great minds think alike
great minds think alike
Meaning
- Thoughts of very intelligent people are similar to each other
- Intelligent people come up with the same ideas at the same time.
- Used playfully to imply that two people have the same views
Example Sentences
- The two of us had the same idea at the same time. Well, great minds think alike!
- “Let's break for lunch.” “I was thinking of the same thing, great minds think alike!”
- Its strange how two different people wrote about the same thing in different places and arrived at similar conclusions! Indeed, great minds think alike.
- While it is said that great minds think alike; it is also true that great minds are great because they think differently from others.
- Both of us made the same decision. Good, great minds think alike.
Origin
The phrase, in this exact form, is found in Carl Theodor von Unlanski's biography “The woful history of the unfortunate Eudoxia” in 1816. The idea behind the phrase, however, is older, and dates back to the 17th century.
It is believed by some that this phrase is the shortened form of another one, which is “great minds think alike, small minds rarely differ” or “great minds think alike, and fools seldom differ”, however, this version changes the meaning of the phrase.