History Main / ThoughtAversionFailure

This phenomenon is actually a direct result of how the human brain is wired. Neurons that are used to interpret words like "elephant" have synaptic connections to the neurons used to picture and think about the concepts those words represent; if they ''weren't'', verbal language itself probably couldn't function. See LanguageEqualsThought.

* "TheGame". This is an internet fad that uses this trope as its very core: You lost The Game when you think about it. So it's popular to see someone in the internet saying "you lost The Game" or just "The Game" to make someone lose. This, of course, also means that ''they'' lost too, since one must think about The Game in order to write about The Game. Basically, FailureIsTheOnlyOption. It's generally accepted you have a while to forget thinking about it, such as 5 minutes.

* In ''Series/TheTwilghtZone'' episode "Cold Reading" an African doll used as a prop causes everything mentioned in a live 1930s radio serial to come true in the studio- and since it's an adventure show set in Africa, the actors have to be very careful about what they say. They manage successfully until the end, when the announcer says to tune in to next week's show- "Invaders from Mars". Cue spaceship crashing through wall.

%% Image selected via crowner in the Image Suggestion thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/crowner.php/ImagePickin/ImageSuggestions82
%% Please do not change or remove without starting a new thread.

* This idea is incorporated into the powers of Pakunoda of the Phantom Troupe in ''Manga/HunterXHunter.'' Her ability as a LivingLieDetector works by asking a person questions while she is physically touching them, allowing her to read their memories as they answer. Even if you know full well going in that the question she's going to ask is one you ''don't'' want to answer, you won't be able to help thinking of the answer as soon as she asks the question, giving her what she wants regardless of whether you're honest or not.

* In ''ComicBook/UltimateSpiderMan'', Jean Grey congratulates Peter Parker on being the first man she's met in months who didn't visualize her naked. We then get [[OverlyLongGag a page and a half]] of Peter making increasingly awkward faces while Jean looks more and more disgusted and angry. [[FridgeLogic You'd think a telepath would have a better understanding of how people's minds work]].

* At the climax of the ''ComicBook/EmperorJoker'' storyline, ComicBook/{{Superman}} mentions this when he finally has his EurekaMoment and realizes the "rule" that lets him defeat ComicBook/TheJoker: [[spoiler:Joker has his own "white elephant" -- ComicBook/{{Batman}}, without whom he can't even define his own existence. Which means that even if he has [[MadGod godlike powers]], Batman's really the one in charge and Joker's nothing more than an annoyance.]]
-->'''Superman:''' White elephants...the joke -- "Don't think of white elephants...?" And it's all you can think of. White elephants.\\

* In the ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'' storyline "The Ends of the Earth", this is how Spidey takes control of Sandman's form. As he explains "''This'' I don't mind telling you. In fact, you knowing only helps. You just got ''pink hippo-ed'', Sandy. We're transmitting images across your brainwaves, putting pictures in your head. Try ''not'' thinking about 'em!".
* In the ''[[Magazine/RedDwarf Red Dwarf Smegazine]]'' strip "Living Memory", the crew comes across a machine that turns memories into reality. Lister decides to use it to recreate Kochanski. As he's doing this, Holly tells to "try not to think about any six-eyed, carnivorous, raging swamp beasts and everything'll be all right. Naturally, Lister thinks about this instead and conjures up said creature.

-->'''Hobbes''': He imagined it.
* In one ''ComicStrip/TheFarSide'' strip, a man visiting a hospital patient in a plaster cast says, "You're not itching anywhere are you? Because you can't scratch you know. Don't even think about itching, it'll drive you nuts".

