"Make every thought, every fact, that comes into your mind pay you a profit. Make it work and produce for you. Think of things not as they are but as they might be. Don't merely dream - but create!"
About this Quote
The subtext is an impatience with passivity. Collier draws a bright line between “dream” and “create,” treating dreaming as a kind of emotional indulgence unless it’s converted into output. “Make it work and produce for you” reads like a precursor to today’s hustle rhetoric: monetize your curiosity, optimize your mindset, turn insight into a lever. There’s a bracing optimism here, but also a quiet suspicion that life will not reward you unless you extract value first.
“Think of things not as they are but as they might be” provides the moral alibi. He’s not only advocating profit; he’s pitching possibility as a discipline. That’s why it works rhetorically: it flatters ambition while making practicality feel visionary. Collier offers a simple bargain - creativity with a cash register attached - and makes it sound like freedom.
Quote Details
| Topic | Motivational |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Collier, Robert. (2026, January 18). Make every thought, every fact, that comes into your mind pay you a profit. Make it work and produce for you. Think of things not as they are but as they might be. Don't merely dream - but create! FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/make-every-thought-every-fact-that-comes-into-8880/
Chicago Style
Collier, Robert. "Make every thought, every fact, that comes into your mind pay you a profit. Make it work and produce for you. Think of things not as they are but as they might be. Don't merely dream - but create!" FixQuotes. January 18, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/make-every-thought-every-fact-that-comes-into-8880/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"Make every thought, every fact, that comes into your mind pay you a profit. Make it work and produce for you. Think of things not as they are but as they might be. Don't merely dream - but create!" FixQuotes, 18 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/make-every-thought-every-fact-that-comes-into-8880/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.








