Quotes About Observation

If all honest observation ends up sounding critical, is it the honesty you then reject, or the act of observation?

Compassion is not a replacement for stupidity. Tearful concern cannot stand in the stead of cold recognition. Sympathy does not cancel out the hard facts of brutal, unwavering observation. It was too easy, too cheap, to fret and wring one's hands, moaning with heartfelt empathy – it was damned self-indulgent, in fact, providing the perfect excuse for doing precisely nothing while assuming a pious pose. Enough of that.

Unfamiliar faces, gauging regard, every sense heightened in an effort to read the unknown. The natural efforts of society. Do we all possess a wish to remain unseen, unnoticed? Is the witnessing of our actions by others our greatest restraint?

only once brushing gazes with the black man leaning against the bar.

She is perhaps wiser than we think,' Prazek observed after making a scene of swallowing. 'This sausage mocks the pretence. But,' he added, spearing another piece, 'I am assured that it lodges in the pit of the belly, and remains silent, if not unobtrusive, until the moment of its rebirth into the world.

Kruppe is wise – wise enough to keep silent when silence is called for, and yet wiser still to speak when wise words are required. Wisdom, after all, is Kruppe's blood brother.

Hellian's eyes fixed on the T'lan Imass. 'Fiddler,' she said, 'you look awful.

His heart sank as her gaze passed over him, then her head whipped back.

You forget, I once watched you dance...

Do we all possess a wish to remain unseen, unnoticed? Is the witnessing of our actions by others our greatest restraint?

I always tell my clients that they can learn a lot by watching and analyzing other companies that are in crisis, especially competitors. (As that great philosopher Yogi Berra once said, "You can observe a lot by just watching.") For one thing, if a company in your industry group suffers a crisis, could you be next? Figure it out and govern yourself accordingly.

and out comes another empirical truth, possibly a new one, a fact about the universe that nobody knew before (like the existence of electromagnetic waves).

She had a disapproving look that was just a little exaggerated; if you look carefully at that look, you can spot a smile that hangs around its edges and usually draw it out.

Not my job to judge, boy." Baba Yaga filled and lit the pipe again. "But I do observe that its difficult to escape familiar patterns. When you live your life with cruel words, you look for people to give them to you. When you escape and evil stepmother, you take an uncaring bride. When your father throws you out, you love someone who won't love you back. And to keep yourself in cruelty, you're willing to risk head and hands on the mayors side board. Keep the pattern going. Hm.

Being able to slowly and objectively size up a situation is crucial. We observe. We take a curious, yet concerned, attitude. We gather information in a relaxed, thoughtful manner, but we do not rush in to fix the problem. Using the information we've gathered, we determine what action to take.

13. The more distorted our sense of reality, the more certain we will be that what we believe is accurate. 14. The more insistent a person is about the accuracy of his or her observations, the more likely it is that his or her sense of reality is distorted.

The big river rolls past our town, takes a slow look, and rolls away.

We all have a remarkable capacity to slot our observations into preconceived frameworks, and act accordingly. In other words, our intellectual models of contact generate history as surely as they recount it.

Culture influences our understanding of the world. Our biological perception equipment is influenced by our mental constructions; we do not simply 'see the world as it is,' either in the literal sense of vision or in the metaphorical sense of overall apprehension. Our explanations for the patterns we observe are produced in part by what we are taught about the rules of causation, i.e., 'how the world works.

He first considered the forest before exploring the individual trees.

Only perspective brings truth into focus. Where you stand when you look at the facts will determine how they appear.

Darwin was constantly rereading his notes, discovering new implications.

people are more voyeuristic than i would have thought

People don't really have a relationship with great writing or great production or great art direction or great direction. They just sort of admire it.