In the passage, the narrator critiques the idea that human thought is solely verbal, dismissing it as a misunderstanding of how the mind functions. Instead of thinking strictly in words, the mind operates on multiple levels simultaneously, connecting various thoughts and sensations. Words often fail to capture the full depth of these thoughts, as they are limited by their common usage and cannot encompass the richness of experiences represented in other forms like music or painting.

The speaker emphasizes that different individuals may have their unique ways of processing thoughts. For instance, the composer Mozart is described as thinking in musical terms, while the narrator finds himself engaged with thoughts associated with scent. This highlights the diversity of human thought and the various expressions that can emerge beyond verbal language, reinforcing the complexity of the human experience and the inadequacy of words to fully convey one's inner life.