What is Called Thinking? Quotes
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Source: What is Called Thinking?
Author: Martin Heidegger
The most thought-provoking thing in our thought-provoking time is that we are still not thinking.
Context
This quote is taken from the philosophical book What is Called Thinking?, published by Martin Heidegger in 1976.
What do you think, Shmoopers? Wait, let's rephrase that: how do you know that you're thinking in the first place? Many of us might take thinking for granted, or at least we like to think we know what thinking actually is. But according to Heidegger in this book, we need to look more deeply at what we mean when we say "thinking." After all, some types of thinking are no doubt more… thinky than others.
That's why Heidegger finds it so sad that, in the modern age, when there's so much cool stuff to think about, very few people actually do any real thinking. This of course makes you want to ask, "So what is real thinking then?" And as the title of the book might tell you, that's what Heidegger is interested in figuring out.
Where you've heard it
It's unlikely that you've heard this quote anywhere other than the inside of a philosophy classroom, since there's still a ton of debate over what it actually means. But if you did hear it on the street, chances are that you'd heard it from some person who was talking smack about how dumb modern people are and how the world of social media and all that junk makes us into a bunch of unthinking zombies. That's probably not what Heidegger was going for, but unfortunately he's not around anymore to clear things up.
Pretentious Factor
If you were to drop this quote at a dinner party, would you get an in-unison "awww" or would everyone roll their eyes and never invite you back? Here it is, on a scale of 1-10.
For starters, you're quoting something that's pretty wordy. On top of that, you're quoting a phrase that basically talks down to every member of modern society by calling them a bunch of non-thinkers. If you're willing to include yourself in this group, you might get some more sympathy. But if you're using this quote just to remind people of how little they actually think about stuff, then… yeah, don't expect a warm reception.