* In ''FanFic/TheLastSon'', one of the Martian Manhunter's favorite ways to telepathically extract information from someone is to simply get right in their face and tell them ''not'' to think about what he wants to know.
* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13751104/20/Time-Left-Today Time Left Today]]'' Harry plays at being a Legilimens by telling Snape not to think of pink elephants and then pretending to read his mind.
-->'''Harry:''' You're thinking of—pink elephants.\\
'''Snape:''' My, my. Astonishing. A natural Leglimens.
* ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/5790760/6/Searching-For-The-Power Searching For The Power]]'':
-->'''Harry:''' After you order your thoughts it will be harder for a Legilimens to access your memories without first figuring out how you organized them. He will still be able to get at the thoughts you haven't sorted yet though. And you know how the strangest thoughts can pop into your head without you meaning to think about them. Like if I said 'Don't think of an elephant.' What was the first thing that popped into your head?
* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/6745002/1/The-Beginning-of-Reality?__cf_chl_jschl_tk__=6_gyVDa7G1aCbn7rGtVXfUkr40Ebwd9l8p_bkGwS_eE-1637651918-0-gaNycGzNCJE The Beginning of Reality]]'' Harry and Draco are under mental attack by an unknown entity and Harry tries to transport them to a safe, non-embarrassing dream location. They end up witnessing his kiss with Cho.
-->Draco pursed his lips. Apparently when Harry was thinking 'nothing embarrassing', he must have accidentally taken them to when he was kissing some girl. Draco would need to tell him that purposely 'not thinking' about something immediately brought it to the forefront of your mind. It was like telling yourself not to think about big pink elephants. Obviously big pink elephants would show up in your head.

-->''Bruno says "It looks like rain"''\\
''In doing so, he floods my brain''\\
''Married in a hurricane!''

* In the 2010 version of ''Film/TheVoyageOfTheDawnTreader'', Lord Rhoop essentially says "Whatever you do, don't think about your greatest fear!"
* In the film of ''Film/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'', on the barren plains of the planet Vogsphere, a massive flyswatter comes up and whacks you in the face every time you get an idea about something (this is used to explain why the Vogons have such flat, stubby noses, and why they have such a conformist, imagination-hating culture). After Arthur Dent, Ford Prefect and Zaphod Beeblebrox have caught onto this, Ford declares "Okay, don't think. Nobody think. No ideas, no theories, no nothing." {{Beat}} and then everyone is swatted simultaneously.

* A guy has an impotence problem. One day, late at night, he's sitting in a bar, very drunk and complains about his problem. Then some sleazy guy appears and tells him: "I have some special medicine for you! It costs 1000 bucks, but it'll cure you forever! Just swallow it and wait for five minutes - but remember one thing: You mustn't think of a rhinoceros during that time, or it won't work!" Guess how it turns out.

** Subverted in one of the novels featuring Tiffany Aching, where Granny Weatherwax [[BadAssBoast proudly proclaims]] that she is "perfectly capable" of ''not'' thinking about a pink rhinoceros. [[spoiler:Tiffany eventually twigs that this is because Granny doesn't know what a rhinoceros ''is''.]]

* There is a Russian book called ''The Tale of Hodja Nasreddin'' (the legendary Nasreddin is a mullah, but here he is described as a mischievous vagabond). In one chapter, he tells the usurer Jafar that he is a powerful (and expensive) healer, but his healing won't work if Jafar or anyone in his family thinks of the red monkey (and he describes it in excruciating detail). His clan spent much of the following night arguing about who was the first to think the forbidden thought.
* "Blue Monkey", one of Creator/ManlyWadeWellman's vignettes about Literature/SilverJohn. Presented with a supposed magical ritual which the caster announces will only work if nobody in the audience thinks of a blue monkey, John manages not to think about that thing because he focuses all his attention on memorizing every detail of the ritual. Everybody else present finds themselves thinking of blue monkeys, and the ritual fails. Later John reproduces the ritual, carefully avoiding any mention of monkeys and instead telling his audience not to think about a red fish -- and it works.

* Near the beginning of the ''Literature/{{Lensman}}'' novel ''Gray Lensman'', this is used to show how well-disciplined Kinnison's mind is -- he is able to not think about something he saw in Helmuth's base until he's back on board the flagship. (It was a thought-triggered bomb, so if he ''hadn't'' had that mental discipline it would have ended the series early.)

* In ''Literature/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'', the secret of flight is "throwing yourself at the ground and missing and then not thinking about how impossible it is or 'the laws of physics will glance in your direction and demand to know just what the hell you think you're doing' "--in other words, you have to fall and then ''completely forget about the fact that you're falling'' before you hit the ground. Then, of course, you can only keep flying as long as you keep forgetting that you should be falling. The books note how difficult this is to pull off in practice. The first time Arthur Dent flies, he's only airborne for less than a minute.
* Discussed and played straight in ''Literature/HiveMind2016'':

* In the ''Franchise/StarWars'' [[Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse Expanded Universe]], it's not unknown for Jedi to use a leading-questions variant of this trick to make it easier to get information from other people. (Jedi can read minds, but anything deeper than the surface is both difficult and possibly dangerous for both parties.) So for instance, it's hard to simply reach into a guard's mind and rip out the password to a door -- but if you ''ask'' what the password is, it floats right to the top where it's easy to read. This trick also allows them to learn the names of people who haven’t introduced themselves, which helps when a Jedi is aiming to be intimidating.

