100 Inspiring Quotes On Focus

In a world bustling with distractions and relentless demands, the power of focus has never been more important. Staying focused isn't just about getting more done; it's about channeling your energy into what truly matters, allowing you to achieve goals and cultivate a more fulfilling life. Whether you're an artist honing your craft, a professional striving for excellence, or anyone navigating the complexities of modern life, finding and maintaining focus can feel like a superpower. This collection of 100 inspiring quotes on focus is designed to motivate, enlighten, and guide you on your journey to mindfulness and perseverance. Let these words of wisdom act as your compass, gently steering you away from distractions and helping you concentrate on what truly counts.

1. “My most important piece of advice to all you would-be writers: When you write, try to leave out all the parts readers skip.” - Elmore Leonard

2. “Very occasionally, if you pay really close attention, life doesn't suck.” - Joss Whedon

3. “In those days a boy on the classical side officially did almost nothing but classics. I think this was wise; the greatest service we can to education today is to teach few subjects. No one has time to do more than a very few things well before he is twenty, and when we force a boy to be a mediocrity in a dozen subjects we destroy his standards, perhaps for life.” - C.S. Lewis

4. “I didnt pay atteniton to times or distance, instead focusing on how it felt just to be in motion, knowing it wasn't about the finish line but how I got there that mattered.” - Sarah Dessen

5. “Knowing the Techniques of Survival........Our fears and anxieties will often drive us to build impenetrable walls that act like blinders deflecting others and preventing us from seeing who surrounds us. Getting focused to the things that matter are the Key to what has to be to COMPLETE our MISSION. "I Had Every Excuse to Fail but I Chose None" Speak Life!!!(sky)” - Sebastian K. Young

6. “He well knew his mind's natural tendency to be endlessly on a thousand subjects at once, to flit from this to that and to the next thing to no particular purpose--indeed, he called it his "butterfly mind.” - Eric Metaxas

7. “You only have to do a very few things right in your life so long as you don't do too many things wrong.” - Warren Buffett

8. “If you want to concentrate deeply on some problem, and especially some piece of writing or paper-work, you should acquire a cat. Alone with the cat in the room where you work ... the cat will invariably get up on your desk and settle placidly under the desk lamp ... The cat will settle down and be serene, with a serenity that passes all understanding. And the tranquility of the cat will gradually come to affect you, sitting there at your desk, so that all the excitable qualities that impede your concentration compose themselves and give your mind back the self-command it has lost. You need not watch the cat all the time. Its presence alone is enough. The effect of a cat on your concentration is remarkable, very mysterious.” - Muriel Spark

9. “Horse Frightened by a Lion depicts a majestic stallion in a very different situation. Stubbs painted this magnetic masterpiece to illustrate the nature of the sublime, which was one of his era's most popular philosophical concepts,and its relation to a timelessly riveting feeling: fear. The magnificent horse galloping through a vast wilderness encounters the bottom-up stimulus of a crouching predator and responds with a dramatic display of what psychologists mildly call "negative emotion." The equine superstar's arched neck, dilated eyes, and flared nostrils are in fact the very picture of overwhelming dread. The painting's subject matter reflects he philosopher Edmund Burke's widely circulated Philosophical Enquiry into the Origins of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful, which asserts that because "terror" is unparalleled in commanding "astonishment," or total, single-pointed,--indeed, rapt--attention, it is "the ruling principle of the sublime.” - Winifred Gallagher

10. “this observation leads Rozin to a stunning conclusion: "Disgust is the basic emotion of civilization.” - Winifred Gallagher

11. “Debriefing-style counseling after a trauma often aggravates a victim's stress-related symptoms, for example, and 4 in 10 bereaved people do better without grief therapy.” - Winifred Gallagher

12. “Research shows that when they confront a potentially unpleasant situation, such as some unfriendly faces at a gathering, these extraverts are apt to shift their attention rapidly around the room and zero in on amiable or neutral visages, thus short-circuiting the distressing images before they can get stored in memory.” - Winifred Gallagher

