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Pay Attention Quotes

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Pay Attention Quotes

“Niches set back in the walls contained polished marble statues of entwined bodies. Will looked away from them hastily, and then back. It wasn't as if Magnus seemed to be paying attention to what Will was doing, and he'd honestly never imagined two people could get themselves into a position like that, much less make it look artistic.”

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Book:The Infernal Devices: Clockwork Angel; Clockwork Prince; Clockwork Princess
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“If your skin is crawling, pay attention. If something doesn’t feel right, pay attention. If the hairs on the back of your neck prickle, if your gut clenches up, if a wave of wrongness washes over you, if your heart starts beating faster, pay, pay, pay attention. Do not second-guess yourself or rationalize anything that impedes your safety. Our instincts are the animal inside of our humanness, warning us of danger.”

IfsFeelsHeartAnimalPayAttentionDangerHairSkinsSafetyInstinctWaveFasterPay AttentionNecksGutsOver YouWarningFeels RightCrawlingRationalizeHumanness
Author:Inga Muscio
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“No one expects a woman busy at her sewing to pay attention to what’s being said around her. Nevermind if a man’s mother and sister showerd them they heard everything while they stictched, he’ll still think a woman who plies her needles saves all her brains for the work. You’re a far better spy hemming sheets than if you clank with daggers.”

IfsThinkingMenSaidStillsMotherPayAttentionBrainHeardBusyPay AttentionSheetsSpyNeedlesDaggersSewingPliesNevermind
Book:Trickster's Duet
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“You got a lot of ladies to get through. You’re still young. First love’s the sweetest, but it doesn’t last.” “Not ever?” I ask. Grandad looks at me with a seriousness he reserves for moments when he wants me to really pay attention. “When we fall that first time, we’re not really in love with the girl. We’re in love with being in love. We’ve got no idea what she’s really about—or what she’s capable of. We’re in love with our idea of her and of who we become around her. We’re idiots.”

WantFirstsLooksStillsIdeasMomentsLastsYoungFallGirlAsksPayAttentionCapableFirst TimePay AttentionNo IdeaIdiotWant MeReservesFirst LoveLook At MeBeing In LoveSeriousnessSweetestHe Wants Me
Book:Black Heart
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“I could hear her babbling away beside me, but I wasn't really paying attention. I could barely focus on anything. My nerve endings seemed to have come alive; they almost jangled with anticipation I was going to see Will. Whatever else, I had that. I could almost feel the miles between us shrinking, as if we were at two ends of some invisible elastic thread.”

IfsFeelsTwoEndsAttentionFocusAliveMilesInvisiblePay AttentionNervesAnticipationThreadShrinkingBabbling
Author:Jojo Moyes
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“Not that anyone minds--no one's paying attention to the music. Most of them never really listen to music. Practically no one actually does. Even at concerts people pay good money for, instead of a three-dollar cover charge, they talk through the whole thing. I feel sorry for them, since none of them understand what it's like to have a song just get into your soul and become your whole world. They don't know what it's like when a song changes your life.”

PeopleKnowsWorldFeelsMindDoeSoulWholeSongThreePayAttentionDollarsSorryWhole WorldYour SoulPay AttentionConcertsChanging Your LifeListening To MusicGood Money
Author:Adam Selzer
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“There are moments in my life when I feel like I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be, doing exactly what I’m supposed to do. I pay attention to them. They’re my cosmic landmarks, letting me know I’m on the right path. Now that I’m older and can look back and see where I missed a turn here and there, and know the price I paid for those oversights, I try to look sharper at the present.”

KnowsFeelsTryingLooksMomentsTurnsPayAttentionPathPaidSupposed To BePay AttentionCosmicHere And ThereRight PathLandmarksOversight
Book:The Fever Series 7-Book Bundle: Darkfever, Bloodfever, Faefever, Dreamfever, Shadowfever, Iced, Burned
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“How promising you are as a Student of the Game is a function of what you can pay attention to without running away. Nets and fences can be mirrors. And between the nets and fences, opponents are also mirrors. This is why the whole thing is scary. This why all opponents are scary and weaker opponents are especially scary. See yourself in your opponents. They will bring you to understand the Game. To accept the fact that the Game is about managed fear. That its object is to send from yourself what you hope will not return.”

