--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: My mind lets go a thousand things, Like…" description: "\"My mind lets go a thousand things, Like dates of wars and deaths of Kings\" — Thomas Bailey Aldrich" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b3a/thomas-bailey-aldrich-4098_death_my-mind-lets-go-a-thousand-things-like-d_1667785.png" --- # My mind lets go a thousand things, Like dates of wars and… ![“My mind lets go a thousand things, Like dates of wars and deaths of Kings” quote by Thomas Bailey Aldrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b3a/thomas-bailey-aldrich-4098_death_my-mind-lets-go-a-thousand-things-like-d_1667785.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b3a/thomas-bailey-aldrich-4098_death_my-mind-lets-go-a-thousand-things-like-d_1667785.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b3a/thomas-bailey-aldrich-4098_death_my-mind-lets-go-a-thousand-things-like-d_1667785.png) > “My mind lets go a thousand things, Like dates of wars and deaths of Kings” [Thomas Bailey Aldrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bailey-aldrich/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The mind drifts through countless historical details, reflecting its capacity for endless curiosity and memory. **In simple terms:** The mind jumps among many facts and dates. Key Takeaway Embrace curiosity, but focus when needed. Themes memory history curiosity mental wandering focus Mood contemplative nostalgic thoughtful Type philosophical literary reflective When to use this quote - studying history - writing - research - meditation - teaching Key Concepts Cognitive overload historical awareness creative thinking Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance curiosity with concentration? - What techniques help channel mental wandering productively? A Different Perspective Too much detail can overwhelm and distract from present tasks. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Kings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kings/) [Letting go](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/letting-go/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) [War and death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war-and-death/) [Wars](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wars/) ## Related quotes > [“You can read her mind only if she lets you. She will let you only if she loves you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tapan-ghosh/you-can-read-her-mind-only-if-she-lets-you-she-will-let-you-only-if/) [Tapan Ghosh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tapan-ghosh/) > [In a swamp, as in meditation, you begin to glimpse how elusive, how inherently insubstantial, how fleeting our thoughts are, our identities. There is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-hurd/in-a-swamp-as-in-meditation-you-begin-to-glimpse-how-elusive-how/) [Barbara Hurd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-hurd/) > [“The limitless mind lets us dream and examine and explore. It opens us up to opportunity. We come up with a desire, a clear,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorii-myers/the-limitless-mind-lets-us-dream-and-examine-and-explore-it-opens-us/) [Lorii Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorii-myers/) > [“Do everything with a mind that lets go. Don’t accept praise or gain or anything else. If you let go a little you a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ajahn-chah/do-everything-with-a-mind-that-lets-go-don-t-accept-praise-or-gain-or/) [Ajahn Chah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ajahn-chah/) > [The greatest meditation is a mind that lets go.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/atisa/the-greatest-meditation-is-a-mind-that-lets-go/) [Atisa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/atisa/) > [Do everything with a mind that lets go. Do not expect praise or reward.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ajahn-chah/do-everything-with-a-mind-that-lets-go-do-not-expect-praise-or-reward/) [Ajahn Chah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ajahn-chah/) > [You can go as far as your mind lets you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-kay-ash/you-can-go-as-far-as-your-mind-lets-you/) [Mary Kay Ash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-kay-ash/) > [Sometimes your mind lets you do things with your money that make no sense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suze-orman/sometimes-your-mind-lets-you-do-things-with-your-money-that-make-no/) [Suze Orman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suze-orman/) > [We need more leaders among our gente - more teachers, politicians, businesspeople, organizers, and such. Turn the energy that many young people are putting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luis-j-rodr-guez/we-need-more-leaders-among-our-gente-more-teachers-politicians/) [Luis J. Rodriguez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luis-j-rodr-guez/) > [“I am Elaine dughter of Barnard of Ascolat. Motherless. Sisterless. I sing these words to you now, because the point of light grows smaller…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-ann-sandell/i-am-elaine-dughter-of-barnard-of-ascolat-motherless-sisterless-i/) [Lisa Ann Sandell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-ann-sandell/) > [“You see, King, we have a legend - I used to believe that it was all fairy-tale rubbish and empty smoke. It is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/you-see-king-we-have-a-legend-i-used-to-believe-that-it-was-all-fairy/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [War's tragedy is that it uses man's best to do man's worst.