Observe with the eyes; listen with the ears; shut the mouth. — American Proverbs
Every view, and every object I studied attentively, by viewing them again and again on every side, for I was anxious to make a lasting impression of it on my imagination. — Karl Philipp Moritz
Cultivate an ever-continuous power of observation. Wherever you are, be always ready to make slight notes of postures, groups and incidents. — John Singer Sargent
Gaze steadfastly at things which, though far away, are yet present to the mind. — Parmenides
The moment one gives close attention to any thing, even a blade of grass it becomes a mysterious, awesome, indescribably magnificent world in itself. — Henry Miller
Nature will bear the closest inspection. She invites us to lay our eye level with her smallest leaf, and take an insect view of its plain. — Henry David Thoreau
The observer cannot be left out of the description of the observation. — John Archibald Wheeler
But what is of great importance to me is observation of the movement of colors. — Robert Delaunay
Observe, and in that observation there is neither the "observer" nor the "observed" - there is only observation taking place. — Jiddu Krishnamurti
An observant child should be put in the way of things worth observing. — Charlotte Mason
Our observation of nature must be diligent, our reflection profound, and our experiments exact. We rarely see these three means combined; and for this reason, creative geniuses are not common. — Denis Diderot
The third person narrator, instead of being omniscient, is like a constantly running surveillance tape. — Andrew Vachss
Seeing artistically does not happen automatically. We must constantly develop our powers of observation. — Eugene Delacroix
To be aware of little, quiet things, you need to be quiet inside. A high degree of alertness is required. Be still. Look. Listen. Be present. — Eckhart Tolle
Short Closely Observed Quotes
To look at a thing is very different from seeing it. — Oscar Wilde
look for a long time at what pleases you, and longer still at what pains you... — Colette
Always keep your eyes open. Keep watching. Because whatever you can see can inspire you. — Grace Coddington
Observe all men, thyself most. — Benjamin Franklin
Watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you. — Roald Dahl
Closely Observed Image Quotes
Stay close to people who feel like sunlight.
Closeted Quotes
I proceed, gentlemen, to call your attention to the present state of insane persons confined within the commonwealth; in cages, closets, cellars, stalls, pens; chained, naked, beaten with rods, and lashed into obedience. — Dorothea Dix
Every woman should have four pets in her life. A mink in her closet, a jaguar in her garage, a tiger in her bed, and a jackass who pays for everything. — Paris Hilton
All great soul-winners have been men of much and mighty prayer, and all great revivals have been preceded and carried out by persevering, prevailing knee-work in the closet. — Samuel Logan Brengle
You will continue to suffer if you have an emotional reaction to everything that is said to you. True power is sitting back and observing everything with logic. If words control your that means everyone can control you. Breathe and allow things to pass.
I'm like every other woman: a closet full of clothes, but nothing to wear: So I wear jeans. — Cameron Diaz
If we taught babies to talk as most skills are taught in school, they would memorize lists of sounds in a predetermined order and practice them alone in a closet. — Linda Darling-Hammond
I have a face that is a cross between two pounds of halibut and an explosion in an old clothes closet. — David Niven
Sometimes the strongest people are the ones who love beyond all faults, cry behind closed doors and fight battles that nobody knows about.
It's okay to talk about birth, okay - then menstruation. I first started my advocacy for women's health in the field of reproductive freedom, and the next stage would be bringing menopause out of the closet. — Cybill Shepherd
I myself identify as a recovering Blockhead. You'd be surprised how many twenty- and thirty-something hipster chicks have the NKOTB skeleton in their closet, albeit artfully concealed by stacks of Ksubi skinny jeans and ironic Judas Priest T-shirts. — Diablo Cody
I've never been an all-black girl. I like pinks and blues and greens. If you come over to my closet, you'll be able to find a rainbow of things to wear. — Carly Rae Jepsen
Manners must adorn knowledge and smooth its way in the world, without them it is like a great rough diamond, very well in a closet by way of curiosity, and also for its intrinsic value; but most prized when polished. — Lord Chesterfield
Inspiration is for amateurs,’ the artist Chuck Close once memorably observed. ‘The rest of us just show up and get to work. — Oliver Burkeman
After some time, with my eyes closed, I began to enjoy this wonderful play of colors and forms, which it really was a pleasure to observe. Then I went to sleep and the next day I was fine. I felt quite fresh, like a newborn. — Albert Hofmann
I find, by close observation, that the mothers are the levers which move in education. The men talk about it . . . but the women work most for it. — Frances Harper
It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool, than to open it and remove all doubt.
