Quotes About Attention

y si de pronto hablaba tanto de sí mismo, de su vida «anterior», solo lo hacía para distraer la atención de su persona.

If humility were not self-forgetfulness, any virtuous person would have the practical dilemma of either directing his attention to his own virtue, which naturally leads to pride, or denying it, which would be a lie.

I'm always on the lookout for great companies in lousy industries. A great industry that's growing fast, such as computers or medical technology, attracts too much attention and too many competitors.

The purpose of meditation practice is not enlightenment; it is to pay attention even at unextraordinary times, to be of present, nothing-but-the-present, to bear this mindfulness of now into each event of ordinary life.

only to be wholly present in this moment, moment after moment

Nen is mindfulness, attention to the present with a quality of vibrant awareness, as if this present moment were one's last.

The news media are, for the most part, the bringers of bad news… and it's not entirely the media's fault, bad news gets higher ratings and sells more papers than good news.

Because language and society are so closely linked, it is possible, in some cases, to encourage social change by directing attention towards linguistic reflections of aspects of society that one would like to see altered.

THE FIVE EXCELLENT PRACTICES OF PILGRIMAGES Inspired by a fifth-century conversation between Zi Zhang and Confucius about the practices of wise rulers in The Analects, here are five excellent practices for travelers on sacred journeys: Practice the arts of attention and listening. Practice renewing yourself every day. Practice meandering toward the center of every place. Practice the ritual of reading sacred texts. Practice gratitude and praise-singing.

The wandering French essayist Jacques Reda reminds himself before he leaves his Paris apartment every Sunday morning for his long strolls around the city to see one new thing. . . . he has learned to notice what others ignore.

TRUSTING THE MOMENT Most of us spend the bulk of our time caught up in thoughts of the past or the future—which can be dangerous if your job is winning basketball games. Basketball takes place at such a lightning pace that it's easy to make mistakes and get obsessed with what just happened or what might happen next, which distracts you from the only thing that really matters—this very moment.

I often reminded the players to focus on the journey rather than the endgame, because if you give the future all your attention, the present will pass you by.

To be successful at basketball, as author John McPhee once pointed out, you need to have a finely tuned sense of where you are and what's happening around you at any given moment.

In the strictest form of Zen, monitors roam the meditation hall, striking sleeping or listless meditators with a flat wooden stick, called a keisaku, to get them to pay attention. This is not intended as punishment. In fact, the keisaku is sometimes referred to as a "compassionate stick." The purpose of the blow is to reinvigorate the meditator and make him or her more awake in the moment.

Whom the gods notice they destroy. Be small… and you will escape the jealousy of the great.

The surveillance, he thought, essentially should be maintained. And, if possible, by me. I should always be watching, watching and figuring out, even if I never do anything about what I see; even if I just sit there and observe silently, not seen: that is important, that I as a watcher of all that happens should be at my place.

What is the space which this speaks of? Vertical ascent. To heaven. Of time? Into the light-world of the mutable. Yes, this thing has disgorged its spirit: light. And my attention is fixed; I can't look away. Spellbound by mesmerizing shimmering surface which I can no longer control. No longer free to dismiss.

Whom the gods notice they destroy. Be small . . . and you will escape the jealousy of the great.

Já salvei muitas vidas — Joan ergueu a mão— Você pode me dar um cigarro? Ele lhe ofereceu um, acendendo-o, sentindo-se, como sempre, culpado pelo esquecimento. — O que você faz? — inquiriu Joan. Relutante, não porque fosse confidencial, mas sim porque o trabalho conferia um status inferior na escala da consideração pública, descreveu sua função na CIA. Joan Trieste ouviu com atenção.

O inconsciente é seletivo quando aprende a distinguir o que deve ouvir.

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.

He was liked when noticed, but not noticed much, and that did him no harm either.

The Specters feast as vampires feast on blood, but the Specters' food is attention. A conscious and informed interest in the world. The immaturity of children is less attractive to them.

If you speak to people, you just attract their attention," he said, with a shaking voice. "You should just keep quiet and still and they overlook you. I've been doing it all my life. I know how to do it. Your way, you just—you make yourself visible.