--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: You can ruin anything if you focus at it." description: "\"You can ruin anything if you focus at it.\" — Aimee Bender" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/349/aimee-bender-2250_focus_you-can-ruin-anything-if-you-focus-at-it_2647766.png" --- # You can ruin anything if you focus at it. ![“You can ruin anything if you focus at it.” quote by Aimee Bender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/349/aimee-bender-2250_focus_you-can-ruin-anything-if-you-focus-at-it_2647766.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/349/aimee-bender-2250_focus_you-can-ruin-anything-if-you-focus-at-it_2647766.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/349/aimee-bender-2250_focus_you-can-ruin-anything-if-you-focus-at-it_2647766.png) > “You can ruin anything if you focus at it.” [Aimee Bender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aimee-bender/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Focusing intensely on something can cause its deterioration, warning against obsessive attention. **In simple terms:** Obsessive focus can ruin what you target. Key Takeaway Practice balanced attention. Themes focus obsession destruction mindfulness Mood cautionary thoughtful Type psychological personal When to use this quote - creative work - relationships - health Key Concepts attention management self‑discipline Questions to Reflect On - What do you tend to over‑focus on? - How can you cultivate balanced attention? A Different Perspective Over‑focus may lead to burnout. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Focus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/focus/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Ruin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ruin/) [Ruin Focus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ruin-focus-2324169/) [Ruins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ruins/) [Truth of life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth-of-life/) ## Related quotes > [This is the great truth life has to teach us ... that gratification of our individual desires and expression of our personal preferences without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hortense-odlum/this-is-the-great-truth-life-has-to-teach-us-that-gratification-of/) [Hortense Odlum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hortense-odlum/) > [The less we show our love to a woman, Or please her less, and neglect our duty, The more we trap and ruin her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pushkin/the-less-we-show-our-love-to-a-woman-or-please-her-less-and-neglect/) [Alexander Pushkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pushkin/) > [The people of England will curse themselves for having preferred ruin from Churchill to peace from Hitler.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-people-of-england-will-curse-themselves-for-having-preferred-ruin/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I go once a year to the Serengeti to see the wildebeest migrations because that means a lot to me, but I avoid Olduvai…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-leakey/i-go-once-a-year-to-the-serengeti-to-see-the-wildebeest-migrations/) [Mary Leakey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-leakey/) > [He who neglects what is done for what ought to be done, sooner effects his ruin than his preservation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niccolo-machiavelli/he-who-neglects-what-is-done-for-what-ought-to-be-done-sooner-effects/) [Niccolo Machiavelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niccolo-machiavelli/) > [There's a fascination frantic in a ruin that's romantic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-s-gilbert/there-s-a-fascination-frantic-in-a-ruin-that-s-romantic/) [W. S. Gilbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-s-gilbert/) > [Bowman turned his back on her and began to search the place methodically and exhaustively. When one searches any place, be it a gypsy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alistair-maclean/bowman-turned-his-back-on-her-and-began-to-search-the-place/) [Alistair Maclean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alistair-maclean/) > [There was always something hidden. Lying in wait to spring up and ruin everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-day/there-was-always-something-hidden-lying-in-wait-to-spring-up-and-ruin/) [Sylvia Day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-day/) > [Don't ruin the present with the ruined past.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-gilchrist/don-t-ruin-the-present-with-the-ruined-past/) [Ellen Gilchrist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-gilchrist/) > [Most humans recognize their ruin, but they carry on regardless.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leopold-von-ranke/most-humans-recognize-their-ruin-but-they-carry-on-regardless/) [Leopold von Ranke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leopold-von-ranke/) > [Happiness is always the inaccessible castle which sinks in ruin when we set foot on it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arsene-houssaye/happiness-is-always-the-inaccessible-castle-which-sinks-in-ruin-when/) [Arsene Houssaye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arsene-houssaye/) > [I’d ruin any day, all my days, for those long nights with you, and I did.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-handler/i-d-ruin-any-day-all-my-days-for-those-long-nights-with-you-and-i-did/) [Daniel Handler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-handler/) > [Fear is one thing that can ruin everything. It's the greatest problem.