Date: 1949

"Rather, to relapse perforce into simile, it is supposed that mental processes are phosphorescent, like tropical sea-water, which makes itself visible by the light which it itself emits."

— Ryle, Gilbert (1900-1976)

Date: 1955, 1958

"It will be dark out there / with the Salvation Army Band. / And the mind its own illumination."

— Ferlinghetti, Lawrence. (b. 1919)

Date: 1975, 1976

"Mind contemplating mind is like an object and its shadow--the object cannot shake the shadow off. The two are one."

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

Date: 1992

"But his mind was eclipsed by the shadow of his father's presence."

— Edward St. Aubyn (b. 1960)

Date: 1999

"As the brain gets more complex in the womb, then, like a dimmer switch, consciousness gradually grows and burgeons until, of course, in adulthood it reaches its particular pinnacles or depths."

— Greenfield, Susan (b. 1950)

Date: 2006

"In power mindfulness, the mind is like a megawatt searchlight, enabling you to see so much deeper into what you are gazing at."

— Ajahn Brahm [born Peter Betts] (August 7, 1951)

Date: 2008

"In a sense, the mind works like a flashlight: When you point a flashlight at an object in a dark room, that object emerges from the darkness, as if coming into existence."

— Somov, Pavel G.