13. “Among these temperamentally unhappy campers are "reactant" personalities, who focus on what they often wrongly perceive as others' attempts to control them. In one experiment, some of these touchy individuals were asked to think of two people they knew: a bossy sort who advocated hard work and a mellow type who preached la dolce vita. Then, one of the names was flashed before the subjects too briefly to register in their conscious awareness. Next, the subjects were given a task to perform. Those who had been exposed to the hard-driving name performed markedly worse than those exposed to the easygoing name. Even this weak, subliminal attention to an emotional cue that suggested control was enough to get their reactant backs up and cause them to act to their own disadvantage. All relationships involve give-and-take and cooperation, so a person who habitually attends to ordinary requests or suggestions like a bull to a red flag is in for big trouble in both home and workplace.” - Winifred Gallagher

14. “Arguably the mos intriguing characteristic assessed by the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ), a widely used test developed by the University of Minnesota's eminent psychologist Auke Tellegen, is "absorption," which describes a particular style of focusing. If you get a high score in this trait, you're naturally inclined toward what he calls a "respondent" or "experiential" way of focusing.” - Winifred Gallagher

15. “In a variation on James's recipe for interesting experience--the familiar leavened by the novel--Hobbs's "art of choosing difficulties" requires selecting projects that are "just manageable." If an activity is too easy, you lose focus and get bored. If it's too hard, you become anxious, overwhelmed, and unable to concentrate. Tellingly, one group is distinguished by its zeal for the kind of work that requires you to give it all you've got: high achievers particularly relish taking on risky projects that have only a 50/50 chance of success.” - Winifred Gallagher

16. “Over time, a commitment to challenging, focused work and leisure produces not only better daily experience, but also a more complex, interesting person: the long-range benefit of the focused life. As Hobbs put it, the secret of fulfillment is "to choose trouble for oneself in the direction of what one would like to become.” - Winifred Gallagher

17. “Because you actually might not know what activities truly engage your attention and satisfy you, he says, it can be helpful to keep a diary of what you do all day and how you feel while doing it. Then, try to do more of what's rewarding, even if it takes an effort, and less of what isn't. Where optimal experience is concerned, he says, "'I just don't have the time' often means 'I just don't have the self-discipline.” - Winifred Gallagher

18. “After he wrote The Paradox of Choice, Schwartz got fervent amens from European governments as well as individual readers for insisting that the management of your focus has become one of decision-laden modernity's major challenges. Many behavioral economists and social psychologists also share his concern about what he calls "the consequences of mis-attention.” - Winifred Gallagher

19. “Yet he argued that even a tedious topic can take on a certain fascination if you make an effort to look at it afresh: "The subject must be made to show new aspects of itself; to prompt new questions; in a word, to change. From an unchanging subject the attention inevitably wanders away.” - Winifred Gallagher

20. “Recently, the search for what he calls "the splinters that make up different attention problems" has taken Castellanos in a new direction. First, he explains that your brain is far less concerned with your brilliant ideas or searing emotions than with its own internal "gyroscopic busyness," which consumes 65 percent of its total energy. Every fifty seconds, its activity fluctuates, causing what he calls a "brownout." No one knows the purpose of these neurological events, but Castellanos has a thesis: the clockwork pulses enable the brain's circuits to stay "logged on" and available to communicate with one another, even when they're not being used. "Imagine you're a cabdriver on your day off," Castellanos says. "You don't need to use your workday circuits on a Sunday, but to keep those channels open, your brain sends a ping through them every minute or so. The fluctuations are the brain's investment in maintaining its circuits online.” - Winifred Gallagher

21. “Such a simplified lifestyle can be truly wonderful - you'll finally have time for the things you really love, for relaxation, for outdoor activities, for exercise, for reading or finding peace and quiet, for the loved ones in your life, for the things you're most passionate about. This is what it means to thrive - to live a life full of the things you want in them, and not more. To live a better quality of life without having to spend and buy and consume.” - Leo Babauta

22. “But how?" my students ask. "How do you actually do it?" You sit down, I say. You try to sit down at approximately the same time every day. This is how you train your unconscious to kick in for you creatively. So you sit down at, say, nine every morning, or ten every night. You put a piece of paper in the typewriter, or you turn on the computer and bring up the right file, and then you stare at it for an hour or so. You begin rocking, just a little at first, and then like a huge autistic child. You look at the ceiling, and over at the clock, yawn, and stare at the paper again. Then, with your fingers poised on the keyboard, you squint at an image that is forming in your mind -- a scene, a locale, a character, whatever -- and you try to quiet your mind so you can hear what that landscape or character has to say above the other voices in your mind.” - Anne Lamott

