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Quotes About Observation

The most sensible people to be met with in society are men of business and of the world, who argue from what they see and know, instead of spinning cobweb distinctions of what things ought to be.
~ William Hazlitt
We occasionally see something on the stage that reminds us a little of Shakespear. [Oct. 16, 1814, The Champion ]
~ William Hazlitt
Refinement creates beauty everywhere: it is the grossness of the spectator that discovers nothing but grossness in the object.
~ William Hazlitt
For example, the most consistent bit of irrational investment behavior is the commonplace observation that we are less likely to sell losers than winners. This is known in behavioral finance circles as "regret avoidance." Holding onto a stock that has done poorly keeps alive the possibility that we will not have to confront the finality of our failure.
~ William J. Bernstein
In the words of Fred Schwed, one of the most astute observers of the investment scene (and certainly the funniest): There are certain things that cannot be adequately explained to a virgin either by words or pictures. Nor can any description I might offer here even approximate what it feels like to lose a real chunk of money that you used to own.
~ William J. Bernstein
Within a few decades after the conquests of Cortés and Pizarro, the cattle population of Spanish America doubled as rapidly as every fifteen months. From Mexico to the pampas of Argentina, the vast open spaces of the New World swarmed black with livestock. One French observer in Mexico wrote in wonderment at the "great, level plains, stretching endlessly and everywhere covered with an infinite number of cattle.
~ William J. Bernstein
People don't see the world as it is, rather we impose our beliefs on what we experience.
~ William J. Starkey
Instantly he established the routine: Any and all passerby would be barked at for safety reasons only, any vehicles coming up the driveway would be inspected and their occupants sniffed, all squirrels would be treed, other dogs would be approached and warned off but not attacked and every move would be carefully viewed with erect ears, inquisitive eyes and a slight tilt of the head. "What are we gonna do next, Bill?
~ William J. Thomas
If fish were scientists, probably the last thing they would discover is water!
~ William J. Webb
To be conscious means not simply to be, but to be reported, known, to have awareness of one's being added to that being.
~ William James
To study the abnormal is the best way of understanding the normal.
~ William James
We may be in the Universe as dogs and cats are in our libraries, seeing the books and hearing the conversation, but having no inkling of the meaning of it all.
~ William James
My experience is what I agree to attend to.
~ William James
When a tree's leaves wave slightly or when you hear consistent creaking and groaning of limbs and there is no wind, chances are you are being laughed at by a tree. They may find your clothes ridiculous. Your hiking skills clumsy. Or your yodeling off-key. It is not cruel or teasing laughter. They are simply amused.
~ William Joyce
I know from my studies and from my life is that there is no such thing as a true event. We know dates and times and locations and participants but accounts of what happened depend upon the perspective from which the event is viewed. Take
~ William Kent Krueger
although the rain would miss us I could see quite well the silver bolts of lightning forged on the anvil of the great thunderhead. I slipped downstairs and out the front door and sat on the porch steps. A wind cooler than anything I'd felt in days breathed into my face and I watched the storm as I might have watched the approach and passing of a fierce and beautiful animal.
~ William Kent Krueger
little insurance in case you're inclined toward a different destination." In the Jeep, Cork followed No Voice back up the dirt track to the compound. The Arapaho and his grandson still stood in the shade of the outbuilding. Cork waved as he passed to let them know he bore them no ill will. They didn't respond, just stood watching as the two vehicles kicked up dust on their way out.
~ William Kent Krueger
A sensible man keeps out of politics
~ William King
Confirmation bias is the tendency to see things in your environment that confirm your preconceived ideas and not see things that conflict with what you already believe. I think maybe something like that happens with kids. You see what you want to see.
~ William Landay
What about you, Mr. Glover. The smartest man in the room is usually the quietest. What do you think about all this?" "I think you killed your wife.
~ William Landay
I was greeted at the Magraths' apartment door by a dumpy, pie-faced woman with a frizz of unsprung black hair. She wore black spandex leggings and an oversized T-shirt with an equally oversized message stamped across the front: Don't Give Me Attitude, I Have One of My Own. This witticism ran six full lines, drawing my eyes southward over her person from wavering bosom to detumescent belly, a journey I regret even now.
~ William Landay
Instead he lifted up his head and turned his neck so he could catch sight of the man just as he reached the back of the house—a darkly clothed figure with short legs and broad shoulders, his wide back hunched and powerful, running quite quickly despite a slight limp, ripping open the door with massive arms, tearing out into the light, glancing back with a quick twist of his huge neck before jumping like a cheetah over the fence.
~ William Lashner
For you are to observe, that Body begins not from itself, nor is any Thing of itself, but is all that it is, whether pure or impure, has all that it has, whether of Light or Darkness, and works all that it works, whether of Good or Evil, merely from Spirit.
~ William Law
You can learn more about human nature by reading the Bible than by living in New York.
~ William Lyon Phelps