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boman-irani/fear-is-one-thing-that-can-ruin-everything-it-s-the-greatest-problem/) [Boman Irani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boman-irani/) > [Ruin, eldest daughter of Zeus, she blinds us all, that fatal madness—she with those delicate feet of hers, never touching the earth, gliding over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/homer/ruin-eldest-daughter-of-zeus-she-blinds-us-all-that-fatal-madness-she/) [Homer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/homer/) > [The vine that has grown old on an old tree falls with the ruin of that tree, and through that bad companionship must perish…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonardo-da-vinci/the-vine-that-has-grown-old-on-an-old-tree-falls-with-the-ruin-of/) [Leonardo da Vinci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonardo-da-vinci/) ## More by Aimee Bender > [“Does it work with sandwiches? he asked. I didn't move. He handed it over. George was watching with a kind of neutral curiosity, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aimee-bender/does-it-work-with-sandwiches-he-asked-i-didn-t-move-he-handed-it-over/) [Aimee Bender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aimee-bender/) > [There's a spectrum of those moments of connection and the moments we fail to connect, going from super-large successes to failures. Success would be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aimee-bender/there-s-a-spectrum-of-those-moments-of-connection-and-the-moments-we/) [Aimee Bender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aimee-bender/) > [I did plays in college, and I have half of a play. But I'm kind of stuck. I keep revisiting it so maybe it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aimee-bender/i-did-plays-in-college-and-i-have-half-of-a-play-but-i-m-kind-of/) [Aimee Bender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aimee-bender/) > [“My genes, my love, are rubber bands and rope - make yourself a structure you can live inside.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aimee-bender/my-genes-my-love-are-rubber-bands-and-rope-make-yourself-a-structure/) [Aimee Bender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aimee-bender/) > [One thing I don't want to feel is marketplace pressure, so I'm really glad I enjoy teaching because I can rely on that for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aimee-bender/one-thing-i-don-t-want-to-feel-is-marketplace-pressure-so-i-m-really/) [Aimee Bender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aimee-bender/) > [Language is the ticket to plot and character, after all, because both are built out of language.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aimee-bender/language-is-the-ticket-to-plot-and-character-after-all-because-both/) [Aimee Bender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aimee-bender/) > [I give boring people something to discuss over corn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aimee-bender/i-give-boring-people-something-to-discuss-over-corn/) [Aimee Bender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aimee-bender/) > [“The sensor did not seem to be restricted to my mother's food, and there was so much to sort through, a torrent of information,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aimee-bender/the-sensor-did-not-seem-to-be-restricted-to-my-mother-s-food-and/) [Aimee Bender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aimee-bender/) > [I peeled the skin off a grape in slippery little triangles, and I understood then that I would be undressing every item of food…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aimee-bender/i-peeled-the-skin-off-a-grape-in-slippery-little-triangles-and-i/) [Aimee Bender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aimee-bender/) > [It was like we were exchanging codes, on how to be a father and a daughter, like we'd read about it in a manual,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aimee-bender/it-was-like-we-were-exchanging-codes-on-how-to-be-a-father-and-a/) [Aimee Bender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aimee-bender/) > [“I started in our neighborhood, buying a pastrami burrito at Oki Dog and a deluxe gardenburger at Astro Burger and matzoh-ball soup at Greenblatt's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aimee-bender/i-started-in-our-neighborhood-buying-a-pastrami-burrito-at-oki-dog/) [Aimee Bender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aimee-bender/) > [“I loved my dish towel. This one was two-toned, and had, on one side, stitchings of fat purple roses on a lavender background, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aimee-bender/i-loved-my-dish-towel-this-one-was-two-toned-and-had-on-one-side/) [Aimee Bender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aimee-bender/) > […kissing George was a little like rolling in caramel after spending years surviving off rice sticks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aimee-bender/kissing-george-was-a-little-like-rolling-in-caramel-after-spending/) [Aimee Bender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aimee-bender/) > [“And in it all, the sensation of shaking my fists at the sky, shaking my fists high up to the sky, because that is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aimee-bender/and-in-it-all-the-sensation-of-shaking-my-fists-at-the-sky-shaking-my/) [Aimee Bender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aimee-bender/) > [“He made a good salary but he did not flaunt it. He’d been raised in Chicago proper by a Lithuanian Jewish mother who had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aimee-bender/he-made-a-good-salary-but-he-did-not-flaunt-it-he-d-been-raised-in/) [Aimee Bender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aimee-bender/) [Explore all 172 Aimee Bender quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aimee-bender/) ## More Focus quotes > [If you take your eye off the ball or lose focus for even a minute you can lose a game against any team.