23. “When you try to persistently abolish hatred,at that very moment...you lose focus on love.” - Toba Beta

24. “What you focus on grows!” - Kelli Wilson

25. “You can't get attention of one who focused on himself.” - Toba Beta

26. “Simplicity is ultimately a matter of focus.” - Ann Voskamp

27. “To conquer frustration, one must remain intensely focused on the outcome, not the obstacles.” - T.F. Hodge

28. “Focusing is about saying No.” - Steve Jobs

29. “Find your focus by seeking all that is good in your life.” - Lorii Myers

30. “You cannot run at full throttle when applying your mindset to all of the different things running through your head. Focusing is the key to manifesting your desires.” - Stephen Richards

31. “He said focus. The word focus. I hear angels singing. Everything goes dark except for a light that beams down on Sean. It is a God-given sign- like when people see the Virgin Mary in their grilled cheese, except this isn't religious and I'm actually not a big fan of dairy. I stare at the back of his head. His HEAD. Something I see every day but never really see because it's been there forever. Since the first day of third grade.I crumple up my web. I don't need it. Praise be, the Focus Gods have spoken.I am going to write about Sean Griswold's Head.” - Lindsey Leavitt

32. “Do not invest time and money into yourself to have others completely destroy it!” - Stephen Richards

33. “[T]he success of every novel -- if it's a novel of action -- depends on the high spots. The thing to do is to say to yourself, "What are my big scenes?" and then get every drop of juice out of them."(Interview, The Paris Review, Issue 64, Winter 1975)” - P.G. Wodehouse

34. “It's as if when I open myself up to every perception, things create their own focus.” - Kristin Cashore

35. “No one but another painter could know the delicacy required to balance the complexities, to keep reality at bay in order to remain in the innermost center of his work.” - Susan Vreeland

36. “There is nothing like suspense and anxiety for barricading a human's mind against the Enemy. He wants men to be concerned with what they do; our business is to keep them thinking about what will happen to them.” - C.S. Lewis

37. “The true measure of success is how many times you can bounce back from failure.” - Stephen Richards

38. “If you think you can then you can.” - Stephen Richards

39. “When your back is to the wall and you are facing fear head on, the only way is forward and through it.” - Stephen Richards

40. “When you fail, that is when you get closer to success.” - Stephen Richards

41. “The only time you fail is when you fall down and stay down.” - Stephen Richards

42. “Doing the tough things sets winners apart from losers.” - Stephen Richards

43. “When you connect to the silence within you, that is when you can make sense of the disturbance going on around you.” - Stephen Richards

44. “Without enthusiasm then what we have surrounded ourselves with becomes worthless.” - Stephen Richards

45. “The whole concatenation of wild and artificial things, the natural ecosystem as modified by people over the centuries, the build environment layered over layers, the eerie mix of sounds and smells and glimpses neither natural nor crafted- all of it is free for the taking, for the taking in. Take it, take it in, take in more every weekend, every day, and quickly it becomes the theater that intrigues, relaxes, fascinates, seduces, and above all expands any mind focused on it. Outside lies utterly ordinary space open to any casual explorer willing to find the extraordinary. Outside lies unprogrammed awareness that at times becomes directed serendipity. Outside lies magic.” - John Stilgoe

46. “...on the job there was nothing but the job. You left the shit outside the door. You could always pick it up on your way back out.” - Laurell K. Hamilton

47. “No matter how small you start, always dream big.” - Stephen Richards

48. “Judgment is a negative frequency.” - Stephen Richards

49. “Sometimes we focus so much on what we don't have that we fail to see, appreciate, and use what we do have!” - Jeff Dixon

50. “Everybody listens to me with a focus on my words. This is a mistake. The words are the vehicle to deliver an idea. Always listen to the idea, it's more valid then any words that I can use.” - Richard Diaz

51. “You must really want to win with all of your heart! Plan your race; do not ever get side tracked. Focus on your goal - “the finishing line”!” - Lucas Remmerswaal