The peculiar striations that define someone's personality are too numerous to know, no matter how close the observer. A person we think we know can suddenly become someone else when previously hidden strands of his character are called to the fore by circumstance. — Elliot Perlman
All genius is simple. It involves close observation and a momentous act of self trust. — Howell Raines
I wonder if, in fact, we have been observed by aliens and upon close examination of human conduct and human behavior they have concluded that there is no sign of intelligent life on Earth. — Neil deGrasse Tyson
The most dangerous person is the one who listens, thinks and observes.
Buddhist meditation doen't necessarily mean sitting cross-legged with your eyes closed. Simply observing how your mind is responding to the sense world as you go about your business - walking, talking, shopping, whatever - can be a really perfect meditation and bring a perfect result. — Thubten Yeshe
I was a close observer of the developments in molecular biology. — John Pople
I think midwifery was developed by people with common sense, people who were close to nature, and people who observed other species of mammals and saw that there were lessons there to be learned. — Ina May Gaskin
Dealing with architecture brings me very close to the state of mind required to make pictures. One also needs an old seeing eye, appropriate reflexes which embrace sensitive observations coupled with appropriate emotional responses. — Max Dupain
It is the close observation of little things which is the secret of success in business, in art, in science, and in every pursuit in life. Human knowledge is but an accumulation of small facts made by successive generations of men--the little bits of knowledge and experience carefully treasured up by them growing at length into a mighty pyramid. — Samuel Smiles
Before this address to my countrymen is closed, I beg leave to observe, that as a new century has dawned upon us, the mind is naturally led ot contemplate the great events that have run parallel with and have just closed the last. — Mercy Otis Warren
I believe that my observations have always led me to find that the so-called realist moves about the world with a closed mind, ringed as it were with concrete and cement, and that the so-called romantic is like an unfenced garden in and out of which truth can wander at will. — Joseph Roth
Don't observe yourself too closely. Don't be too quick to draw conclusions from what happens to you; simply let it happen. — Rainer Maria Rilke
It is the close observation of little things which is the secret of success in business, in art, in science, and in every pursuit of life. — Samuel Smiles
For me, my discomfort with gay weddings was articulated by a close friend, who observed that gay people getting married is like retarded people getting together to give each other PhDs. It doesn't make them smarter, and it doesn't make us married. — Dan Savage
Line is so versatile - you can do a fine, tight, closely observed description or simply put a line around an idea - like a cartoonist. — Stan Smith
The alchemists spent years in their laboratories, observing the fire that purified the metals. They spent so much time close to the fire that gradually they gave up the vanities of the world. They discovered that the purification of the metals had led to a purification of themselves. — Paulo Coelho
A multitude of bees can tell the time of day, calculate the geometry of the sun's position, argue about the best location for the next swarm. Bees do a lot of close observing of other bees; maybe they know what follows stinging and do it anyway. — Lewis Thomas
From my close observation of writers... they fall into two groups: 1) those who bleed copiously and visibly at any bad review, and 2) those who bleed copiously and secretly at any bad review. — Isaac Asimov
If you're too close to events, you lose perspective. It is not easy to be fair with the facts and keep your own convictions out of the picture. It is almost impossible to be both a participant in the events and their observer, witness, interpreter. — Micha Bar-Am
Good similes depend upon close observation. They depend upon brevity and wit....They have to fit in context. — James J. Kilpatrick
A careful observation of Nature will disclose pleasantries of superb irony. She has for instance placed toads close to flowers. — Honore de Balzac
One man's observation is another man's closed book or flight of fancy. — Willard Van Orman Quine
They who do not understand that a man may be brought to hope that which of all things is the most grievous to him, have not observed with sufficient closeness the perversity of the human mind. — Anthony Trollope
Well, one of the things I discovered in the course of looking back and writing about what I saw in my memory is that I was a closely observant person long before I became a reporter. — Alma Guillermoprieto
