[Idiom] Like minds think alike

My friend Gary mentioned the phrase "Like minds think alike" and I told her that I'd never heard of it. I've only heard of "Great minds think alike".

I wonder if "Like minds think alike" is common.

Silverobama said:

My friend Gary [STRIKE]mentioned[/STRIKE] used the phrase "Like minds think alike" and I told [STRIKE]her[/STRIKE] him that I'd never heard of it. I've only heard of "Great minds think alike".

I wonder if "Like minds think alike" is common.

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Note my corrections above. I've never heard the version Gary used.

Gary's version is a tautology and therefore pointless. It's like saying blue things are blue.

probus said:

Gary's version is a tautology and therefore pointless. It's like saying blue things are blue.

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Perhaps the intended meaning of "Like minds think alike," which does seem to exist (I even see T-shirts), is "Like-minded people think alike."

"Like-minded people think alike" means that people who are philosophically aligned have a tendency to think about things in a similar way.

Gary is wrong.

Phaedrus said:

"Like-minded people think alike."

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That seems to me to be as tautologous as Gary's version.

I don't mind the tautology as a way of talking about group think- it could be a comment on the easy way people reach a consensus, as they do in the Establishment, because they're all from the same backgrounds and experience.