Quotes about attention
page 4

“People are not stupid. They believe things for reasons. The last way for skeptics to get the attention of bright, curious, intelligent people is to belittle or condescend or to show arrogance toward their beliefs.”

Carl Sagan (1934–1996) American astrophysicist, cosmologist, author and science educator

People, Stupidity, Way, Intelligence

“I early learned that it is a hard matter to convert an individual by abusing him, and that this is more often accomplished by giving credit for all the praiseworthy actions performed than by calling attention alone to all the evil done.”

Booker T. Washington (1856–1915) African-American educator, author, orator, and advisor

Source: Up From Slavery: An Autobiography

Learning, Evil

“The power of doing any thing with quickness is always much prized by the possessor, and often without any attention to the imperfection of the performance. - Mr Darcy”

Jane Austen book Pride and Prejudice

Source: Pride and Prejudice

“Music is a proud, temperamental mistress. Give her the time and attention she deserves, and she is yours. Slight her and there will come a day when you call and she will not answer. So I began sleeping less to give her the time she needed.”

Patrick Rothfuss book The Name of the Wind

Source: The Name of the Wind

Music, Sleep, Time

“Creative work is not a selfish act or a bid for attention on the part of the actor. It's a gift to the world and every being in it. Don't cheat us of your contribution. Give us what you've got.”

Steven Pressfield (1943) United States Marine

World, Parting, Cheating, Selfishness

“Absolutely unmixed attention is prayer.”

Simone Weil book Gravity and Grace

Source: Gravity and Grace

“Women don't want all that. Women just want a partner who is considerate and attentive, who will spoon with them while reciting Keats, and feed them organic yogurt by candlelight on a seaside cliff at sunset.”

Stephen Colbert (1964) American political satirist, writer, comedian, television host, and actor

Women

“Take time to see the quiet miracles that
seek no attention”

John O'Donohue (1956–2008) Irish writer, priest and philosopher

Time

“One of the greatest gifts you can give is
your undivided attention.”

Oprah Winfrey (1954) American businesswoman, talk show host, actress, producer, and philanthropist

“I have always held the old-fashioned opinion that the primary object of a work of fiction should be to tell a story; and I have never believed that the novelist who properly performed this first condition of his art, was in danger, on that account, of neglecting the delineation of character — for this plain reason, that the effect produced, by any narrative of events is essentially dependent, not on the events themselves, but on the human interest which is directly connected with them. It may be possible in novel-writing to present characters successfully without telling a story; but it is not possible to tell a story successfully without presenting characters: their existence, as recognizable realities, being the sole condition on which the story can be effectively told. The only narrative which can hope to lay a strong hold on the attention of readers is a narrative which interests them about men and women — for the perfectly obvious reasons that they are men and women themselves.”

Wilkie Collins book The Woman in White

Source: Collins explaining what he calls the literary principal guiding him, in the preface of the second edition of The Woman in White. Also in Reality's Dark Light: The Sensational Wilkie Collins by Maria K. Bachman & Don Richard Cox [University of Tennessee Press, 2003, ISBN 1-572-33274-3] ( p. xiv https://books.google.com/books?id=_X8AlmIp0dwC&pg=PR14)

Women, Men, Hope, Art

“I felt that I wanted the world to be in uniform and at a sort of moral attention forever; I wanted no more riotous excursions with privileged glimpses into the human heart.”

F. Scott Fitzgerald The Great Gatsby

Source: The Great Gatsby

World, Heart

“This is an interesting planet. It deserves all the attention you can give it.”

Marilynne Robinson Gilead

Source: Gilead

“Where Attention goes Energy flows; Where Intention goes Energy flows!”

James Redfield (1950) American author, lecturer, screenwriter and film producer

“Mr. Darcy began to feel the danger of paying Elizabeth too much attention.”

Jane Austen book Pride and Prejudice

Source: Pride and Prejudice

Feeling

“Forcing him to talk about feelings all the time will not only make you seem needy, it will eventually make him lose respect. And when he loses respect, he’ll pay even less attention to your feelings.”

Sherry Argov (1977) American writer

Source: Why Men Love Bitches: From Doormat to Dreamgirl-A Woman's Guide to Holding Her Own in a Relationship

Feeling, Time

“Why couldn't Jesus command us to obsess over everything, to try to control and manipulate people, to try not to breathe at all, or to pay attention, stomp away to brood when people annoy us, and then eat a big bag of Hershey's Kisses in bed?”