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-emerson-fosdick/war-s-tragedy-is-that-it-uses-man-s-best-to-do-man-s-worst/) [Harry Emerson Fosdick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-emerson-fosdick/) > [These warriors of the Sacred Band were inscrutable; they loved their war and death and picking through the bones of time to sort out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-morris/these-warriors-of-the-sacred-band-were-inscrutable-they-loved-their/) [Janet Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-morris/) > [“Their language was an old wild language. They had known incredible loves and dark adventures and the twisted streets of alien cities. They had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winifred-holtby/their-language-was-an-old-wild-language-they-had-known-incredible/) [Winifred Holtby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winifred-holtby/) > [The basis of tragedy is man's helplessness against disease, war and death; the basis of comedy is man's helplessness against vanity (the vanity of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dawn-powell/the-basis-of-tragedy-is-man-s-helplessness-against-disease-war-and/) [Dawn Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dawn-powell/) ## More by Thomas Bailey Aldrich > [No bird has ever uttered note That was not in some first bird's throat; Since Eden's freshness and man's fall No rose has been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bailey-aldrich/no-bird-has-ever-uttered-note-that-was-not-in-some-first-bird-s/) [Thomas Bailey Aldrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bailey-aldrich/) > [There is no man at once so unselfish and selfish as a man in love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bailey-aldrich/there-is-no-man-at-once-so-unselfish-and-selfish-as-a-man-in-love/) [Thomas Bailey Aldrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bailey-aldrich/) > [I have frequently noticed how circumstances conspire to help a man, or a boy, when he has thoroughly resolved on doing a thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bailey-aldrich/i-have-frequently-noticed-how-circumstances-conspire-to-help-a-man-or/) [Thomas Bailey Aldrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bailey-aldrich/) > [Everywhere on the Continent, the tourist is looked upon as a bird to be plucked, and presently the bird himself feebly comes to regard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bailey-aldrich/everywhere-on-the-continent-the-tourist-is-looked-upon-as-a-bird-to/) [Thomas Bailey Aldrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bailey-aldrich/) > [Imagine all human beings swept off the face of the earth, excepting one man. Imagine this man in some vast city, New York or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bailey-aldrich/imagine-all-human-beings-swept-off-the-face-of-the-earth-excepting/) [Thomas Bailey Aldrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bailey-aldrich/) > [The possession of gold has ruined fewer men than the lack of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bailey-aldrich/the-possession-of-gold-has-ruined-fewer-men-than-the-lack-of-it/) [Thomas Bailey Aldrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bailey-aldrich/) > [“..Fell over the prostrate steersman, and there we all lay in a heep, two or three of us quite picturesque with the nosebleed.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bailey-aldrich/fell-over-the-prostrate-steersman-and-there-we-all-lay-in-a-heep-two/) [Thomas Bailey Aldrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bailey-aldrich/) > [A man should have duties outside of himself; without them, he is a mere balloon, inflated with thin egotism and drifting nowhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bailey-aldrich/a-man-should-have-duties-outside-of-himself-without-them-he-is-a-mere/) [Thomas Bailey Aldrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bailey-aldrich/) > [Great thoughts in crude, unshapely verse set forth lose half their preciousness, and ever must, unless the diamond with its own rich dust be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bailey-aldrich/great-thoughts-in-crude-unshapely-verse-set-forth-lose-half-their/) [Thomas Bailey Aldrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bailey-aldrich/) > [So I sit there kicked my heels, thinking about New Orleans, and watching a morbid blue-bottle fly attempt to commit suicide by butting his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bailey-aldrich/so-i-sit-there-kicked-my-heels-thinking-about-new-orleans-and/) [Thomas Bailey Aldrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bailey-aldrich/) > [What is more cheerful, now, in the fall of the year, than an open-wood-fire? Do you hear those little chirps and twitters coming out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bailey-aldrich/what-is-more-cheerful-now-in-the-fall-of-the-year-than-an-open-wood/) [Thomas Bailey Aldrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bailey-aldrich/) > [Decoration Day is the most beautiful of our national holidays… The grim cannon have turned into palm branches, and the shell and shrapnel into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bailey-aldrich/decoration-day-is-the-most-beautiful-of-our-national-holidays-the/) [Thomas Bailey Aldrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bailey-aldrich/) > [Famous old houses seem to have an intuitive perception of the value of corner lots. If it is a possible thing, they always set…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bailey-aldrich/famous-old-houses-seem-to-have-an-intuitive-perception-of-the-value/) [Thomas Bailey Aldrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bailey-aldrich/) > [Every man has within himself a gold mine whose riches are limited only by his own industry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bailey-aldrich/every-man-has-within-himself-a-gold-mine-whose-riches-are-limited/) [Thomas Bailey Aldrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bailey-aldrich/) > [The fate of the worm refutes the pretended ethical teaching of the proverb, which assumes to illustrate the advantage of early rising and does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bailey-aldrich/the-fate-of-the-worm-refutes-the-pretended-ethical-teaching-of-the/) [Thomas Bailey Aldrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bailey-aldrich/) [Explore all 116 Thomas Bailey Aldrich quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bailey-aldrich/) ## More Death quotes > [“He wondered how it was fair that your dying should depend so much on when you were born.