Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. quote: “Fame usually comes to those who are thinking about something else.”

“Rabbits live close to death and when death comes closer than usual, thinking about survival leaves little room for anything else.”

Richard Adams book Watership Down

Source: Watership Down

“Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it.”

Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862) 1817-1862 American poet, essayist, naturalist, and abolitionist

No known citation to Thoreau's works. First found, uncredited, in the 1940s in the variant "Success usually comes to those who are too busy to look for it", p. 711, Locomotive Engineers Journal, Volume 76, 1942. Google Books http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=N6GZAAAAIAAJ&q=%22Success+usually+comes+to+those+who+are+too+busy%22&dq=%22Success+usually+comes+to+those+who+are+too+busy%22&lr=&as_drrb_is=b&as_minm_is=0&as_miny_is=1900&as_maxm_is=0&as_maxy_is=1980&as_brr=0
Misattributed

“Even those who write against fame wish for the fame of having written well, and those who read their works desire the fame of having read them.”

Blaise Pascal (1623–1662) French mathematician, physicist, inventor, writer, and Christian philosopher

“When a man says he does not want to speak of something he usually means he can think of nothing else.”

John Steinbeck book East of Eden

Source: East of Eden

“Romance is thinking about your significant other, when you are supposed to be thinking about something else.”

Nicholas Sparks (1965) American writer and novelist

“Those who are actuated by the desire of fame and glory are amazingly gratified by approbation and praise, even though it comes from their inferiors.”
Omnes enim, qui gloria famaque ducuntur, mirum in modum assensio et laus a minoribus etiam profecta delectat.

Pliny the Younger (61–113) Roman writer

Letter 12, 6.
Letters, Book IV

“People want to stand for something, which means opposing those who stand for something else.”

Harvey Mansfield (1932) Author, professor

How to Understand Politics: What the Humanities Can Say to Science (2007)
Context: People want to stand for something, which means opposing those who stand for something else. In the course of opposing they will often resort to insults and name-calling, which are normal in politics though never in your interest. The demand for more civility in politics today should be directed toward improving the quality of our insults, seeking civility in wit rather than blandness.

“Usually all my tattoos came at good times. A tattoo is something permanent when you've made a self-discovery, or something you've come to a conclusion about. ”

Angelina Jolie (1975) American actress, film director, and screenwriter

“I would never even think about skating with somebody else. The whole reason I wanted to come back to skating was to be close to Tessa again, and to share those moments.”

Tessa Virtue (1989) Canadian ice dancer

Scott Moir, quoted in "Tessa Virtue, Scott Moir Will Leave Huge Hole In Our Hearts, Canadian Figure Skating" https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2018/02/20/tessa-virtue-scott-moir-retirement-figure-skating-legacy_a_23366266/ (20 February 2018)
Partnership with Scott Moir, Scott Moir about Virtue

“I would never even think about skating with somebody else. The whole reason I wanted to come back to skating was to be close to Tessa again, and to share those moments.”

Scott Moir (1987) Canadian figure skater

Scott Moir, quoted in "Tessa Virtue, Scott Moir Will Leave Huge Hole In Our Hearts, Canadian Figure Skating" https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2018/02/20/tessa-virtue-scott-moir-retirement-figure-skating-legacy_a_23366266/ (20 February 2018)
Partnership with Tessa Virtue, Scott Moir about Virtue

“Fame usually comes to those who are thinking about something else.”

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Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. 107

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