Quotes About Observation

We are all a sort of chameleons, that still take a tincture from things near us; nor is it to be wonder'd at in children, who better understand what they see than what they hear.

What pursuit is more elegant than that of collecting the ignominies of our nature and transfixing them for show, each on the bright pin of a polished phrase?

If it looks like a cat, walks like a cat, and has whiskers like a cat, it's probably a damn cat. But if it eats your groceries, messes up your kitchen, and makes you want to rip out your hair by the roots, you either married it or gave birth to it

Maybe curiosity did kill your cat. But it wouldn't hurt to keep an eye on the neighbor's rottweiler just the same.

He looked from His heavens and saw it was good, the toes and the crows all looked like they should. The bunny was quick, the finch bright as a daisy, the owl flew at night, and the tortoise was lazy.

When you actually know the question, the answer is every­where, and you can see it in anything you observe.

Too much is written by the men who can't write about the men who do write.

The highest exercise of imagination is not to devise what has no existence, but rather to perceive what really exists, though unseen by the outward eye--not creation, but insight.

Sissy wasn't really beautiful, but men never noticed. With her deep green eyes, her shoulder-length auburn hair that swung when she moved, and the way she moved as if she enjoyed just being inside her body, men had always paid her lots of attention.

You have always been smart. You have always looked for the worst in people, and have been quick to notice when people are up to no good... But in the case of your children, you are blind.

Old women can see through walls.

You see so many interesting and eminent men that you can spare a miss sometimes.

Although ink was not invented to express our real feelings, I improve my first stoppage between two trains to thank you for three such delightful days in London. It was a shame to take up so much of your busy time, and to persecute you with the serpentine wisdom. I did not wish to turn into bitterness the sweetest thing on earth, but I fancied that there are things good to be observed in your great position which nobody will tell you if you do not hear them from the most wicked of your friends.

I will not ask where thou liest low, Nor gaze upon the spot; There flowers or weeds at will may grow, So I behold them not

The more I see of men, the less I like of them; if I could but say so of women too, all would be well.

Learning is acquired by reading books, but the much more necessary learning, the knowledge of the world, is only to be acquired by reading men, and studying all the various facets of them.

Knowledge of the world in only to be acquired in the world, and not in a closet.

Like the herd animals we are, we sniff warily at the strange one among us.

What did I think of him? I, who'd worked with him hand-in-glove longer than all the rest, and who knew him better than anyone -- including Mrs. Blackthorne? He was a first-class son of a bitch. But how many men have you known who were first in their class at anything?

Jared snaps his fingers. "Yeah, that's it. Rochelle. Jesus, Gunner, you know how to pick 'em. Both of them, sexy as hell and-" "Jared?" He looks up from his ice. "We best girlfriends now? Gonna chat about our love lives? You know why I hired you, man? I've been surrounded by loudmouth assholes my whole life. You were real quiet during the interview." "Got it," he says.

John lowers himself onto the couch, kicks off his shoes, then stretches out, lies down, and adjusts his head on the pillows. Usually he sits cross-legged on the sofa, so this is a first. I notice, too, that there's no food today. "Okay, you win," he begins with a sigh. "Win what?" I ask. "The pleasure of my company," he deadpans. I raise my eyebrows.

People don't have to tell you their stories with words because they always act them out for you.

I think that a writer should observe the real world before imagining a non-existent one.

Honest to God, she was the noisiest woman he'd ever been shot at with.