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How noiseless is thought! No rolling of drums, no tramp of squadrons, or immeasurable tumult of baggage-waggons, attends its movements; in what obscure and sequestered places may the head be meditating which is one day to be crowned with more than imperial authority; for kings and emperors will be among its ministering servants; it will rule not over, but in all heads, and bend the world to its will.

How noiseless is thought! No rolling of drums, no tramp of squadrons, or immeasurable tumult of baggage-waggons, attends its movements; in what obscure and sequestered places may the head be meditating which is one day to be crowned with more than imperial authority; for kings and emperors will be among its ministering servants; it will rule not over, but in all heads, and bend the world to its will.

Approximate author period: c. 1838 AD · industrial

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Attribution & collection notes
Author or tradition
Thomas Carlyle
Attribution: attributed
Country attributed
Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin.
Historical period
Approximate author period: c. 1838 AD · industrial
author lifetime midpoint (1795–1881)
An author lifetime, approximate period or collection date is not necessarily the date when these words were first written or spoken.
Recorded source
Dictionary of Quotations (1893) (1893 AD)

Printed citation: Carlyle. · page_162

A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.