Diane Ackerman Quotes

Attention is like energy in that without it no work can be done, and in doing work is dissipated. We create ourselves by how we use this energy. Memories, thoughts and feelings are all shaped by how use it. And it is an energy under control, to do with as we please; hence attention is our most important tool in the task of improving the quality of experience.

You cannot give your full attention to something, and at the same time resist it.

Attention may sound dull, but it is an essential aspect of consciousness. In fact, it governs what it is that we turn out to be conscious of, and therefore plays a part in the coming into being of whatever exists for us.

What is the difference between attention and inattention? What is attention and what is concentration? ...Attention has no centre.

We become what we pay attention to.

The quality of our attention determines our experience.

Surely there is something to be said for drawing a circle around our attention and remaining within that circle. But how large should this circle be?

Our life experiences area result of where our attention takes us.

Pay attention to what you're paying attention to.

To succeed, you must be able to concentrate, and to know what to concentrate on.

At any moment in time, our reality is based on whatever we focus on.

I'm pretty much done with mindfulness. I'm just going to start paying attention.

Attention is the ability we have to discriminate and to focus only on that which we want to perceive.

Besides learning to see, there is another art to be learned - not to see what is not.

Attention is a little-noticed and underrated mental asset.

Our awareness is the key. It is our awareness more than our work effort that gets the right result right now.

The eyes see not what is before them when the mind is intent on other matters.

Where your attention goes, you go.

The ability to focus attention on important things is a defining characteristic of intelligence.

Consciousness is nothing but awareness the composite of all the thing we pay attention to.

A leading difficulty with the average player is that he totally misunderstands what is meant by concentration. He may think he is concentrating hard when he is merely worrying.

Attention is the material I work with.

As adults, when we attend to something in the world we are vividly conscious of that particular thing, and we shut out the surrounding world. The classic metaphor is that attention is like a spotlight, illuminating one part of the world and leaving the rest in darkness.

Presence is more than just being there.

When you let go of your attention for a little while, do not think you may recover it whenever you please.