Lin Yutang Quotes

In the ardor of pursuit men soon forget the goal from which they start.

It may be true, that men, who are mere mathematicians, have certain specific shortcomings, but that is not the fault of mathematics, for it is equally true of every other exclusive occupation.

I'm woefully one-track-minded.

Those who apply themselves too much to little things often become incapable of great ones

If you obsess about one thing, you're just going to miss the broader picture.

I probably don't have any room in my mind for anything but football. My dad tells me I'm a total vegetable outside of just knowing football.

You start living for the obsession alone ... You want to arrive somewhere regardless of whether you're enjoying the road or not.

People see everything through the lens of their obsessions.

Be relentless in pursuing your happiness.

All the greatest men are maniacs. They are possessed by a mania which drives them forward towards thier goal. The great scientists, the philosophers, the religious leaders - all maniacs. What else but a blind singlenee of purpose could have given focus to thier genius, would have kept them in the groove of purpose. Mania... is as priceless as genius.

There is nobody in the world that you can't get if you really concentrate on it, if you really want them. You've got to want it to the exclusion of everything else.

Single-mindedness is all very well in cows or baboons; in an animal claiming to belong to the same species as Shakespeare, it is simply disgraceful.

When someone is seeking, it happens quite easily that he only sees the thing that he is seeking; that he is unable to find anything, unable to absorb anything, because he is only thinking of the thing he is seeking, because he has a goal, because he is obsessed with his goal. Seeking means: to have a goal; but finding means: to be free, to be receptive, to have no goal. You, O worthy one, are perhaps indeed a seeker, for in striving towards your goal, you do not see many things that are under your nose.

It gives me a sense of tunnel vision.

Adhesion to one idea is monomania; to few, slavery.

It is a grand thing to see a man thoroughly possessed with one master-passion. Such a man is sure to be strong, and if the master-principle be excellent, he is sure to be excellent, too.

Ambition, madam, is a great man's madness.

A mind of moderate capacity which closely pursues one study must infallibly arrive at great proficiency in that study.

I think we got off the track, as many societies do, who follow successfully one aim, and yet are not capable of seeing at what point the pursuit of this aim prevents them from following a more total aim. That is to say, they get into a blind alley.

I try very much, whenever I do projects, whatever it is, there's only one thing on my mind, only one thing.

The collector walks with blinders on; he sees nothing but the prize. In fact, the acquisitive instinct is incompatible with true appreciation of beauty.

Now, to a single-minded man, who is either brave enough or reckless enough to surrender himself wholly to one idea, and look neither right nor left, but only forward, what earthly consequences may follow is not material. Persecution strengthens him; and so he is sure he is right, whether his course end in a prison or on a throne is no matter at all. But men of this calibre are uncommon in any age or in any country very uncommon in this age and this country.

Anyone can dabble, but once you've made that commitment, your blood has that particular thing in it, and it's very hard for people to stop you.

And people with obsessions, reflected Bond, were blind to danger.

Whenever I get into something, I shut out everything else.