Anne Lamott (1954) Novelist, essayist, memoirist, activist

Source: Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith

People, Kiss

“I’ve heard it said: ‘By his home you shall know him’; and we all know that we must pay attention to anyone who reverses the subject and auxiliary verb in his sentence.”

Steven Brust book Issola

Source: Issola

Home

“Believe me, when my ‘personal endowments’ are being discussed, I always pay attention.” ~ Cam Rohan”

Lisa Kleypas (1964) American writer

Source: Mine Till Midnight

Personality

“When we focus on what is good and beautiful in someone, whether or not we think that they "deserve" it, the good and beautiful are strengthened merely by the light of our attention.”

Katrina Kenison American writer

Source: The Gift of an Ordinary Day: A Mother's Memoir

Beauty, Thinking, Light

“The living deserve attention, too”

Alice Sebold book The Lovely Bones

Source: The Lovely Bones

“I knew you'd kiss me."
"How?" I say. Because I didn't know myself.
"Because I am in pain," He say's. "That's the only way I get your attention.”

Suzanne Collins book Mockingjay

Source: Mockingjay

Pain, Way, Kiss

“If she know how strongly he felt, she'd have run out the door. He wasn't used to the possessive, or the savage joy she brought to his heart. It ate at his control, so he turned his attention to the music. He understood music.”

Patricia Briggs book Cry Wolf

Source: Cry Wolf

Music, Heart, Joy

“He asked about Dad and about Gran- as if talking about something could make it better. As if wounds needed attention.”

E. Lockhart book We Were Liars

Source: We Were Liars

“Excuse me, Bane?" said Roderick Morgenstern. "Are you attending?"
"I'm so sorry," Magnus said politely. "Somebody incredibly attractive just came into the room, and I ceased to pay attention to a word you were saying.”

Cassandra Clare (1973) American author

Source: Vampires, Scones, and Edmund Herondale

“Why is patience so important?"
"Because it makes us pay attention.”

Paulo Coelho (1947) Brazilian lyricist and novelist

Patience

“We cannot love something solely because it has been ignored. It must also be worthy of our attention.”

Zadie Smith (1975) British writer

Love

“Survival lies in sanity, and sanity lies in paying attention… the capacity for delight is the gift of paying attention.”

Julia Cameron book The Artist's Way

Source: The Artist's Way

“But even her demons she invested with inordinate beauty, consecrated them with the dignity of her attention.”

Pat Conroy book The Prince of Tides

Source: The Prince of Tides

Beauty

“But she did love him. I believe it. I know exactly how that is. To love somebody who doesn't deserve it. Because they are all you have. Because any attention is better than no attention.”

Augusten Burroughs book Running with Scissors

Source: Running with Scissors

Love

“Sometimes, people can go missing right before our very eyes. Sometimes, people can discover you, even though they've been looking at you the entire time. Sometimes, we lose sight of ourselves when we're not paying enough attention.”

Cecelia Ahern (1981) Irish novelist

People, Time

“People are fed by the food industry, which pays no attention to health, and are treated by the health industry, which pays no attention to food.”

Wendell Berry (1934) author

People, Health, Food

“Next time I tell you someone from Texas should not be president of the United States, please pay attention."

[, The Nation, June 18, 2001]”

Molly Ivins (1944–2007) American journalist

Shrub Flubs His Dub http://www.thenation.com/article/shrub-flubs-his-dub, May 31, 2001. Retrieved October 24, 2011. <br class="br">Context: The next time I tell you someone from Texas should not be president of the United States, please, pay attention.<br>Bush was replaced by his exceedingly Lite Guv Rick Perry, who has really good hair. Governor Goodhair, or the Ken Doll (see, all Texans use nicknames—it's not that odd), is not the sharpest knife in the drawer. But the chair of a major House committee says, "Goodhair is much more engaged as governor than Bush was." As the refrain of the country song goes, "O Please, Dear God, Not Another One."

Time

“Nothing is boring exept to people who aren't really paying attention.”

Michael Chabon book Summerland

Source: Summerland

People

“We value virtue but do not discuss it. The honest bookkeeper, the faithful wife, the earnest scholar get little of our attention compared to the embezzler, the tramp, the cheat.”

John Steinbeck book Travels with Charley: In Search of America

Pt. 3
Travels With Charley: In Search of America (1962)
Source: Travels with Charley: In Search of America

Faith, Cheating

“When information is cheap, attention becomes expensive.”

