
“I think the one lesson I have learned is that there is no substitute for paying attention.”
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.”
Attributed to Diane Sawyer in: Ellen Sue Stern (1993) I Do: Meditations for Brides. p. 9
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)
Whistling in the Dark: A Doubter's Dictionary (1988)
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.”
Source: Man and Crisis (1962), p. 94.
“Love words, agonize over sentences. And pay attention to the world.”
Source: The Stone That Never Came Down (1973), Chapter 3 (p. 27)
Secrets in the Dark: A Life in Sermons (2006)
“People pay more attention when they think you’re up to something.”
Source: The Complete Calvin and Hobbes