Attention Quotes - Page 11

• I went to see the Beatles last month... And I heard 20,000 girls screaming together at the Beatles... and I couldn't hear what they were screaming, either... But you don't have to... They're screaming Me! Me! Me! Me!... I'm Me!... That's the cry of the ego, and that's the cry of this rally!... Me! Me! Me! Me!... And that's why wars get fought... ego... because enough people want to scream Pay attention to Me... Yep, you're playing their game.

  Tom Wolfe

  Girl, War, Games

  Tom Wolfe (1999). “The electric kool-aid acid test”, Bantam Dell Pub Group

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• This story is the ultimate example of American’s biggest political problem. We no longer have the attention span to deal with any twenty-first century crisis. We live in an economy that is immensely complex and we are completely at the mercy of the small group of people who understand it – who incidentally often happen to be the same people who built these wildly complex economic systems. We have to trust these people to do the right thing, but we can’t, because, well, they’re scum. Which is kind of a big problem, when you think about it.

  Matt Taibbi

  Thinking, People, Political

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• Why is it we want so badly to memorialize ourselves? Even while we're still alive. We wish to assert our existence, like dogs peeing on fire hydrants. We put on display our framed photographs, our parchment diplomas, our silver-plated cups; we monogram our linen, we carve our names on trees, we scrawl them on washroom walls. It's all the same impulse. What do we hope from it? Applause, envy, respect? Or simply attention, of any kind we can get? At the very least we want a witness. We can't stand the idea of our own voices falling silent finally, like a radio running down.

  Margaret Atwood

  Running, Dog, Wall

  Margaret Atwood (2007). “The Blind Assassin: A Novel”, p.95, Anchor

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• Restore your attention or bring it to a new level by dramatically slowing down whatever you're doing.

  Sharon Salzberg

  Meditation, Mindfulness, Levels

  FaceBook post by Sharon Salzberg from Aug 06, 2014

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• Our inventions are wont to be pretty toys, which distract our attention from serious things. They are but improved means to an unimproved end, an end which it was already but too easy to arrive at; as railroads lead to Boston or New York. We are in great haste to construct a magnetic telegraph from Maine to Texas; but Maine and Texas, it may be, have nothing important to communicate.

  Henry David Thoreau

  New York, Mean, Texas

  1854 Walden, or Life in the Woods,'Economy'.

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• Soon you start craving that intense attention with the hungry obsession of any junkie. When the drug is withheld you probably turn sick, crazy and depleted not to mention resentful of the dealer who encourage this addiction in the first place but who now refuses to pony up the good stuff anymore despite that you know that he has it hidden somewhere God dammit because you know that he used to give it to you for free.

  Elizabeth Gilbert

  Crazy, Addiction, Giving

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• We were not born critical of existing society. There was a moment in our lives (or a month, or a year) when certain facts appeared before us, startled us, and then caused us to question beliefs that were strongly fixed in our consciousness-embedded there by years of family prejudices, orthodox schooling, imbibing of newspapers, radio, and television. This would seem to lead to a simple conclusion: that we all have an enormous responsibility to bring to the attention of others information they do not have, which has the potential of causing them to rethink long-held ideas.

  Howard Zinn

  Responsibility, Simple, Years

  "Changing Minds, One at a Time" by Howard Zinn, progressive.org. May 10, 2005.

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• Sometimes when we're not paying attention, relation-ships happen. There is no rule that requires two people in love to be exactly alike.

  Lisa Kleypas

  Two, People, Ships

  Lisa Kleypas (2015). “The Travis Family Series, Books 1-3: Blue-Eyed Devil, Smooth Taking Stranger and Sugar Daddy”, p.266, St. Martin's Press

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• I almost tell him that I'd never be able to do something like that, just take out my instrument and begin playing on a street corner. But it feels to personal. Yes, I'm shy, but why bring it to his attention? I'm too shy to talk about how shy I am.

  Andrew Clements

  Shy, Able, Instruments

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• Hey, a guy can hope. I mean, it’s not impossible that a car full of scantily clad sorority girls might break down outside and need my help.” “That’s true,” I said. “Maybe I can put a sign out front that says, ‘ATTENTION ALL GIRLS: FREE HELP HERE.’” “‘ATTENTION ALL HOT GIRLS,’” he corrected, straightening up. “Right,” I said, trying not to roll my eyes. “That’s an important distinction.” He pointed at me with the pool stick. “Speaking of hot, I like that uniform.” This time, I did roll my eyes.

  Richelle Mead

  Girl, Mean, Eye

  Richelle Mead (2011). “Bloodlines”, p.88, Penguin

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• No, my dog used to gaze at me, paying me the attention I need, the attention required to make a vain person like me understand that, being a dog, he was wasting time, but, with those eyes so much purer than mine, he’d keep on gazing at me with a look that reserved for me alone all his sweet and shaggy life, always near me, never troubling me, and asking nothing.

  Pablo Neruda

  Dog, Sweet, Eye

  Pablo Neruda, “A Dog Has Died”

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• Once, she'd been a pro at decompressing, loved to sit on the back deck of the beach house in one of our splintery Adirondack chairs for hours at a time, staring at the ocean. She never had a book or the paper or anything else to distract her. Just the horizon, but it kept her attention, her gaze unwavering. Maybe it was the absence of thought that she loved about being out there, the world narrowing to just the pounding of the waves as the water moved in and out.

