Bank of Texts

Here you can find examples of texts recommended for the thinking classroom.

The Time Turtle by Matthew Lipman

B-r-r-r-ing! Tommy picked up the telephone. “Hello,” he said, in small voice. The voice on the other end of the telephone said, “Hello! This is your chance of a lifetime! All I want you to do is give me a minute!” The person calling spoke so slowly that Tommy thought, You've already taken a minute! But aloud he said, “I'll go get my father. Who should I say is calling?” “I,” said the caller, “am the Time Turtle. Don't get your father! I want to talk to you! All I want you to do is give me a minute of your time!” <...>

A story about the value of time written by a famous educator Matthew Lipman, the author of Philosophy for Children movement.

Football is like... by Nick Hornby

The trouble with the orgasm as metaphor here is that the orgasm, though obviously pleasurable, is familiar, repeatable (within a couple of hours if you've been eating your greens), and predictable, particularly for a man - if you're having sex then you know what's coming, as it were.<...>

An excerpt from Nick Hornby's novel Fever Pitch is about possible metaphors to describe the feelings one has when watching a football match.

Sorting Out by Nick Hornby

'Well, I fancied you. You were a DJ, and I thought you were groovy, and I didn't have a boyfriend, and I wanted one.' 'So you weren't interested in the music at all?' 'Well, yes. A bit. And more so then than I am now. That's life, though, isn't it?' 'But you see . . . That's all there is of me. There isn't anything else. If you've lost interest in that, you've lost interest in everything. What's the point of us?' <...>

An excerpt from Nick Hornby's novel High Fidelity is about a couple sorting out theie relationship.

Men's Worries by Nick Hornby

Look at all the things that can go wrong for men. There's the nothing-happening-at-all problem, the too-much-happening-too-soon problem, the dismal-droop-after-a-promising beginning problem; there's the size-doesn't-matter-except-in-my-case problem, the failing-todeliver-the-goods problem . . . and what do women have to worry about? A handful of cellulite? <...>

An excerpt from Nick Hornby's novel High Fidelity lists things men often worry about.

A Truly Memorable Game by Nick Hornby

For a match to be really, truly memorable, the kind of game that sends you home buzzing inside with the fulfilment of it all, you require as many of the following features as possible <...>

In this abstract from Fever Pitch, the narrator describes what makes a football game a trule memorable event.

The 10 Rules for Simplicity

Rule 2. You must be determined to seek simplicity. You must be motivated and determined to make an active effort to make things more simple. It is not enough just to appreciate simplicity if it is there. You need to make things simple in an active way. Simplicity is not a peripheral luxury that is 'added on' to other things. <...>

An excerpt from Edward de Bono's book Simplicty gives a guideline on what is necessary to keep things simple.

Thinking: what's your choice by Edward de Bono

<...> Thinking is like walking or breathing. There is nothing we need to do about it. There is nothing we can do about it. Any interference with it will only make it awkward and artificial and inhibited by self-consciousness. If you are intelligent you are a good thinker. If you are not intelligent it is too bad and you should listen to someone who is. <...>

An excerpt from Edward de Bono's novel proposes two possible view on thinking.

Fixing vs changing directions by Edward de Bono

Imagine a ship at sea that is in trouble. The lights keep going out. The engine is faltering. The rudder is unreliable. The first mate is drunk. The crew is very demoralised. The service is appalling. The passengers on the ship are very dissatisfied. <...>

The text offers a ship metaphor to illustrate the difference about the level of changes that need to be introduced in a problem situation.

Software for the brain by Edward de Bono

There are hundreds of companies and thousands of people writing software for computers. What about the human computer? What about the human brain? How many people are writing software for the human brain? Not many at all. <...>

A short excerpt from Edward de Bono's book offers to brain software metaphor for teaching thinking.

Tail by A.A.Milne

Eeyore was sitting with his tail in the water when they all got back to him. "Tell Roo to be quick, somebody," he said. "My tail's getting cold. I don't want to mention it, but I just mention it. I don't want to complain, but there it is. My tail's cold." <...>

An except from a famous book about adventures of Winnie-the-Pooh is about Eeyore's tail.