Quotes / Telepathy

Comic Books

"Belinda! I can hear your voice in my head! I can hear your very thoughts! ... Ugh. Ew."

— Supergirl, Supergirl: Cosmic Adventures in the 8th Grade

"The Mind Gem: no thought shall remain a secret to me. Every mind is mine to open and examine. I can reach out and feel the dreams and aspirations of every living being in the entire universe. They touch me but do not affect me; for I am Thanos, far above such concerns. Billions of fertile minds waiting for me to sew the seeds of my own perceptions and goals. A universe of thralls..."

— Thanos, The Thanos Quest

"They can see all my thoughts. It's like being made of glass. And yet, paradoxically, this complete lack of privacy is, in its own way, a kind of freedom. I no longer experience guilt. They know everything about me and they do not care. They know about the 'dressing up' games with Jocelyn Hyde. They know about the furtive assignations in grimy alleyways. It means nothing."

— Extracts from "Seizing The Fire", by Dr. Michael Peyne, Zenith

Film

"You do not 'hear' me. Our individual brain frequencies are attuned, and we exchange wave-thoughts."

— The Atomic Submarine

Anderson: Wrong answer?
Dredd: You're the psychic.

— Dredd

Literature

"You got a knack. Me, I've always called it shining. That's what my grandmother called it, too. She had it. We used to sit in the kitchen when I was no older than you and have long talks without even openin' our mouths."

— Halloran, The Shining

Live-Action TV

"Your mind, to me, is an open book: full of big print and lots of pictures!"

— Maldis, Farscape

Tabletop Games

Secrets? What secrets?

— Flavor Text for "Telepathy", Magic: The Gathering

"Do not be startled, child. My voice is in your mind, not in your ear. Verbal communication is so limited. You will find that telepathy is purity."

— Mage: The Ascension — Core Rulebook (1st edition)

Video Games

Other: [Communication difficulties persist. Expanding translation capabilities.]

Fiona: [What does that mean? Eh! I can talk again! Hm? Why are my lips moving like I'm in a bad dub?]

Other: [Ah yes. Linears. Always requiring explanation. Your intentions are being broadcast in place of your vocal utterances.]

— Perpetual Change, Secret Ending M4

"Symbols are the key to telepathy. The mind wraps its secrets in symbols; when we discover the symbols that shape our enemy's thought, we can penetrate the vault of his mind."

— Lady Deirdre Skye, "Our Secret War", Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

Timmy: (Telepathically) Eric, you must listen to me. Right now, I'm speaking to you telepathically.
Eric: Get out of my head, Timmy.
Timmy: (telepathically) Your franchise is going nowhere. Face the truth, Eric. You guys are kind of douchebags.
Eric: ...He just called us douchebags. In my mind.
Kyle: He did?!

— South Park: The Fractured but Whole

Sarah Kerrigan: Captain Raynor, I've finished scouting out the area and... You pig!
Jim Raynor: What? I haven't even said anything to you yet!

— StarCraft

"To answer your question, no. There is no one else here with me. [Beat] Actually, I'm younger than that: 4.79 years old. My name is Jung. I already know yours. Verbal queries are a sloppy redundancy. Thoughts are quicker."

— Jung, The Secret World

Webcomics

Undine: ...What's it like? Reading someone else's thoughts?
Vedika: ...It's a bit like... there's this huge lake, and I can see all kinds of things floating just below the surface. And I'm just trying to catch things as they float up, but then sometimes a bunch of stuff comes up at once. And I'm dropping thoughts in at the same time, and I'm trying to keep that under control. But sometimes they all come falling out...

— Sleepless Domain

"They're just standing there making faces and gestures in silence. It's starting to weird me out."

— Elan, The Order of the Stick, "Idle Thoughts"

---