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felipe-anderson/if-you-take-your-eye-off-the-ball-or-lose-focus-for-even-a-minute-you/) [Felipe Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felipe-anderson/) > [Music is a job, but I figured out ways to get my mind into a place where I could be creative. I actually discovered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flume/music-is-a-job-but-i-figured-out-ways-to-get-my-mind-into-a-place/) [Flume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flume/) > [“If you're focused, you can't get bored.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alin-sav/if-you-re-focused-you-can-t-get-bored/) [Alin Sav](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alin-sav/) > [There are more important things to focus on in life than how you look.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arden-cho/there-are-more-important-things-to-focus-on-in-life-than-how-you-look/) [Arden Cho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arden-cho/) > [Focus on becoming more to achieve more while doing less](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-elrod/focus-on-becoming-more-to-achieve-more-while-doing-less/) [Hal Elrod](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-elrod/) > [I don't think about the press or the crowds or the other leaders of the race. The focus is only on myself. As soon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/magdalena-neuner/i-don-t-think-about-the-press-or-the-crowds-or-the-other-leaders-of/) [Magdalena Neuner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/magdalena-neuner/) > [By making conscious choices in our behavior and where we focus our attention, we can transform our experience of our body, decrease our biological…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/by-making-conscious-choices-in-our-behavior-and-where-we-focus-our/) [Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/) > [I think I've had the longest career of strength, focus, and still being able to sell records. I think I'm that guy. I'm still…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nas/i-think-i-ve-had-the-longest-career-of-strength-focus-and-still-being/) [Nas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nas/) > [“This is Galileo,” said Aristotle. “He advocates understanding the world through observation and experiment. He is an unimaginative thinker, but his results demand our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liu-cixin/this-is-galileo-said-aristotle-he-advocates-understanding-the-world/) [Liu Cixin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liu-cixin/) > [Too many times we flitter our energy into too many goals and in the process don't achieve much. Focus is very important in life.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vaishali-kasture/too-many-times-we-flitter-our-energy-into-too-many-goals-and-in-the/) [Vaishali Kasture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vaishali-kasture/) > [If you ask another competitor, they may tell you they felt very competitive towards me. But I can tell you that my biggest competition…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-kwan/if-you-ask-another-competitor-they-may-tell-you-they-felt-very/) [Michelle Kwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-kwan/) > [When you approach something to photograph it, first be still with yourself until the object of your attention affirms your presence. Then don't leave…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/minor-white/when-you-approach-something-to-photograph-it-first-be-still-with/) [Minor White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/minor-white/) > [Enlightened people live in very charged states of attention, with a tremendous power circuiting through them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/enlightened-people-live-in-very-charged-states-of-attention-with-a/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [All I'm focused on is playing my game. Everything else will take care of itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grigor-dimitrov/all-i-m-focused-on-is-playing-my-game-everything-else-will-take-care/) [Grigor Dimitrov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grigor-dimitrov/) > [Focus on being productive instead of busy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-ferriss/focus-on-being-productive-instead-of-busy/) [Tim Ferriss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-ferriss/) [Browse all 11,734 Focus quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/focus/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "You can ruin anything if you focus at it.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Aimee Bender" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aimee-bender/you-can-ruin-anything-if-you-focus-at-it/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Focus" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aimee-bender/you-can-ruin-anything-if-you-focus-at-it/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/349/aimee-bender-2250_focus_you-can-ruin-anything-if-you-focus-at-it_2647766.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/349/aimee-bender-2250_focus_you-can-ruin-anything-if-you-focus-at-it_2647766.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/349/aimee-bender-2250_focus_you-can-ruin-anything-if-you-focus-at-it_2647766.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“You can ruin anything if you focus at it.” — Aimee Bender", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Aimee Bender", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aimee-bender/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "You can ruin anything if you...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aimee-bender/you-can-ruin-anything-if-you-focus-at-it/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aimee-bender/you-can-ruin-anything-if-you-focus-at-it/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```