Reported from a Ray Bradbury address in The Salt Lake Tribune, April 16, 1971. Quote Investigator transcribes the exact two sentences; the newspaper original was not independently inspected.
“Don't think. Thinking is the enemy of creativity” — Attributed to Ray Bradbury; specific source transcribed by Quote Investigator, original not independently inspected.
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Provenance
The source
Source reported
“Instill Fun, College Writers Urged,” Salt Lake Tribune, April 16, 1971, p. 4B
Occasion
Rocky Mountain Collegiate Press Association banquet, as reported by Quote Investigator
Limit
Specialist transcription; original newspaper not read
The identified source is a twentieth-century work published after 1930. Only the short searched sentence is excerpted.
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Context
Why it mattered
The reported audience was a gathering of college journalists, and Bradbury urged them to make writing enjoyable. The period report transcribed by Quote Investigator ↗ distinguishes thinking before or after creation from trying to intellectualize the act while it is happening.
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Filed under
More provenance-checked quotes on the same theme, each with its reuse status.
Ray Bradbury wrote The Martian Chronicles and Fahrenheit 451, but also wrote about the practical pleasure of writing. In Zen in the Art of Writing, he collected essays urging writers to trust enthusiasm and keep working.
For writers & researchers
Cite this
The primary source (Chicago)
Bradbury, Ray. Remarks reported in “Instill Fun, College Writers Urged.” Salt Lake Tribune, April 16, 1971, 4B. Transcribed by Quote Investigator.
This verification page
Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘Don't think. Thinking is the enemy of creativity’?” Last verified 9 Nov 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/dont-think-thinking-is-the-enemy-of-creativity/