James Gleick book The Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood

Source: The Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood

“They had nothing to say to each other. A five-year age gap between siblings is like a garden that needs constant attention. Even three months apart allows the weeds to grow up between you.”

Zadie Smith On Beauty

Source: On Beauty

Age, Siblings

“The measure of mindfulness, the touchstone for sanity in this society, is our level of productivity, our attention to responsibility, our ability to plain and simple hold down a job.”

Elizabeth Wurtzel book Prozac Nation

Source: Prozac Nation

“If you don't pay attention to the past, you'll never understand the future. It's all linked together.”

Sarah Dessen book Just Listen

Source: Just Listen

Understanding, Past, Future

“Listen. Pay attention. Treasure every moment.”

Oprah Winfrey (1954) American businesswoman, talk show host, actress, producer, and philanthropist

“Talent is the multiplier. The more energy and attention you invest in it, the greater the yield. The time you spend with your best is, quite simply, your most productive time.”

Marcus Buckingham (1966) British writer

Source: First, Break All the Rules: What the World's Greatest Managers Do Differently

Time

“The most precious gift we can offer anyone is our attention. When mindfulness embraces those we love, they will bloom like flowers.”

Thich Nhat Hanh (1926) Religious leader and peace activist

Love, Flowers, Heart Touching, For Her

“You don't read it in the sense of reading a message; it doesn't work like that. What's happening is that the Shadows are responding to the attention you pay them.”

Philip Pullman book Northern Lights

Source: The Golden Compass

Sense, Reading

“Geniuses never pay attention.”

Michael Crichton book The Lost World

Source: The Lost World

“They walked on, without knowing in what direction. There was too much to be thought, and felt, and said, for attention to any other objects.”

Jane Austen book Pride and Prejudice

Source: Pride and Prejudice

“He could not stand. It was not
That he could not thrive, he was born
With everything but the will –
That can be deformed, just like a limb.
Death was more interesting to him.
Life could not get his attention.”

Ted Hughes (1930–1998) English poet and children's writer

Life, Death

“Every woman has to have something which singles her out, which catches the eyes, which makes her the center of attention. I am going to be french.”

Philippa Gregory book The Other Boleyn Girl

Source: The Other Boleyn Girl

“I'll believe it if I see it" for dogs translates to "I'll believe it if I smell it." So don't bother yelling at them; it's the energy and scent they pay attention to, not your words.”

Cesar Millan (1969) Mexican - American dog trainer and television personality

Dogs

“Giving generously in romantic relationships, and in all other bonds, means recognizing when the other person needs our attention. Attention is an important resource.”

Bell Hooks book All About Love: New Visions

Source: All About Love: New Visions

Personality

“How was it that Adrian Ivashkov, who never seemed to take anything seriously was the only one among these "responsible" people who paid attention to such small details? How was he the only one to really understand the magnitude of what I was feeling?”

Richelle Mead book The Golden Lily

Source: The Golden Lily

People, Feeling, Understanding

“Don't attach yourself to anyone who shows you the least bit of attention because you're lonely. Lonliness is the human condition. No one is ever going to fill that space. The best thing you can do it know yourself… know what you want.”

Janet Fitch (1955) American writer

“That what?" "That I knew i misjudged you. That you love him. I'm not saying In what way. Maybe you don't know yourself. But anyone paying attention could see how much you care about him," he says gently.”

Suzanne Collins book Mockingjay

Source: Mockingjay

Love, Way

“Intelligence is the door to freedom and alert attention is the mother of intelligence.”

Jon Kabat-Zinn (1944) American academic

Source: Wherever You Go, There You Are

Intelligence, Freedom

“Supposedly, dreams reflect our hidden fears and secret desires, all clamoring for attention.”

Rachel Hawthorne (1950) American author

Source: Full Moon

Secret, Fear, Dreams

“Rafe didn't just flirt-he charmed girls right up to the point where they fell for him, then he changed his mind. I called him a player with attention deficit disorder.”

Kelley Armstrong The Gathering

Source: The Gathering

Girl, Change

“…. maybe fear is God's way of saying, "Pay attention, this could be fun.”

Craig Ferguson (1962) Scottish-born American television host, stand-up comedian, writer, actor, director, author, producer and voice a…

Source: American on Purpose: The Improbable Adventures of an Unlikely Patriot

God, Fear, Way

“I love inscriptions on flyleaves and notes in margins, I like the comradely sense of turning pages someone else turned, and reading passages someone long gone has called my attention to.”

