“I think the one lesson I have learned is that there is no substitute for paying attention.”
Diane Sawyer (1945) American journalist
Attributed to Diane Sawyer in: Ellen Sue Stern (1993) I Do: Meditations for Brides. p. 9
Frankfurt Book Fair speech (2003)
Context: A writer, I think, is someone who pays attention to the world. That means trying to understand, take in, connect with, what wickedness human beings are capable of; and not be corrupted — made cynical, superficial — by this understanding.
“I think the one lesson I have learned is that there is no substitute for paying attention.”
Diane Sawyer (1945) American journalist
Attributed to Diane Sawyer in: Ellen Sue Stern (1993) I Do: Meditations for Brides. p. 9
Elif Shafak (1971) Turkish writer
On focusing on her readership in “Elif Shafak: ‘I thought the British were calm about politics. Not any longer’” https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/sep/16/elif-shalak-i-thought-the-british-were-calm-about-politics-booker-prize-shortlist in The Guardian (2019 Sep 16)
Frederick Buechner (1926) Poet, novelist, short story writer, theologian
Whistling in the Dark: A Doubter's Dictionary (1988)
Penn Jillette (1955) American magician
2010s, Why Penn Jillette is Terrified of a President Trump (2016)
Context: Someone who is paying attention can do the same thing that Trump is doing with hate, and do it with love, and become president … That’s kind of beautiful. There’s nothing more optimistic than that. … Donald Trump does, when it comes right down to it, fuck up everything … He fucks up his casinos. He fucks up his buildings.... Maybe he’ll fuck up his campaign before he fucks up the country.
“Tell me to what you pay attention and I will tell you who you are.”
José Ortega Y Gasset (1883–1955) Spanish liberal philosopher and essayist
Source: Man and Crisis (1962), p. 94.
“Love words, agonize over sentences. And pay attention to the world.”
Susan Sontag (1933–2004) American writer and filmmaker, professor, and activist
John Brunner book The Stone That Never Came Down
Source: The Stone That Never Came Down (1973), Chapter 3 (p. 27)
Frederick Buechner (1926) Poet, novelist, short story writer, theologian
Secrets in the Dark: A Life in Sermons (2006)
“People pay more attention when they think you’re up to something.”
Bill Watterson (1958) American comic artist
Source: The Complete Calvin and Hobbes