I first came to think about media and politics in the late 1960s, having observed some distortions up close, but since then I wouldn't say that my personal experience has remained an important motive for my writing about media. — Todd Gitlin
In all assemblies, though you wedge them ever so close, we may observe this peculiar property, that over their heads there is room enough; but how to reach it is the difficult point. To this end the philosopher's way in all ages has been by erecting certain edifices in the air. — Jonathan Swift
Close observation of children at play suggests that they find out about the world in the same way as scientists find out about new phenonoma and test new ideas...during this exploration, all the senses are used to observe and draw conclusions about objects and events through simple, if crude, scientific investigations. — Judith Rodin
After a lifetime of affectionate regard for dogs and many years of close observation and reflection, I have reached the conclusion that dogs feel more than I do (I am not prepared to speak for other people). They feel more, and they feel more purely and more intensely. — Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson
To study men, we must look close by; to study man, we must learn to look afar; if we are to discover essential characteristics, we must first observe differences. — Jean-Jacques Rousseau
For most of human history, we could only watch, like bystanders, the beautiful dance of Nature. But today, we are on the cusp of an epoch-making transition, from being passive observers of Nature to being active choreographers of Nature. The Age of Discovery in science is coming to a close, opening up an Age of Mastery. — Michio Kaku
Climbing up on Solsbury Hill
I could see the city light
Wind was blowing, time stood still
Eagle flew out of the night
He was something to observe
Came in close, I heard a voice
Standing stretching every nerve
I had to listen, had no choice — Peter Gabriel
To observe the world carefully, to write a lot and often, on a schedule if necessary, to use the dictionary a lot, to look up word origins, to analyze closely the work of writers you admire, to read not only contemporaries but writers of the past, to learn at least one foreign language, to live an interesting life outside of writing. — Lydia Davis
It is increasingly clear to me that my art relates more and more to a sublimation of my closeness to the natural world, it's events, light itself, and the positive it is a personal expression based on observation and reaction, that I am not able to define except in terms of the work itself. — Ansel Adams
The moon had been observing the earth close-up longer than anyone. It must have witnessed all of the phenomena occurring - and all of the acts carried out - on this earth. But the moon remained silent; it told no stories. — Haruki Murakami
Good discipline requires time. When we have no time to give our children, or no time that we are willing to give, we don't even observe them closely enough to become aware of when their need for our disciplinary assistance is expressed subtley. — M Scott Peck
It was noted long ago that the front row of burlesque houses was occupied predominantly by bald-headed men. In fact, such a row became known as the bald-headed row. It might be assumed from this on statistical evidence that the continued close observation of chorus girls in tights caused loss of hair from the top of the head. — Harry S.N. Greene
[It] may be laid down as a general rule that, if the result of a long series of precise observations approximates a simple relation so closely that the remaining difference is undetectable by observation and may be attributed to the errors to which they are liable, then this relation is probably that of nature. — Pierre-Simon Laplace
I love movin'. I was observant growing up, watching Michael Jackson and John Travolta. I'd close my eyes, see the moves. — Jon Heder
Now I'm writing about contemporary Los Angeles from memory. My process was to hang out, observe, research what I was writing about, and almost immediately go back to my office and write those sections. So it was a very close transfer between observation and writing. — Michael Connelly
There was an opening in the ER program at King Drew, so I spent the next month there, fascinated with the range of pathology that I observed, the diversity of skill that the ER physicians had to acquire, the variety of cases, and the ability to interact closely with people. — Samuel Wilson
We observe closely related species in sympatry and infer how they evolved from a common ancestor. — Peter R. Grant
No formal course in fiction-writing can equal a close and observant perusal of the stories of Edgar Allan Poe or Ambrose Bierce. — H. P. Lovecraft
Observe that it is a great error to believe that all mediums of art are not closely tied to their time. — Camille Pissarro
In Conclusion
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