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Book:Infinite Jest
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“It is obvious that art cannot teach anyone anything, since in four thousand years humanity has learnt nothing at all. We should long ago have become angels had we been capable of paying attention to the experience of art, and allowing ourselves to be changed in accordance with the ideals it expresses. Art only has the capacity, through shock and catharsis, to make the human soul receptive to good. It’s ridiculous to imagine that people can be taught to be good…Art can only give food – a jolt – the occasion – for psychical experience.”

PeopleGivingShouldYearsHumansLongArtSoulHumanityAttentionTeachFourImagineChangedTaughtThousandCapableAngelCapacityIdealsObviousBe GoodRidiculousOccasionsPay AttentionShockAllowingImagine ThatLong AgoThousand YearsHuman SoulReceptiveGood ArtCatharsis
Author:Andrei Tarkovsky
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“Between birth and burial, we find ourselves in a comedy of mysteries. If you don't think life is mysterious, if you believe you have it all mapped out, you aren't paying attention or you've anesthetized yourself with booze or drugs, or with a comforting ideology. And if you don't think life's a comedy - well, friend, you might as well hurry along to that burial. The rest of us need people with whom we can laugh. -Odd Thomas -Odd Apocalypse by Dean Koontz pg 30 chapter 4”

PeopleIfsThinkingNeedsBelieveWellsMightLife IsAttentionLaughingComedyMysteryBirthDrugMysteriousIdeologyPay AttentionOddChaptersApocalypseComfortingIf You BelieveDeanBoozeOdd ThomasBurial
Book:Odd Apocalypse: An Odd Thomas Novel
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“A good player who loses at chess is genuinely convinced hat he has lost because of a mistake, and he looks for this mistake in the beginning of his game, but forgets that there were also mistakes at ever step in the course of the game, that none of his moves was perfect. The mistake he pays attention to is conspicuous only because his opponent took advantage of it.”

LooksMovingCoursesGamesLostLosesPerfectForgetPayAttentionMistakeStepsPlayerAdvantageConvincedChessPay AttentionOpponentsHats
Author:Leo Tolstoy
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“And don't pay attention to Christina. Your face doesn't look that bad." He smiles a little. "I mean, it looks good. It always looks good. i mean--you look brave. Dauntless." His eyes skirt mine, and he scratches the back of his head. The silence grows between us. It was a nice thing to say, but he acts like it means more than just words. I hope I am wrong. I could not be attracted to Al-- I could not be attracted to anyone that fragile. I smile as much as my bruised cheek will allow, hoping that will diffuse the tension.”

LooksMeanLittlesEyeFacesGrowsPayAttentionSilenceNiceMinesBravePay AttentionTensionHis EyesAlsYour FaceFragileCheeksScratchesSkirtsNice ThingsI SmileBruisedDauntlessChristina
Author:Veronica Roth
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“Gorgeous, amazing things come into our lives when we are paying attention: mangoes, grandnieces, Bach, ponds. This happens more often when we have as little expectation as possible. If you say, "Well, that's pretty much what I thought I'd see," you are in trouble. At that point you have to ask yourself why you are even here. [...] Astonishing material and revelation appear in our lives all the time. Let it be. Unto us, so much is given. We just have to be open for business.”

IfsWellsLittlesHappensAsksGivenAttentionOur LivesTroubleMaterialsExpectationsPay AttentionRevelationsGorgeousAstonishingAmazing ThingsPonds
Author:Anne Lamott
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“We shouldn’t,” protested Isabelle. “The Clave has a plan.” “The Clave has the collective intelligence of a pineapple,” said Jace. Alec blinked up at them. “Jace is right.” Isabelle turned on her brother. “What do you know? You weren’t even paying attention.” “I was,” Alec said, injured. “I said Jace was right.” “Yeah, but there’s like a 90% chance of me being right most of the time, so that’s not proof you were listening,” said Jace. “That’s just a good guess.”