52. “To be a highflier and a name to conjure with, you must decide your dimension, plan your path, master the moment, focus on the future, determine your degree, push your persistence and leadyour life.” - Ifeanyi Enoch Onuoha

53. “Listen for the call of your destiny, and when it comes, release your plans and follow.” - Mollie Marti

54. “Cosmic Ordering is a dish best served today.” - Stephen Richards

55. “If you weren’t born with a silver spoon in your mouth, use Cosmic Ordering.” - Stephen Richards

56. “When you use Cosmic Ordering you will move from cloud nine to cloud ten.” - Stephen Richards

57. “With Cosmic Ordering you will never eat humble pie again.” - Stephen Richards

58. “Sweep the board with Cosmic Ordering Success.” - Stephen Richards

59. “No more need to rob Peter to pay Paul with Cosmic Ordering.” - Stephen Richards

60. “There is no eleventh hour with Cosmic Ordering, only the golden hour.” - Stephen Richards

61. “Whatever your desire, use Cosmic Ordering to get what you require!” - Stephen Richards

62. “A clever person solves a problem; a wise person uses Cosmic Ordering!” - Stephen Richards

63. “Everybody talks about being rich, Cosmic Ordering does something about it.” - Stephen Richards

64. “To fail is nothing, unless you continue to ignore Cosmic Ordering.” - Stephen Richards

65. “Riches will come when you follow Cosmic Ordering.” - Stephen Richards

66. “A tenacious grip on our own ideals, irrespective of hurdles, would propel us towards self-actualization!” - Deeba Salim Irfan

67. “Tell me your story and I will get back your life.” - Stephen Richards

68. “Focus on the highest, clearest, and most meaningful teaching you can find, and let all else go.” - Alan Cohen

69. “We spend a lot of time trying to get more and more things, not realizing that those things can never fulfill us. Learn from those who have gone before you - stuff can never satisfy your desires, so focus on THE ONE who can.” - Osayi Osar-Emokpae

70. “I’ve got a question for you… Are you the person who you thought you’d be by now? I know I am not. The fact is that life may not be what you thought it would be by now (If It is, I congratulate you & applaud you) You may feel stuck in a job you don’t like, not making enough money, jobless, or maybe you are in a bad relationship/marriage, or unhappy because you are out of shape…but don’t let that get you down.The key is 2 focus on what you have (Health,Fam,friends etc) instead of what you don’t have. And also in the things that you have done (Finished a Race-College/Got that Diploma/Raise a Family etc) Instead of the things you haven’t done. yetIF where you are now, it’s not where you want to be…know that where you’re going is far more important than where you are now or where you’ve been.Forgive yourself, Accept the current situation & MOVE ON, knowing that from now on you will focus your time & energy on the possibilities & opportunities that lie ahead 4 you in the near future.” - Pablo

71. “Sophia was asked to speak to the students of a local medical school. “Sophia, what do we need to be better doctors?” the students asked. “Doctors,” Sophia said, “need strong stomachs and strong powers of observation.” Then she opened a canister. The putrid smell quickly moved through the classroom. Sophia stuck a finger in the jar, pulled it up, and then licked it. She passed the jar around encouraging each doctor in training to do the same. Each did, and though many felt nauseas, no one got sick. “You all have very strong stomachs,” she said. “But your powers of observation need some work.” “What do you mean?” they asked. “We did just what you did.” “There is one difference,” she replied. “The finger I dipped in the jar was not the finger I licked.” - David W. Jones

72. “Activities such as chanting, bowing, and sitting in zazen are not at all wasted, even when done merely formally, for even this superficial encounter with the Dharma will have some wholesome outcome at a later time. However, it must be said in the most unambiguous terms that this is not real Zen. To follow the Dharma involves a complete reorientation of one's life in such a way that one's activities are manifestations of, and are filled with, a deeper meaning. If it were not otherwise, and merely sitting in zazen were enough, every frog in the pond would be enlightened, as one Zen master said. Dōgen Zenji himself said that one must practice Zen with the attitude of a person trying to extinguish a fire in his hair. That is, Zen must be practiced with an attitude of single-minded urgency.” - Francis Harold Cook

