Meanings
- A certain problem or obstacle only exists if one believes in it; therefore, it is possible to overcome it by denying its existence.
[the phrase "there is no spoon" appears in the page title] There is no wall. It's all in your mind. Keep trying.
2003 December 28, Hannes Brunner, “There is no spoon ... ehrm wall :)”, in alt.games.diablo2 (Usenet), message-ID <bsmqba$e871i$1@ID-199901.news.uni-berlin.de>1 more example
Let me apply neo therapy. There is no spoon(migraine). After 20 minutes I am almost normal. Was it due to pill or neo therapy, I don't know. Should I dare to take just neo therapy next time? Haa haa haa
2007 March 1, neo, “There is no spoon.”, in alt.support.headaches.migraine (Usenet), message-ID <1172765712.686536.308230@8g2000cwh.googlegroups.com>
Origin
From The Matrix (1999), in which a boy appears to be able to bend a spoon with his mind. The boy says: "There is no spoon.", referring to the fact that he and others are actually in a large-scale computer simulation.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
there is no spoon. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/there%20is%20no%20spoon
“there is no spoon.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/there%20is%20no%20spoon. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “there is no spoon,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/there%20is%20no%20spoon.
Source: there is no spoon on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.