William Arthur Ward Quotes

Your life is too valuable to waste being distracted.

But as the business grows, you get more attention, and then you realize that the whole world is trying to get time from you. Which is amazing. But every time you give it to the world, you give less to what you’re doing.

Giving something your time isn't the same as giving it your attention.

What distracts us will begin to define us. We don't need to swing at every pitch.

As for Twitter, I've found that you have to learn how to make it add value rather than subtract hours from one's day. Certainly, it affords narcissism and distraction.

We're like a gardener with a hose and our attention is water - we can water flowers or we can water weeds.

I learned long ago to focus on things you can control and don't even pay attention to things you don't.

How much time he saves who does not look to see what his neighbor says or does or thinks.

When priorities are proper, the power to endure is increased. And when internalized, those priorities will help keep you from "going overboard."

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

When we blather about trivial things, we ourselves become trivial, for our attention gets taken up with trivialities. You become what you give your attention to.

Getting distracted by trifles is the easiest thing in the world… Focus on your main duty

Don't get too comfortable. We are here for a certain period of time, and how much of your life are you gonna choose to spend with distractions? How do you make your choices? What is important?

It's incredibly easy to get caught up in an activity trap, in the busy-ness of life, to work harder and harder at climbing the ladder of success only to discover it's leaning against the wrong wall. It is possible to be busy - very busy - without being very effective.

Sometimes, a new toy, a new technology, will focus you. The world is always trying to draw you out, so you always have to remember to go in.

I may be the type who manages to grab all the pointless things in life but lets the really important things slip away.

Don't become a slave to non-crucial matters.

Let each hour of the day have its allotted duty, and cultivate that power of concentration which grows with its exercise.

Sometimes we don't even realize what we really care about, because we get so distracted by the symbols.

I didn't dare let my mind wander off.

The entire ball game, in terms of both the exam and life, was what you gave attention to vs. what you willed yourself to not.

I don't have a belief problem, I have a focusing weakness. I focus on what's loudest instead of what feels best.

It takes an extraordinary amount of attention to manifest any ambition. But life intervenes - distractions and obligations pull us away from the ambition we originally had.

Stop managing your time. Start managing your focus.

We become so caught up in the busyness of our lives. Were we to step back, however, and take a good look at what we’re doing, we may find that we have immersed ourselves in the “thick of thin things.” In other words, too often we spend most of our time taking care of the things which do not really matter much at all in the grand scheme of things, neglecting those more important causes.