Date: 1963

"I tried to think what I had loved knives for, but my mind slipped from the noose of the thought and swung, like a bird, in the center of empty air."

— Plath, Sylvia (1932-1963)

Date: 1965

"The ripe brain rotting like a yellow nut / Hatching / Its babel of sea-lice, sandfly, and maggot."

— Walcott, Derek (b. 1930)

Date: 1975, 1976

"The mind is like a monkey swinging from branch to branch through a forest, says the Sutra. In order not to lose sight of the monkey by some sudden movement, we must watch the monkey constantly and even to be one with it."

— Thich Nhat Hanh (b. October 11, 1926)

Date: 1975, 1976

"Wherever the mind goes, it still lies in the harness of the mind. The Sutra sometimes uses the expression "Bind the monkey" to refer to taking hold of the mind. But the monkey image is only a means of expression. Once the mind is directly and continually aware of itself, it is no longer like a m...

— Thich Nhat Hanh (b. October 11, 1926)

Date: 1978, 1979

"The discipline tying mind in that way to the meditative object is expressed by the simile of training an elephant, for example, a wild elephant is tied with many massive cords to a trunk or a post."

— Wayman, Alex

Date: 1978, 1979

"The mind is like the untrained elephant. When it is bound with the cord of mindfulness to the firm post of the previously discussed meditative object, [even] if it is unwilling to remain there, it is gradually brought under control, goaded by the hook of awareness."

— Wayman, Alex

Date: 1981

"What's my head but a rat's nest / of dubious texts?"

— Harwood, Gwen (1920-1995)

Date: 1983

Die Dogmatiker sind sonderbare Hyänen. Sie nähren sich vom Aas der Gedanken, die sie selbst getötet haben. [The dogmatists are strange hyenas They feed on the carrion of the thoughts that they themselves killed].

— Laub, Gabriel (1928-1998)

Date: 1984

"Each time the image of Deane's shattered head struck the rear wall of the office, Case was aware of another thought, something darker, hidden, that rolled away, diving like a fish, just beyond his reach."

— Gibson, William (b. 1948)

Date: 1984

"Wintermute was hive mind, decision maker, effecting change in the world outside."

— Gibson, William (b. 1948)