“It appeared that after first contemplating a book on some subject, and after giving serious preliminary attention to it, I needed a period of subconscious incubation which could not be hurried and was if anything impeded by deliberate thinking.... Having, by a time of very intense concentration, planted the problem in my subconsciousness, it would germinate underground until, suddenly, the solution emerged with a blinding clarity, so that it only remained to write down what happened as if in a revelation.” IfsThinkingGivingWritingFirstsBookProblemAttentionHappenedSubjectsSeriousNeededPeriodsSolutionsIntenseClarityRevelationsConcentrationContemplatingSubconsciousDeliberateIncubation Author:Bertrand Russell
“Get a life in which you notice the smell of salt water pushing itself on a breeze over the dunes, a life in which you stop and watch how a red-tailed hawk circles over a pond and a stand of pines. Get a life in which you pay attention to the baby as she scowls with concentration when she tried to pick up a Cheerio with her thumb and first finger.” FirstsWaterPayAttentionWatchesBabyPicksRedFingersSmellCirclesPay AttentionConcentrationPushingSaltBreezeThumbsPondsHawksSalt Water Author:Anna Quindlen
“You must first realize the thing completely in your mind. Then grasp the brush, fix your attention so that you see clearly what you wish to paint; start quickly, move the brush, follow straight what you see before you, as the buzzard swoops down when the hare jumps out. If you hesitate one moment, it is gone.” IfsMindFirstsMomentsMovingWishRealizingAttentionGonePaintConcentrationBrushesHaresBuzzards Author:Morris Graves
“I wake up fairly early every day, by 8, for sure. Sunday is a lighter writing day than the weekdays, but I still wake up and write for about an hour, beginning right around 8. I definitely have coffee first, and then I start writing. I do think it's kind of hard to get the right level of concentration without coffee.” ThinkingWritingFirstsKindStillsHardHoursLevelsWake UpCoffeeConcentrationSundayLightersWeekdays Author:Karen Thompson Walker
“Each day when you meditate, you should devote the first few minutes of your meditation to concentration. This will develop the power of the intellect.” ShouldFirstsMeditationMinutesYogaIntellectEach DayConcentration Author:Frederick Lenz