Quotes About Alertness

Luck is largely a matter of paying attention.

Judgment can be acquired only by acute observation, by actual experience in the school of life, by ceaseless alertness to learn from others, by study of the activities of men who have made notable marks, by striving to analyze the everyday play of causes and effects, by constant study of human nature.

The way to be safe is never to be secure.

To be on the alert is to live; to be lulled into security is to die.

A player's effectiveness is directly related to his ability to be right there, doing that thing, in the moment. ... He can't be worrying about the past or the future or the crowd or some other extraneous event. He must be able to respond in the here and now.

The crisis you have to worry about most is the one you don't see coming.

forgotten, in a hormonal haze, she held. "I could use some of that coffee.

I must not fall asleep in the middle of my life.

The thing had woken him up as usual, an alarm clock. as reliable and stiff off the ground as Big Fucking Ben. [John Matthew]

What, like you didn't think I'd have a second knife? Fucking idiot.

He was quick and alert in the things of life, but only in the things, and not in their significances.

Those who prepare for war get it.

It pays to be prepared.

The responses of friendliness, compassion, and appreciation that I felt ...--all situational permutations of basic goodwill--depended on my mind's being relaxed and alert enough to notice both what was happening around me and what was happening as my internal response. [p.50]

In orbit, you're keyed up and aware of everything going on, every little noise, anything that may have special meaning because of where you are.

Sleeping at night is not a specialty of entrepreneurs. The entrepreneur who is sleeping soundly, something bad is happening to that person; they just don't know it's happening yet.

I'm able to be able to achieve certain things that others aren't - whether it's a reaction time or the idea of a coffee that's about to be spilled and I'm able to grab it before anyone else or whatever it is.

The powers of a man's mind are directly proportional to the quantity of coffee he drank.

With his mind free from the inflow of thoughts and from restlessness, by abandoning both good and evil, an alert man knows no fear.

The superior man, when resting in safety, does not forget that danger may come.

The businessman turns out to have a lot of zanshin. Translating this concept into English is like translating "fuckface" into Nipponese, but it might translate into "emotional intensity" in football lingo.

I'm always ready for anything, but prepared for nothing.

The trooper said to her, "You he careful, now.

It's like the Boy Scouts' motto, be prepared. You've got to be ready when the moment is offered. If you're not, you can actually screw it up for life.