abstract thought, n.All

Abstract thought (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠a brake, not an engine: it calculates, shows the complications, and says no, while perception drags you along and only the image steers.

Abstract thought (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠what a parochial Berlin schoolmaster gets: a life as abstract as his thinking, which confronts him as a fixed power and a momentary escape from his "bad world".