73. “No matter what your wishes, they are not crazy so long as they are not crazy to you!” - Stephen Richards

74. “You put yourself where you are, and if you find yourself unsatisfied with how you are, then get yourself out of it.” - Stephen Richards

75. “To control your life, control your mind. To control your mind, control your breath.” - Stephen Richards

76. “Stop harboring grudges against those who have wronged you, it just holds you back when you really want to be in the NOW.” - Stephen Richards

77. “Everyone defends his treasure, and will do so automatically.The real questions are, what do you treasure, and how much do you treasure it? Once you have learned to consider these questions and to bring them into all your actions, you will have little difficulty in clarifying the means. The means are available whenever you ask. You can, however, save time if you do not protract this step unduly. The correct focus will shorten it immeasurably.” - Helen Shucman

78. “The ability to focus is the key separation point between those who move ahead and those who fall behind.” - Orrin Woodward

79. “Many surround themselves with luminaries, but in so doing they dull their own sparkle. If you want to shine bright, look to the heavens and see how the brightest star always stands apart from those lesser shining stars.” - Stephen Richards

80. “May our eyes focus rightly on Christ ... before the need to please others, before church, and before the busyness of Christian life. Those things will surely have their place, but they will be most valuable if put in their proper position.” - Traci LaRussa

81. “I make love with a focus and intensity that most people reserve for sleep.” - Dark Jar Tin Zoo

82. “If you are going to be a doubter, I don't need your negative energy.” - Stephen Richards

83. “I BELIEVE EVERYONE IS SPECIAL . . . BUT SOME PEOPLE THINK . . . . IT'S JUST ANOTHER WAY OF SAYING NO-ONE IS” - ASHISH RANJAN

84. “Narrow the focus, take the ascent one step at a time, and it's amazing what odds a man can beat.” - Courtney Schafer

85. “When the zone calls, you must listen. You never know how long being in the zone lasts. It is a cardinal rule - you must take advantage of every second that you are in the zone.” - John Passaro

86. “Focusing on what you don’t want instead of focusing on what do want gets you nowhere. Negativity makes a horrible motivator. Decide what you want and move in that direction.” - Steve Maraboli

87. “And now that they have us here, under their control, they've dropped whatever act they had on earth. We're seeing them as they really are.' He dipped his glove into the water and watched as the water turned golden. The air suddenly smelled of citrus. 'Look! It's orange juice!''Josh, focus!''You sound just like Mom or Isis or whatever her name is.” - Michael Scott

88. “Perhaps you have been wondering about how you will win the tournaments of life. This is an important moment of your life. Just know where your goals are. Dress in the jersey of action and enter the game of vision! Work with your talents, skills, and tactics and with determination! Don’t commit any foul; don’t put yourself on an offside position. Be at the right place at the right time. Attack your failures and defend your goals; look up and watch the time because the whistle may blow at any time. Don’t waste the chances you get! Target the goals and with winning in focus, you will be there!” - Israelmore Ayivor

89. “If you are in a prison of fear ... break out!” - Stephen Richards

90. “Urgent equals ephemeral, and ephemeral equals unimportant.” - John le Carré

91. “Don't look at the present storm, but look to the Son coming.” - Anthony Liccione

92. “Become your own success story, not someone else's.” - Stephen Richards

93. “Yesterday's shortcuts are today's nightmares. The race is quicker when we're stricter. Keep your eyes on today, and declare what you may.” - Mark O'Brien

94. “Hungry people are always thinking about food; poor people are always thinking about wealth. Obsessive thinking can kill your dreams!” - Stephen Richards

95. “Be on guard. The road widens, and many of the detours are seductive.” - David Foster Wallace

96. “Set aside your repertoire of objections and own 100 percent of your focus.” - Lorii Myers

97. “Don’t compromise your focus by comparing what you are trying to learn to what you already know. Focus in the moment, on what you are trying to learn now.” - Lorii Myers

98. “Own 100 percent of your focus. The most challenging of endurance drills will bring you to a level of optimal mental and physical performance.” - Lorii Myers

99. “Run and hide or rise and shine ...” - Stephen Richards

100. “Positive thinking without any thought is wasted ...” - Stephen Richards