Quotes About Observation

Le soir venait. Il les vit et s'arrêta près d'eux pour ne pas les troubler.

Some observers, particularly Southerners, were critical of this show of force. "I have seen today such a sight as I could never have believed possible at the capital of my country," one Southern reporter wrote, "an inauguration of a President surrounded by armed soldiery, with loaded pieces and fixed bayonets." Another observer reported that the procession "seemed more like escorting a prisoner to his doom than a President to his inauguration.

There was one difference I would come to realize, between white kids and Indians. Among white kids there are tattletales everywhere. Indians? An Indian wouldn't tattle to save his own mother. Indians, over the years, have learned the value of keeping their mouths shut.

Perhaps at the end the little things may teach us most.

man cannot be trusted unless they are watched

It seems to me that the further East you go the more unpunctual are the trains. What ought they to be in China? - Jonathan Harker

It is too bad that men cannot be trusted unless they are watched.

It is strange that as yet I have not seen the Count eat or drink. He must be a very peculiar man!

write down what I observe in my notebooks. I do this for two reasons. The first is that Writing inculcates habits of precision and carefulness. The second is to preserve whatever knowledge I possess for you, the Sixteenth Person.

This house, he told them at last, is disordered and dirty. Its inhabitants have idled away their days in pointless pleasures and in celebrations of past cruelties - things that ought not to be remembered, let alone celebrated. I have often observed it and often regretted it. All these faults, I shall in time set right.

As a scientist and an explorer I have a duty to bear witness to the splendours of the world.

As well as my regular meetings with the Other and the quiet, consolatory presence of the Dead, there are the birds. Birds are not difficult to understand. Their behaviour tells me what they are thinking. Generally it runs along the lines of: Is this food? Is this? What about this? This might be food. I am almost certain that this is. Or occasionally: It is raining. I do not like it.

Strange smiled. Or rather he twisted something in his face and Sir Walter supposed that he was smiling. Sir Walter could not really recall what his smile had looked like before.

It might well appear to Sir Walter that there had been no quarrel. It was often the case that gentlemen did not observe the signs.

Even then I knew that the Tides were not random. I saw that if I could record and document them, I might be able to predict their appearance. That was the beginning of my Table.

This experience led me to form a hypothesis: perhaps the wisdom of birds resides, not in the individual, but in the flock, the congregation. I have tried to think of an experiment that would test this theory. The problem, as I see it, is that it is impossible to know in advance when such events will occur; and so the only viable course of action is months – more likely years – of careful observation and meticulous record keeping.

Birds are not difficult to understand. Their behaviour tells me what they are thinking. Generally it runs along the lines of: Is this food? Is this? What about this? This might be food. I am almost certain that this is. Or occasionally: It is raining. I do not like it. While ample for a brief neighbourly

You could also request to be locked into the seclusion room. Not many people made that request. You had to request to get out too. A nurse would look through the chicken wire and decide if you were ready to come out. Somewhat like looking at a cake through the glass of the oven door.

We say that Columbus discovered America and Newton discovered gravity, as though America and gravity weren't there until Columbus and Newton got wind of them. This was the way I felt about the tunnels. They weren't news to anybody else, but they made such an impression on me that I felt I'd conjured them into being.

Once you start parsing a face, it's a peculiar item: squishy, pointy, with lots of air vents and wet spots.

An observer can't tell if a person is silent and still because inner life has stalled or because inner life is transfixingly busy

Their love story unfolded and then folded up again in Cambridge, as I watched and took mental notes and learned nothing, naturally, because the heart is unteachable.

She pursed her lips. Satisfied I'm not carrying a concealed weapon? I have no idea where you'd keep one, if you were, he returned, sliding his gaze along the length of her. Thanks for noticing.

Raspberry iced tea for Irving, water for Tom, a soda for me, and Hans insisted that I bring Mr. Addison a nice chilled root beer. She handed them over, then leaned against Rick's arm as she popped the tab of her Diet Coke and took a drink. Anything yet? she whispered. Not so far, Richard answered, careful not to move. Sometimes he felt like a hunter trying to lure a deer into a trap. Don't move, or she'll remember you're there and run away .