“You weren't thinking and you weren't paying attention either. People who don't pay attention often get stuck in the Doldrums.”

“You will have bad times, but they will always wake you up to the stuff you weren't paying attention to.”

“Jill: 'I don't pay attention to politics.'Ben: 'You should. It's barely less important than your own heart beat.'Jill: 'I don't pay attention to that, either.”

“By the way, in case you weren't paying attention or something, did you catch what Mr. Powell called me? "Young artist." I bet you missed that.”

“Things changed. Things that defined your life altered and shifted while you weren't paying attention. Sometimes you didn't even notice until you missed them.”

“David's mother would often tell him stories were alive. They weren't alive in the way people were alive,or even dogs or cats. People were alive whether you chose to notice them or not, while dogs tended to make you notice them if they decided that you weren't paying enough attention. Cats, meanwhile, were very good at pretending people didn't exist at all when it suited them...”