#preoccupation

So much in writing depends on the superficiality of one's days. One may be preoccupied with shopping and income tax returns and chance conversations, but the stream of the unconscious continues to flow undisturbed, solving problems, planning ahead: one sits down sterile and dispirited at the desk, and suddenly the words come as though from the air: the situations that seemed blocked in a hopeless impasse move forward: the work has been done while one slept or shopped or talked with friends. ↗

— Graham Greene

#creative-process #daily-life #preoccupations #subconscious #superficiality

The passionate controversies of one era are viewed as sterile preoccupations by another, for knowledge alters what we seek as well as what we find. ↗

— Freda Adler

#another #controversies #era #find #knowledge

I felt sidelined by the industry, by the preoccupation with finding something newer, younger. ↗

— Tori Amos

#finding #i #industry #newer #preoccupation

A remarkable feature of the humanitarian movement, on both its sentimental and utilitarian sides, has been its preoccupation with the lot of the masses. ↗

— Irving Babbitt

#both #feature #humanitarian #lot #masses

Our passionate preoccupation with the sky, the stars, and a God somewhere in outer space is a homing impulse. We are drawn back to where we came from. ↗

— Eric Hoffer

#came #drawn #god #impulse #our

That is my major preoccupation, memory, the kingdom of memory. I want to protect and enrich that kingdom, glorify that kingdom and serve it. ↗

— Elie Wiesel

#glorify #i #kingdom #major #memory

I've discovered I've got this preoccupation with ordinary people pursued by large forces. ↗

— Steven Spielberg

#forces #got #i #large #ordinary

To wait for hours to buy a train ticket or to see a doctor is accepted as a normal way of doing things. Privacy is not a great preoccupation, and this is a very crowded country. ↗

— Nancy Travis

#buy #country #crowded #doctor #doing

Forgiveness isn’t something I’m preoccupied with — turning the other cheek isn’t my trip. ↗

— Karl Lagerfeld

#designer #forgive #forgiveness #karl-lagerfeld #past

What is the thread of western civilization that distinguished its course in history? It has to do with the preoccupation of western man with his outward command and his sense of superiority. ↗

— Arthur Erickson

#command #course #distinguished #his #history