Helene Hanff book 84, Charing Cross Road

Source: 84, Charing Cross Road

Love, Sense, Reading

“There is ecstasy in paying attention.”

Anne Lamott (1954) Novelist, essayist, memoirist, activist

“Women. You tell me they're not all witches, and I'll tell you you haven't been paying attention.”

Charlie Huston book Joe Pitt Casebooks

Every Last Drop, Character: Joe Pitt (narration)
Joe Pitt Casebooks

Women

“I listen with attention to the judgment of all men;
but so far as I can remember,
I have followed none but my own.”

Michel De Montaigne (1533–1592) (1533-1592) French-Occitan author, humanistic philosopher, statesman

Men

“Ugly people kill people all the time. But when pretty people did, it got attention.”

Chelsea Cain (1972) American journalist and writer

Source: Kill You Twice

People, Time

“Intelligence is not only the ability to reason; it is also the ability to find relevant material in memory and to deploy attention when needed.”

Daniel Kahneman book Thinking, Fast and Slow

Source: Thinking, Fast and Slow (2011), Chapter 3, "The lazy controller", page 46 (ISBN 9780141033570).

Intelligence, Memory

“I once had a garden filled with flowers that grew only on dark thoughts but they need constant attention & one day I decided I had better things to do.”

Brian Andreas (1956) American artist

Flowers

“Whatever you get paid attention for is never what you think is most important about yourself.”

David Foster Wallace (1962–2008) American fiction writer and essayist

Thinking

“Love words, agonize over sentences. And pay attention to the world.”

Susan Sontag (1933–2004) American writer and filmmaker, professor, and activist

Love, World

“We must do our work for its own sake, not for fortune or attention or applause.”

Steven Pressfield (1943) United States Marine

Source: The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks & Win Your Inner Creative Battles

“The trouble with organizing a thing is that pretty soon folks get to paying more attention to the organization than to what they're organized for.”

Laura Ingalls Wilder (1867–1957) American children's writer, diarist, and journalist

“The more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders and realities of the universe about us, the less taste we shall have for destruction.”

Rachel Carson (1907–1964) American marine biologist and conservationist

Speech accepting the John Burroughs Medal (April 1952); also in Lost Woods: The Discovered Writing of Rachel Carson (1999) edited by Linda Lear, p. 94
Context: Mankind has gone very far into an artificial world of his own creation. He has sought to insulate himself, in his cities of steel and concrete, from the realities of earth and water and the growing seed. Intoxicated with a sense of his own power, he seems to be going farther and farther into more experiments for the destruction of himself and his world.
There is certainly no single remedy for this condition and I am offering no panacea. But it seems reasonable to believe — and I do believe — that the more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders and realities of the universe about us the less taste we shall have for the destruction of our race. Wonder and humility are wholesome emotions, and they do not exist side by side with a lust for destruction.

Reality, Universe

“The most dangerous thing about an academic education is that it enables my tendency to over-intellectualize stuff, to get lost in abstract thinking instead of simply paying attention to what’s going on in front of me.”

David Foster Wallace (1962–2008) American fiction writer and essayist

Source: This Is Water: Some Thoughts, Delivered on a Significant Occasion, about Living a Compassionate Life

Education, Thinking

“He looks at you a lot. When you're not paying attention. He looks at you, to see if you're having a good time.”

Jenny Han book To All the Boys I've Loved Before

Source: To All the Boys I've Loved Before

Time

“Bad language is a stage all children go through, and it dies with time when they learn they're not attracting attention with it, hotheadedness isn't.”

Harper Lee book To Kill a Mockingbird

Pt. 1, ch. 9
Atticus Finch
Source: To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)

Children, Learning, Time

“People pay more attention when they think you’re up to something.”

Bill Watterson (1958) American comic artist

Source: The Complete Calvin and Hobbes

People, Thinking

“Well…… That's what you always forget, isn't it? I mean, you forget to pay attention to what's happening. And that's the same as not being here and now.”

Aldous Huxley book Island

Source: Island

Forgetting

“You behave as if everything is funny to you, but you never laugh. Sometimes you smile when you think no one is paying attention.”

