"Thought is a strenuous art - few practice it, and then only at rare times"
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“Thought is a strenuous art” lands like a rebuke dressed up as observation. Ben-Gurion, a statesman who spent his life turning argument into infrastructure, isn’t praising contemplation in the abstract; he’s warning that real thinking is work, and most people dodge work when habit, ideology, or panic offers an easier route.
Calling thought an “art” is strategic. Art isn’t automatic, and it isn’t evenly distributed. It demands training, discipline, and the willingness to be judged by results. The adjective “strenuous” pushes back against the comforting myth that having opinions equals thinking. For a political leader, that distinction matters: nations don’t fail because citizens lack feelings; they fail because leaders confuse impulse for analysis, loyalty for strategy, rhetoric for reality.
The second clause sharpens the blade: “few practice it, and then only at rare times.” Ben-Gurion isn’t exempting himself; he’s describing the human tendency to outsource thinking to party lines, tradition, and charismatic certainty. It’s also a quiet critique of political culture, where constant decision-making can produce the illusion of constant thinking. In practice, governance rewards speed, confidence, and coalition-management more than the slow, lonely labor of doubt.
Context matters: a founder of the modern Israeli state speaking from an era of war, state-building, and existential stakes. When consequences are high, the temptation is to cling to slogans. Ben-Gurion insists the opposite: that the moments most likely to reduce thinking are the moments that most require it.
Calling thought an “art” is strategic. Art isn’t automatic, and it isn’t evenly distributed. It demands training, discipline, and the willingness to be judged by results. The adjective “strenuous” pushes back against the comforting myth that having opinions equals thinking. For a political leader, that distinction matters: nations don’t fail because citizens lack feelings; they fail because leaders confuse impulse for analysis, loyalty for strategy, rhetoric for reality.
The second clause sharpens the blade: “few practice it, and then only at rare times.” Ben-Gurion isn’t exempting himself; he’s describing the human tendency to outsource thinking to party lines, tradition, and charismatic certainty. It’s also a quiet critique of political culture, where constant decision-making can produce the illusion of constant thinking. In practice, governance rewards speed, confidence, and coalition-management more than the slow, lonely labor of doubt.
Context matters: a founder of the modern Israeli state speaking from an era of war, state-building, and existential stakes. When consequences are high, the temptation is to cling to slogans. Ben-Gurion insists the opposite: that the moments most likely to reduce thinking are the moments that most require it.
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| Topic | Deep |
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