  Sarah Dessen

  Beach, Ocean, Book

  Sarah Dessen (2006). “The Truth About Forever”, p.132, Penguin

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

  Steven Pressfield

  Sake, Applause, Fortune

  Steven Pressfield (2002). “The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles”, p.161, Black Irish Entertainment LLC

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• You can be shaped, or you can be broken. There is not much in between. Try to learn. Be coachable. Try to learn from everybody, especially those who fail. This is hard. ... How promising you are as a Student of the Game is a function of what you can pay attention to without running away.

  David Foster Wallace

  Running, Games, Broken

  David Foster Wallace (2011). “Infinite Jest”, p.128, Hachette UK

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• Big Brother isn't watching. He's singing and dancing. He's pulling rabbits out of a hat. Big Brother's busy holding your attention every moment you're awake. He's making sure you're always distracted. He's making sure you're fully absorbed. He's making sure your imagination withers. Until it's as useful as your appendix. He's making sure your attention is always filled. And this being fed, it's worse than being watched. With the world always filling you, no one has to worry about what's in your mind. With everyone's imagination atrophied, no one will ever be a threat to the world.

  Chuck Palahniuk

  Brother, Dancing, Imagination

  "Lullaby". Book by Chuck Palahniuk, 2002.

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• If someone comes along and shoots an arrow into your heart, it's fruitless to stand there and yell at the person. It would be much better to turn your attention to the fact that there's an arrow in your heart.

  Pema Chodron

  Buddhist, Heart, Arrows

  Pema Chodron (2001). “Start Where You Are: A Guide to Compassionate Living”, p.42, Shambhala Publications

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• Deryn felt brilliant, rising through the air at the center off everyone's attention, like an acrobat aloft on a swing. She wanted to make a speech: Hey, all you sods, I can fly and you can't! A natural airman, in case you haven't noticed. And in conclusion, I'd like to add that I'm a girl and you can all get stuffed!

  Scott Westerfeld

  Girl, Inspiration, Air

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• Reading with an eye towards metaphor allows us to become the person we’re reading about, while reading about them. That’s why there is symbols in books and why your English teacher deserves your attention. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter if the author intended the symbol to be there because the job of reading is not to understand the author’s intent. The job of reading is to use stories as a way into seeing other people as a we ourselves.

  John Green

  Teacher, Jobs, Book

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• Every animal on the planet attracts mates with the goal of reproduction. Frogs swell their bodies. Male gorillas beat their chests. Have you ever watched a male lobster rise up on the tips of his legs and snap his claws, demanding female attention? Attraction is the first element of all animal reproduction, humans included

  Becca Fitzpatrick

  Animal, Goal, Female

  Becca Fitzpatrick (2013). “The Complete Hush, Hush Saga: includes Hush, Hush; Crescendo; Silence and Finale”, p.29, Simon and Schuster

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• I study her,” Patch said. “I figure out what she’s thinking and feeling. She’s not going to come right out and tell me, which is why I have to pay attention. Does she turn her body toward mine? Does she hold my eyes, then look away? Does she bite her lip and play with her hair, the way Nora is doing right now?” Laughter rose in the room. I dropped my hands to my lap. “She’s game,” said Patch, bumping my leg again. Of all things, I blushed.

  Becca Fitzpatrick

  Laughter, Eye, Thinking

  Becca Fitzpatrick (2013). “The Complete Hush, Hush Saga: includes Hush, Hush; Crescendo; Silence and Finale”, p.30, Simon and Schuster

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• It is significant that, as innocent babies are killed, and capital punishment is withheld from their murderers, the same men who plead for the murderer's life also demand the “right” to abortion. Usually, the same picketers that carry a sign one day, “Abolish Capital Punishment,” also carry “Legalize Abortion” another day. When this is called to their attention, their answer is, “There is no contradiction involved.” They are right: the thesis is “condemn the innocent and free the guilty.

  R.J. Rushdoony

  Baby, Men, Abortion

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• But he found that a traveller's life is one that includes much pain amidst its enjoyments. His feelings are for ever on the stretch; and when he begins to sink into repose, he finds himself obliged to quit that on which he rests in pleasure for something new, which again engages his attention, and which also he forsakes for other novelties.

  Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

  Pain, Feelings, Novelty

  Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, Joseph Pearce (2008). “Frankenstein”, p.155, Ignatius Press

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• People don’t pay much attention to anything unless you give them reason to

  Erin Morgenstern

  People, Giving, Pay

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• My nephew has HDADHD. High Definition Attention Deficit Disorder. He can barely pay attention, but when he does it's unbelievably clear.

  Steven Wright

  Nephew, Doe, Definitions

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• Jess! Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God! Are you all right? Are you alive? Did I hurt you? Jess? Can you speak?” – Abigail “Yeah, I can talk. But I kind of like the attention you’re giving me. You want to grope a little lower, it’d be even better.” – Sundown

  Sherrilyn Kenyon

  Hurt, Giving, Alive

  Sherrilyn Kenyon (2011). “Retribution”, p.201, Macmillan

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