Cassandra Clare book Clockwork Angel

Source: Clockwork Angel

Smile, Thinking

“ʺWe need someone to get the roomʹs attention,ʺ I said. ʺSomeone not afraid to make a spectacle—I mean, besides me, of course.ʺ”

Richelle Mead book Last Sacrifice

Source: Last Sacrifice

“James - "Are you paying attention or just trying to make me look like an idoit?"
Elizabeth - "Oh, I'm definately paying attention. If you look like an idiot it has nothing to do with me.”

Julia Quinn (1970) American novelist

Source: How to Marry a Marquis

“What I want is to be needed. What I need is to be indispensable to somebody. Who I need is somebody that will eat up all my free time, my ego, my attention. Somebody addicted to me. A mutual addiction.”

Chuck Palahniuk book Choke

Source: Choke

Time

“This is the first age that's ever paid much attention to the future, which is a little ironic since we may not have one.”

Arthur C. Clarke (1917–2008) British science fiction writer, science writer, inventor, undersea explorer, and television series host

As quoted in The Peter Plan : A Proposal for Survival (1976) by Laurence J. Peter
1970s

Age, Future

“The entire ball game, in terms of both the exam and life, was what you gave attention to vs. what you willed yourself to not.”

David Foster Wallace book The Pale King

Source: The Pale King

Life, Game

“Instead of focusing on the world's problems, give your attention and energy to trust, love, abundance, education and peace.”

Rhonda Byrne book The Secret

Source: The Secret

Love, World, Education, Peace

“As we encounter new experiences with a mindful and wise attention, we discover that one of three things will happen to our new experience: it will go away, it will stay the same, or it will get more intense. whatever happens does not really matter.”

Jack Kornfield (1945) American writer

Source: A Path with Heart: A Guide Through the Perils and Promises of Spiritual Life

“In times of pain, when the future is too terrifying to contemplate and the past too painful to remember, I have learned to pay attention to right now. The precise moment I was in was always the only safe place for me.”

Julia Cameron book The Artist's Way

Source: The Artist's Way

Pain, Learning, Time, Past

“Have you tried to drive a harpoon through a body? No? Tut, tut, my dear sir, you must really pay attention to these details.”

Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930) Scottish physician and author

Source: The Complete Sherlock Holmes

“Walk really, really carefully. It's not complicated, but if you mess up, you'll die, so pay attention.”

Maureen Johnson (1973) writer from the USA

Source: The Name of the Star

“A giant vulture with a girl hanging from its feet tends to attract attention.”

Rick Riordan book The Red Pyramid

Source: The Red Pyramid

Girl

“The present moment is filled with joy and happiness. If you are attentive, you will see it. (21)”

Thich Nhat Hanh (1926) Religious leader and peace activist

Source: Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life

Happiness, Joy

“All falsehood is a mask; and however well made the mask may be, with a little attention we may always succeed in distinguishing it from the true face.”

Alexandre Dumas book The Three Musketeers

Source: The Three Musketeers

“The less you are driven by what goes on in this material world, the more you will pay attention to its details.”

David Allen (1945) American productivity consultant and author

29 October 2010 https://twitter.com/gtdguy/status/29053579357 <br class="br"> Official Twitter profile (@gtdguy) https://twitter.com/gtdguy <br class="br">Source: Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity

World

“Difficulties come when you don't pay attention to life's whisper. Life always whispers to you first, but if you ignore the whisper, sooner or later you'll get a scream”

Oprah Winfrey (1954) American businesswoman, talk show host, actress, producer, and philanthropist

Life

“People think a soul mate is your perfect fit, and that's what everyone wants. But a true soul mate is a mirror, the person who shows you everything that is holding you back, the person who brings you to your own attention so you can change your life.”

Elizabeth Gilbert book Eat, Pray, Love

Source: Eat, Pray, Love (2006)
Context: People think a soul mate is your perfect fit, and that's what everyone wants. But a true soul mate is a mirror, the person who shows you everything that is holding you back, the person who brings you to your own attention so you can change your life.
A true soul mate is probably the most important person you'll ever meet, because they tear down your walls and smack you awake. But to live with a soul mate forever? Nah. Too painful. Soul mates, they come into your life just to reveal another layer of yourself to you, and then leave.
A soul mates purpose is to shake you up, tear apart your ego a little bit, show you your obstacles and addictions, break your heart open so new light can get in, make you so desperate and out of control that you have to transform your life, then introduce you to your spiritual master…

Life, People, Soul, Thinking

“Meditate. Breathe consciously. Listen. Pay attention. Treasure every moment. Make the connection.”

Oprah Winfrey (1954) American businesswoman, talk show host, actress, producer, and philanthropist