I saw what I thought was a double negative in this sentence from Norwegian Wood
I never stopped to think of it as something that would make a lasting impression.
The double negative in this sentence really confuses me. I interpret it as "I'm keeping to think of it as something that would make a lasting impression", but I feel like it should be interpreted as "I didn't think of it as something that would make a lasting impression until recently.", but I don't know how it can be interpreted in grammar to the latter version.
The first negative is, of course, ‘never’ – and I thought ‘stopped’ is the second negation. This is how I was thinking about it:
I never think → I haven't thought
I stopped to think → I didn't think
So
I never stopped to think → I was and still am thinking
And now I am confusing myself.
Best Answer
There is a difference between
and
In the second, thinking is the object, it's the thing that does (or doesn't) get stopped. The negation in the sentence "I never stopped thinking of it in this way" resolves to "I thought of it in this way and I continue thinking of it just the same."
In the first, we don't have an object. We have an intention or a purpose. Without an object, this verb is ergative or labile or unaccusative -- whatever label you prefer for the kind of verb that, in another language, uses the middle voice. It's not the thinking that is stopped; it's me that stops.
So, "I never stopped to think" means that I never paused for that purpose, I never took the time to do that bit of thinking. I was too busy for the idea to even occur to me.
In another sentence and especially with another verb, an infinitive like this can be an object. If I say "I want to help", then "to help" does act as an object, and it is the thing that I want.
It doesn't seem that you're confused about the negation. You're confused about the role of the phrasing "to think of it as...". You're interpreting it as a direct object of a transitive "stopped". The writer intends that you interpret it as an adjunct of purpose or reason, and to interpret "stopped" as an intrasitive and unaccusative usage of the verb.
Under that interpretation, "never stopped to think" means something close to "never took the time to have the idea".