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/he-wondered-how-it-was-fair-that-your-dying-should-depend-so-much-on/) [Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/) > [What sets worlds in motion is the interplay of differences, their attractions and repulsions. Life is plurality, death is uniformity. By suppressing differences and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/what-sets-worlds-in-motion-is-the-interplay-of-differences-their/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [Most of us are convinced that we are our egos, which is who we think we are. The ego is part of our incarnation.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ram-dass/most-of-us-are-convinced-that-we-are-our-egos-which-is-who-we-think/) [Ram Dass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ram-dass/) > [I do not want to live at the cost of the life even of a snake. I should let him bite me to death…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/i-do-not-want-to-live-at-the-cost-of-the-life-even-of-a-snake-i/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [“It was beautiful. He thought he had never seen anything so beautiful in all his life; that, having seen it, he could die content,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mira-grant/it-was-beautiful-he-thought-he-had-never-seen-anything-so-beautiful/) [Mira Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mira-grant/) > [Retirement? You're talking about death, right?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-altman/retirement-you-re-talking-about-death-right/) [Robert Altman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-altman/) > [With multiplayer, permanent death, and an ever-changing world to explore and conquer, 'A Valley Without Wind' might be the place you're looking for if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-manuel/with-multiplayer-permanent-death-and-an-ever-changing-world-to/) [Rob Manuel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-manuel/) > [“What did you see?” she asked gently. His brow furrowed, as if he could not understand the question. Then his eyes turned to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-anthony-torino/what-did-you-see-she-asked-gently-his-brow-furrowed-as-if-he-could/) J. Anthony Torino > [Those whose life is long still strive for gain, and for all mortals all things take second place to money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophocles/those-whose-life-is-long-still-strive-for-gain-and-for-all-mortals/) [Sophocles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophocles/) > [“I practice Dying--every night-- But have not learned to, still-- Though Talented--by Mortal bones-- For such a common Skill.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-w-powers/i-practice-dying-every-night-but-have-not-learned-to-still-though/) Alan W. Powers > [“You must understand the pain and grief of losing someone is nothing more than a function of survival.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-cooper/you-must-understand-the-pain-and-grief-of-losing-someone-is-nothing/) [Steven Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-cooper/) > [I am not a depressive person at all, but I reflect a lot on my life, and life in general, from the perspective of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/i-am-not-a-depressive-person-at-all-but-i-reflect-a-lot-on-my-life/) [Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/) > [“Death is a reality that calls the rest of life and all of our assorted strivings into sharp relief.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-d-lounsbrough/death-is-a-reality-that-calls-the-rest-of-life-and-all-of-our/) [Craig D. Lounsbrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-d-lounsbrough/) > [I love life. I love life to death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmanuelle-riva/i-love-life-i-love-life-to-death/) [Emmanuelle Riva](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmanuelle-riva/) > [I think when you’re dying you start looking for important things in the corners. You can’t let anything that seems even semi-important pass, because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-crutcher/i-think-when-you-re-dying-you-start-looking-for-important-things-in/) [Chris Crutcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-crutcher/) [Browse all 39,127 Death quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "My mind lets go a thousand things, Like dates of wars and deaths of Kings", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Thomas Bailey Aldrich" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bailey-aldrich/my-mind-lets-go-a-thousand-things-like-dates-of-wars-and-deaths-of/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Death" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bailey-aldrich/my-mind-lets-go-a-thousand-things-like-dates-of-wars-and-deaths-of/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b3a/thomas-bailey-aldrich-4098_death_my-mind-lets-go-a-thousand-things-like-d_1667785.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b3a/thomas-bailey-aldrich-4098_death_my-mind-lets-go-a-thousand-things-like-d_1667785.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b3a/thomas-bailey-aldrich-4098_death_my-mind-lets-go-a-thousand-things-like-d_1667785.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“My mind lets go a thousand things, Like dates of wars and deaths of Kings” — Thomas Bailey Aldrich", "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": "Thomas Bailey Aldrich", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bailey-aldrich/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "My mind lets go a thousand...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bailey-aldrich/my-mind-lets-go-a-thousand-things-like-dates-of-wars-and-deaths-of/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bailey-aldrich/my-mind-lets-go-a-thousand-things-like-dates-of-wars-and-deaths-of/#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 } } ] } ```