.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“You can kill a thinker, but you can't kill the thought.” — Terry Hayes", "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": "Terry Hayes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-hayes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“You can kill a thinker, but...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-hayes/you-can-kill-a-thinker-but-you-can-t-kill-the-thought/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-hayes/you-can-kill-a-thinker-but-you-can-t-kill-the-thought/#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 } } ] } ```