-->''Reynard Muldoon, what do you fear most?'' ''Spiders'', Reynie lied, trying to regain some control. Spiders made Reynie nervous, but he wasn't afraid of them. Certainly they were not what he feared most. That was something he didn't want the Whisperer to know. But responding to Reynie's involuntary answer, the Whisperer said, ''Don't worry. [[YouAreNotAlone You are not alone.]]''
* Mama Mathers in ''Literature/{{Ward}}'' exploits this with her power: if you see her and later think of her, she can read your mind. Not only that, while she's reading your mind, images of her appear in your head, so it's almost impossible to get her out. [[spoiler:Rain Frazier]] tries to avoid thinking of her so she won't find out about his friends or what they know, but he fails when a friend mentions possibly being watched.
* In ''Time Jumpers'' from ''Literature/FiveKingdoms'', the plan to lure the torivor Ramarro to Earth via the Pilgrim Path and destroy his powers is hampered by the fact that torivors can read minds. Cole discovers quickly that trying to not think about something is a sure-fire way to end up thinking about exactly that. He ends up getting the help of the only other known torivor, Trillian, to alter his mind so that he believes that if Ramarro goes to Earth, it will ''not'' destroy his powers but instead give him dominion over both Earth and the Five Kingdoms. Ultimately, though, Ramarro still sees through the trick, forcing Cole to defeat him in a different way.
* In one ''Literature/GhostsOfFearStreet'' book (''Caution--Aliens At Work''), the protagonist temporarily gains MindReading abilities. He jokes to his best friend that now he'll finally be able to figure out her EmbarrassingMiddleName. Naturally, her first thought is ''Don't think Priscilla, don't think Priscilla!''

* ''Series/MyNameIsEarl''. While Earl is in prison he takes a creative writing class, but can't think of anything to write about. His cellmate Sonny is taking the same class and tells him about his story, which involves beating up a gymnast. Earl tries to go into his imagination, but it's a WhiteVoidRoom with nothing in it but him...and a gymnast. The gymnast offers to be in his story, but Earl declines because "that's Sonny's thing." Earl then spends the next 4 1/2 hours in the room, and the only thing he sees is the gymnast from Sonny's story.
* ''Series/TheMentalist''. Jane will often tell a suspect something like "Don't think about where you put the gun" and then watch where the suspect's eyes go (or specifically avoid going, Jane is ''very'' good), which tells him where the gun is. Although likely as not it'll be a misdirection, telling Alice this while Bob (the real killer) is in the room, so Bob will look while he thinks Jane is paying attention to Alice.

* In the Cyberax arc of ''Series/{{Bugs}}'', one of the good guys asks Ros not to think about elephants, to bait her away from Cyberax's thought-activated mental bomb.
* In ''[[Series/BabylonFive Babylon 5]]'', Trakis is "warned" not to think about irrelevant facts such as Adira Tyree's current whereabouts while attending a telepath-monitored negotiation. Of course, that information then appears in Trakis' surface thoughts, where Talia can perceive it without deliberately probing (that being the limit of how far she was willing to bend [[MutantDraftBoard PsiCorps]] rules).

-->'''Nathan's Inner Thoughts''': Don't think about shagging her. Don't think about shagging her. You're thinking about shagging her. You're an idiot.

--> ''"And this man will die if you think of a cheaper, more efficient way for our nation to use its national resources."
--> *Nothing happens*
--> "Or naked women."
--> ''*BOOM*''
* [[DefiedTrope Defied]] by Dr. Carson Beckett in the first season finale of ''Series/StargateAtlantis''. He interrupts somebody trying to tell him how to operate the city's [[BrainComputerInterface control chair]].
-->'''Beckett''': Don't tell me what not to think about or I'll start thinking about it!
* One episode of ''Series/{{Frasier}}'' involved Daphne potentially moving out of Frasier's apartment.
-->'''Daphne:''' Just think, soon I'll be gone and you can have your study back.\\
'''Frasier:''' I wasn't thinking about that.\\
'''Daphne:''' You're thinking about it right now.\\
'''Frasier:''' Well you made me!
* On ''Series/The100'', when Clarke and Josephine have their BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind, Josephine dares Clarke not to think about where she's hiding all the memories she doesn't want Josephine to find. The door to the room containing said memories promptly opens.
* In ''Series/TheTwilghtZone'' episode "Cold Reading" an African doll used as a prop causes everything mentioned in a live 1930s radio serial to come true in the studio- and since it's an adventure show set in Africa, the actors have to be very careful about what they say. They manage successfully until the end, when the announcer says to tune in to next week's show- "Invaders from Mars". Cue spaceship crashing through wall. [[/folder]]

[[folder:Radio]]
* ''Radio/OurMissBrooks'': The episode "Connie Tries To Forget Mr. Boynton" is built on this trope.

