Quotes About Observation

Se había convertido en toda una experta, pensó, en escuchar como si no escuchara, en penetrar fugazmente en las vidas de las personas que hablaban a su alrededor.

Eyes that looked out into the world, that took in so cleverly light, shape, and movement--why should it be important what they themselves looked like? The thing is that it was. Not what we see, but how we are seen.

Elle faisait confiance à la vie pour lui envoyer des indices, des idées, des détails qu'elle convertirait en histoires. C'est comme ça qu'elle avait écrit son premier livre. En ouvrant grand les yeux sur le monde. En écoutant, en observant, en reniflant. C'est comme ça aussi qu'on ne vieillit pas. On vieillit quand on s'enferme, on refuse de voir, d'entendre ou de respirer. La vie et l'écriture, ça va souvent ensemble.

There are two things to avoid with your journal. One is never writing in it; the other is always writing in it. In the first case, you participate in life without observing it. In the second case, you observe life without participating in it.

I wasn't certain Sebastian's teasing was the same. It felt different somehow. Sera clarified, "That's the way men are." Jane

I picked up a small square shortbread biscuit and stared at it, noting the uneven angles, wishing it were a perfect square, but it was, after all, merely a baked good, and baked goods did not ordinarily form perfect squares.

All else seemed sterile compared to what she witnessed in the woods.

foster a teacher's habit of paying close attention to what students say, whether they speak through words or actions.

I grew to appreciate the company of people who listen to the world. They don't feel the need to talk all the while. They were alert to bird-cries, waves sucking on rocks, a rope frittering against a mast.

Knowing birds is like being fluent in a foreign language, or adept with a musical instrument.

There's mystery in my own back green - especially in my own back green!

Nate paused for a moment, taking in the sight of Beatrice Love. The woman sat slumped in her chair talking silently to a small red object in the palm of her hand. That couldn't be good.

The two men sipped their drinks silently, allowing Alastair a moment more to assess his visitor. The MacGregor tartan had been his idea. He wanted no one to suspect what was afoot. His guest's face, however, was difficult to make out. Despite the fire's warmth, the man seemed reluctant to remove the plaid from his head and

Pretty, mysterious girl with braids … The depiction thrilled her. To be seen, to be described—it was as if the plain girl she always saw in the mirror might be magically transformed by the simple act of being observed by others. Pretty? Mysterious? What else might Clara be?

Any day you walk down a street and find nothing new but nothing missing counts as a good day in a city you love.

Like many parents in middle age, he's quick to spot changes in the world, slow to note shifts in his own perspective.

He was uncannily skilled at dissecting hidden meaning behind every interaction.

Easing back in her seat, Grace watched the children in the playground opposite, coats off, faces flushed, laughing hysterically with pleasure. They were so vividly alive, completely immersed in the game. She tried to recall a time when she'd been that way and realized she couldn't remember when that had been. She'd lost the knack of forgetting herself. Instead she seemed to look down on herself throughout the day, scrutinizing, judging; finding herself wanting more.

Her eyes were as wide as a nun's in a brothel.

Think of them like gods, Janice said, because that's what they are. The nape of a human neck is especially easy to see through – that's why they love it when we bow our heads. It doesn't have anything to do with praying. Prayers bore them.

She thought it was probably a good idea to like being looked at if you were a girl—it was probably key to survival. If you were a gorilla it was the other way around. Somewhere the girl had read that if you looked a gorilla in the eye it would strangle you.

Love at first sight can often be cured by taking a second look.

I am ashamed of anyone who has eyes and still can't see.

I am ashamed of anyone who has eyes and still cannot see. (Mrs. Plithiver)