Virtually all of life's ills boil down to mindlessness. If you can understand someone else's perspective, then there's no reason to be angry at them, envy them, steal from them.
Ellen LangerRead
What we have learned to look for in a situation determines mostly what we see.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Our perceptions shape our reality; what we focus on influences what we notice.
Ellen Langer's quote highlights the significant role that our expectations and learned behaviors play in shaping our perception of situations. By indicating that what we consciously look for dictates what we ultimately observe, she emphasizes the power of mindset and awareness in shaping our experiences and understanding of the world around us.
Themes
PerceptionAwarenessSituationFocusLearning
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about personal growth and awareness.
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To be mindfully engaged is the most natural, creative state we can be in.
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People are at their most mindful when they are at play. If we find ways of enjoying our work blurring the lines between work and play the gains will be greater.
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When people are not in the moment, they're not there to know that they're not there.
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Out of an intuitive experience of the world comes a continuous flow of novel distinctions. Purely rational understanding, on the other hand, serves to confirm old mindsets, rigid categories. Artists, who live in the same world as the rest of us, steer clear of these mindsets to make us see things anew.
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