* Invoked in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX''. While on the Farplane, Yuna tells Tidus to think about his father Jecht, and see if he appears, since only those who are dead can show up there as projecitons. Tidus doesn't want to, because the AwfulTruth is [[spoiler:Jecht is still alive as the EldritchAbomination Sin, as Auron already told Tidus in Luca]]. Tidus notes that "trying not to think about my old man made me think about him, of course."

* In ''WebComic/{{Freefall}},'' Sam gets the robots to think up a devious master plan for him this way:

* ''WebComic/GrrlPower'' combines this with some magnificent trolling; a sign in the ''men's'' shower room that reads, "Try not to think about the fact that some of the most beautiful women on Earth are showering, changing and possibly having tickle fights on the other side of this wall." (One of the guys has a tendency to bug his teammates with questions about the odds of that type of stuff actually happening; he thinks the sign maker is an "evil, evil genius.")
* ''Webcomic/EightBitTheater'': Red Mage proposes a plan which requires the team to build a portable hole the size of the universe, with no materials, ''twice''. Black Mage says it's [[StupidestThingIveEverHeard the dumbest plan he's ever heard]]. Red Mage says LetsSeeYouDoBetter Black Mage says that the plan is so dumb that ''literally'' anything else he says would be better. Red Mage points out that the same plan with ''three'' universe-sized portable holes would be worse. Black Mage says he won't suggest that, then.
-->'''Red Mage:''' Well, go on, then. Let's hear ''your idea'', smart guy.\\
''[{{beat}}]''\\
'''Black Mage:''' All I can think of is the damn three hole version! Argh!
* Done with "homophobic Jones" in [[https://web.archive.org/web/20130528165348/http://the-qlc.com/loserz/go/20 this strip]] of ''Webcomic/{{Loserz}}''.
* The page image comes from ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'' where Diane is in [[https://www.egscomics.com/comic/tlod-015 an argument]] with her imaginary inner child. She states her intention of ending the argument by no longer imagining it. Her inner child demonstrates how pointless this is by telling her not to imagine an elephant.

* "TheGame". [[note]]This is an internet fad that uses this trope as its very core: You lost The Game when you think about it. So it's popular to see someone in the internet saying "you lost The Game" or just "The Game" to make someone lose. This, of course, also means that ''they'' lost too, since one must think about The Game in order to write about The Game. Basically, FailureIsTheOnlyOption. It's generally accepted you have a while to forget thinking about it, such as 5 minutes.[[/note]]

* ''WebVideo/TalesOfMereExistence''. [=AgentXPQ=] aka Lev does entire video where he does this with his ex called [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PSdjixBTNE "I'm Not Going To Think About Her."]]

* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/JohnnyBravo'', Johnny, inside of a dream, is on a date. After learning from the real world that anything he thinks of will happen in the dream world, his date randomly tells him to not think of her as a monster. Naturally, he has to then picture her as one, which turns her into one.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck'' episode "[[Recap/DarkwingDuckS1E35HeavyMental Heavy Mental]]", there's an invention that give normal people assorted PsychicPowers. However, the targeted person isn't supposed to be thinking at all while the invention is used on them, or else [[YourHeadASplode their head will explode]]. Guess how the Villain of the Week is defeated.
* In one of the couch gags of ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'' invokes this trope, as Mandy appears dressed up as a polar bear and tells the audience "Don't think about polar bears".
* Referenced in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague Unlimited''. After the heroes pull a fast one on Granny Goodness, the mind-reading ComicBook/MartianManhunter tells her to try ''not'' to think about where she's keeping her hostage. Granny cringes, and J'onn promptly gives Flash his location.

* In one of the couch gags of ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresofBillyandMandy'' invokes this trope, as Mandy appears dressed up as a polar bear and tells the audience "Don't think about polar bears".