KnowsSaidChanceAttentionPlansBrotherListeningYeahProofPay AttentionCollectivesDo You KnowJaceInjuredIsabelle LightwoodPineapplesCollective Intelligence
Author:Cassandra Clare
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“The real questions for parents should be: "Are you engaged? Are you paying attention?" If so, plan to make lots of mistakes and bad decisions. Imperfect parenting moments turn into gifts as our children watch us try to figure out what went wrong and how we can do better next time. The mandate is not to be perfect and raise happy children. Perfection doesn't exist, and I've found what makes children happy doesn't always prepare them to be courageous, engaged adults.”

IfsShouldTryingChildrenRealMomentsTurnsNextFoundParentCan DoDecisionPerfectAttentionMistakeWatchesPlansFiguresAdultsPerfectionOur ChildrenRaisesPay AttentionEngagedCourageousImperfectNext TimeMandatesBe CourageousBad DecisionReal QuestionsHappy ChildrenDaring Greatly
Book:Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead
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“No matter how good you are at sneaking, you can't ever sneak well enough so that mosquitoes won't find you, and no matter how worried and tense you are, or how hard you are trying to pay attention, you just can't help noticing when a cloud of mosquitoes comes for you like you're their first good meal since last fall.”

TryingFirstsWellsMatterHardEnoughHelpingLastsFallPayAttentionLike YouCloudsWorriedPay AttentionMealsTenseNoticingSneakMosquitoesGood Meals
Book:Across the Great Barrier
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“There was rarely an obvious branching point in a person's life. People changed slowly, over time. You didn't take on step, then find yourself in a completely new location. You first took a little step off a path to avoid some rocks. For a while, you walked alongside the path, but then you wandered out a little way to step on softer soil. Then you stopped paying attention as you drifted farther and farther away. Finally, you found yourself in the wrong city, wondering why the signs on the roadway hadn't led you better.”

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Book:Arcanum Unbounded: The Cosmere Collection
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“No, I know,” Levi said. “But it’s not you. You don’t push through every moment. You pay attention. You take everything in. I like that about you—I like that better.” Cath closed her eyes and felt tears catch on her cheeks. “I like your glasses,” he said. “I like your Simon Snow T-shirts. I like that you don’t smile at everyone, because then, when you smile at me.… Cather.” He kissed her mouth. “Look at me.” She did. “I choose you over everyone.”

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Book:The Rainbow Rowell Collection: Eleanor & Park, Fangirl, Landline, and Carry On
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“Experience is not a matter of having actually swum the Hellespont, or danced with the dervishes, or slept in a doss-house. It is a matter of sensibility and intuition, of seeing, and hearing the significant thing, of paying attention at the right moments, of understanding and coordinating. Experience is not what happens to a man; it is what a man does with what happens to him.”

MenDoeMatterMomentsHappensHouseUnderstandingAttentionSeeingExperienceHearingIntuitionSignificantPay AttentionSensibilityRight MomentSignificant ThingsCoordinating
Author:Aldous Huxley
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“... success or failure, the truth of a life really has little to do with its quality. The quality of life is in proportion, always, to the capacity for delight. The capacity for delight is the gift of paying attention.”

LifeLittlesTruthLife IsAttentionQualityGratitudeCapacityDelightPay AttentionProportionQuality Of LifeSuccess Or Failure
Book:The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity
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“If I learned one thing, it is that self-doubt is one of the most destructive forces. It makes you defensive instead of open, reactive instead of active. Self-doubt is consuming and cruel. And my hope today is that we can all collectively agree to ban it. . . . Think to the moments of your life when you forgot to doubt yourself. When you were so inspired that you were just living and creating and working. Pay attention to those moments because they're trying to reach you through those lenses of doubt and trying to show you your potential.”

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Author:Jennifer Lee
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