Train of thought - wikipedia Train of thought This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( April 2014 ) For other uses, see Train of thought ( disambiguation ). The train of thought or track of thought refers to the interconnection in the sequence of ideas expressed during a connected discourse or thought, as well as the sequence itself, especially in discussion how this sequence leads from one idea to another. When a reader or listener `` loses the train of thought '' ( i.e., loses the relation between consecutive sentences or phrases, or the relation between non-verbal concepts in an argument or presentation ), comprehension is lost of the expressed or unexpressed thought. The term `` train of thoughts '' was introduced and elaborated as early as in 1651 by Thomas Hobbes in his Leviathan, though with a somewhat different meaning ( similar to the meaning used by the British associationists ) : By Consequence, or train of thoughts, I understand that succession of one thought to another which is called, to distinguish it from discourse in words, mental discourse. When a man thinketh on anything whatsoever, his next thought after is not altogether so casual as it seems to be. Not every thought to every thought succeeds indifferently. -- Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan, The First Part : Of Man, Chapter III : Of the Consequence or Train of Imagination See also Absent - mindedness Association of Ideas Associationism Derailment ( thought disorder ) Internal monologue Mind - wandering Stream of consciousness References Jump up ^ Edward Parmelee Morris, `` On Principles and Methods in Latin Syntax '' ( 1901 ), Chapter VI : Parataxis Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Train_of_thought&oldid=807728512 '' Categories : Logic Cognition Consciousness studies Hidden categories : Articles needing additional references from April 2014 All articles needing additional references Talk About Wikipedia עברית Português Edit links This page was last edited on 29 October 2017, at 20 : 21. About Wikipedia

Question: where does the phrase train of thought come from
Answer: introduced and elaborated as early as in 1651 by Thomas Hobbes in his Leviathan; Thomas Hobbes in his Leviathan