* In ''ComicBook/UltimateSpiderMan'', Jean Grey congratulates Peter Parker on being the first man she's met in months who didn't visualize her naked. He immediately does just that. [[OverlyLongGag At length]]. ([[FridgeLogic You'd think a telepath would have a better understanding of how people's minds work.]])

-->''Bruno says it looks like rain''\\
''In doing so he floods my brain''\\

-->''Bruno says it looks like rain--''\\
''In doing so he floods my brain\\

* Happens in a first season episode of ''WesternAnimation/MenInBlack'' The Animated Series. K had been infiltrating an psychic alien conspiracy trying to invade earth for years by disguising himself as one of their own (who had willing let him do so because he [[GoingNative had gone native]]). After explaining everything to J this happens:

* ''WebVideo/TalesOfMereExistence''. [=AgentXPQ=] aka Lev does entire video where he does this with his ex called [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PSdjixBTNE "I'm Not Going To Think About Her"]].

* In ''Literature/TheHollowPlaces'', the [[EldritchAbomination Eldritch Abominations]] that stalk the willow dimension are attracted to thoughts about Themselves (and, in fact, seem to be able to ''only'' "see" thoughts about Them). Unfortunately, knowing that there is a Them you shouldn't think about only makes it harder not to think about Them, particularly when They get close. Kara semi-successfully distracts herself by singing "John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt" and dwelling on things that outrage her for most of the book, but the only really reliable way to blank out your thoughts is pain. [[spoiler: So her badly injured knee ends up being a ''good'' thing. Sort of.]]
* In the Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse, it's not unknown for Jedi to use a leading-questions variant of this trick to make it easier to get information from other people. (Jedi can read minds, but anything deeper than the surface is both difficult and possibly dangerous for both parties.) So for instance, it's hard to simply reach into a guard's mind and rip out the password to a door -- but if you ''ask'' what the password is, it floats right to the top where it's easy to read. This trick also allows them to learn the names of people who haven’t introduced themselves, which helps when a Jedi is aiming to be intimidating.

* "TheGame". [[note]]This is an internet fad that uses this trope as its very core: You lost The Game when you think about it. So it's popular to see someone in the internet saying "you lost The Game" or just "The Game" to make someone lose. This, of course, also means that ''they'' lost too, since one must think about The Game in order to write about The Game. Basically, FailureIsTheOnlyOption.[[/note]]

->'''Mrs. Davis''': Remember, the one thing most difficult to forget is what you're trying to forget. If you'll cooperate with me, Connie, I'll show you just what I mean with a simple little experiment. Just try to forget an object on this table. Anything at all. Well, the coffee pot for example.\\
'''Miss Brooks''': This coffee pot?\\
'''Mrs. Davis''': Any coffee pot. Now, close your eyes and clear your mind. Close them tightly. Mm. That's it. Now, Connie Brooks, I command you not to think of a coffee pot. There's no such thing as a coffee pot. No coffee pot at all. Just keep telling yourself you must not think of a coffee pot.\\
'''Miss Brooks''': No coffee pot. I must not think of a coffee pot.\\
'''Mrs. Davis''': That's right. No coffee pot. No coffee pot. Now, quickly Connie, what are you thinking of?\\
'''Miss Brooks''': A coffee pot.\\
'''Mrs. Davis''': I can't understand it. Something must have gone wrong. Try again now. Are you still thinking of a coffee pot?\\
'''Miss Brooks''': Yes, but it looks like Mr. Boynton.\\
-- ''Radio/OurMissBrooks'' '''"Connie Tries to Forget Mr. Boynton"'''

* In the ''Series/TwilghtZone'' episode "Cold Reading" an African doll used as a prop causes everything mentioned in a live 1930s radio serial to come true in the studio- and since it's an adventure show set in Africa, the actors have to be very careful about what they say. They manage successfully until the end, when the announcer says to tune in to next week's show- "Invaders from Mars". Cue spaceship crashing through wall. [[/folder]]

[[folder:Radio]]
* ''Radio/OurMissBrooks'': The episode "Connie Tries To Forget Mr. Boynton" is built on this trope.
[[/folder]]

->'''Miss Brooks''': This coffee pot?\\
->'''Mrs. Davis''': Any coffee pot. Now, close your eyes and clear your mind. Close them tightly. Mm. That's it. Now, Connie Brooks, I command you not to think of a coffee pot. There's no such thing as a coffee pot. No coffee pot at all. Just keep telling yourself you must not think of a coffee pot.\\
->'''Miss Brooks''': No coffee pot. I must not think of a coffee pot.\\
->'''Mrs. Davis''': That's right. No coffee pot. No coffee pot. Now, quickly Connie, what are you thinking of?\\
->'''Miss Brooks''': A coffee pot.\\
->'''Mrs. Davis''': I can't understand it. Something must have gone wrong. Try again now. Are you still thinking of a coffee pot?\\
->'''Miss Brooks''': Yes, but it looks like Mr. Boynton.\\
--> ''Radio/OurMissBrooks'' '''"Connie Tries to Forget Mr. Boynton"'''

'''Mrs. Davis''': Remember, the one thing most difficult to forget is what you're trying to forget. If you'll cooperate with me, Connie, I'll show you just what I mean with a simple little experiment. Just try to forget an object on this table. Anything at all. Well, the coffee pot for example.\\
'''Miss Brooks''': This coffee pot?\\
'''Mrs. Davis''': Any coffee pot. Now, close your eyes and clear your mind. Close them tightly. Mm. That's it. Now, Connie Brooks, I command you not to think of a coffee pot. There's no such thing as a coffee pot. No coffee pot at all. Just keep telling yourself you must not think of a coffee pot.\\
'''Miss Brooks''': No coffee pot. I must not think of a coffee pot.\\
'''Mrs. Davis''': That's right. No coffee pot. No coffee pot. Now, quickly Connie, what are you thinking of?\\
'''Miss Brooks''': A coffee pot.\\
'''Mrs. Davis''': I can't understand it. Something must have gone wrong. Try again now. Are you still thinking of a coffee pot?\\
'''Miss Brooks''': Yes, but it looks like Mr. Boynton.\\
-- ''Radio/OurMissBrooks'' '''"Connie Tries to Forget Mr. Boynton"'''

->'''Mrs. Davis''': Remember, the one thing most difficult to forget is what you're trying to forget. If you'll cooperate with me, Connie, I'll show you just what I mean with a simple little experiment. Just try to forget an object on this table. Anything at all. Well, the coffee pot for example.\\
->'''Miss Brooks''': This coffee pot?\\
->'''Mrs. Davis''': Any coffee pot. Now, close your eyes and clear your mind. Close them tightly. Mm. That's it. Now, Connie Brooks, I command you not to think of a coffee pot. There's no such thing as a coffee pot. No coffee pot at all. Just keep telling yourself you must not think of a coffee pot.\\
->'''Miss Brooks''': No coffee pot. I must not think of a coffee pot.\\
->'''Mrs. Davis''': That's right. No coffee pot. No coffee pot. Now, quickly Connie, what are you thinking of?\\
->'''Miss Brooks''': A coffee pot.\\
->'''Mrs. Davis''': I can't understand it. Something must have gone wrong. Try again now. Are you still thinking of a coffee pot?\\
->'''Miss Brooks''': Yes, but it looks like Mr. Boynton.\\
->-- ''Radio/OurMissBrooks'' '''"Connie Tries to Forget Mr. Boynton"'''

-->'''Mrs. Davis''': Remember, the one thing most difficult to forget is what you're trying to forget. If you'll cooperate with me, Connie, I'll show you just what I mean with a simple little experiment. Just try to forget an object on this table. Anything at all. Well, the coffee pot for example.\\
-->'''Miss Brooks''': This coffee pot?\\
-->'''Mrs. Davis''': Any coffee pot. Now, close your eyes and clear your mind. Close them tightly. Mm. That's it. Now, Connie Brooks, I command you not to think of a coffee pot. There's no such thing as a coffee pot. No coffee pot at all. Just keep telling yourself you must not think of a coffee pot.\\
-->'''Miss Brooks''': No coffee pot. I must not think of a coffee pot.\\
-->'''Mrs. Davis''': That's right. No coffee pot. No coffee pot. Now, quickly Connie, what are you thinking of?\\
-->'''Miss Brooks''': A coffee pot.\\
-->'''Mrs. Davis''': I can't understand it. Something must have gone wrong. Try again now. Are you still thinking of a coffee pot?\\
-->'''Miss Brooks''': Yes, but it looks like Mr. Boynton.\\
-->-- ''Radio/OurMissBrooks'' '''"Connie Tries to Forget Mr. Boynton"'''