--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In a word, they failed to take into…" description: "\"In a word, they failed to take into account man's almost infinite appetite for distractions.\" — Aldous Huxley" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c32/aldous-huxley-97_accounts_in-a-word-they-failed-to-take-into-accou_2311478.jpg" --- # In a word, they failed to take into account man's almost… ![“In a word, they failed to take into account man's almost infinite appetite for distractions.” quote by Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c32/aldous-huxley-97_accounts_in-a-word-they-failed-to-take-into-accou_2311478.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c32/aldous-huxley-97_accounts_in-a-word-they-failed-to-take-into-accou_2311478.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c32/aldous-huxley-97_accounts_in-a-word-they-failed-to-take-into-accou_2311478.jpg) > “In a word, they failed to take into account man's almost infinite appetite for distractions.” [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human distraction is limitless, often ignored in planning. **In simple terms:** People are easily distracted. Key Takeaway Design systems that limit distractions. Themes technology attention design Mood concerned inquisitive Type philosophical practical When to use this quote - app development - education - policy making Key Concepts user experience productivity Questions to Reflect On - How do distractions affect your goals? - What strategies reduce them? A Different Perspective Eliminating all distractions is unrealistic. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Accounts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accounts/) [Appetite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/appetite/) [Appetite Distractions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/appetite-distractions-5491685/) [Distraction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/distraction/) [Distractions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/distractions/) [Infinite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/infinite/) [Infinite Appetite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/infinite-appetite-5491684/) [Man Infinite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/man-infinite-267458/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) ## Related quotes > [Man has an almost infinite capacity for taking things and people for granted and thereby missing out on the pleasure of being grateful that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/man-has-an-almost-infinite-capacity-for-taking-things-and-people-for/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [Even worthwhile endeavors need evaluation in order to determine if they have become distractions from the best goals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quentin-l-cook/even-worthwhile-endeavors-need-evaluation-in-order-to-determine-if/) [Quentin L. Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quentin-l-cook/) > [“In nature, every distraction is an inspiration.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bassey-johnson/in-nature-every-distraction-is-an-inspiration/) [Michael Bassey Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bassey-johnson/) > [Money cannot purchase joy. It buys temporary distractions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lecrae/money-cannot-purchase-joy-it-buys-temporary-distractions/) [LeCrae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lecrae/) > [In this media-drenched, data-rich, channel-surfing, computer-gaming age, we have lost the art of doing nothing, of shutting out the background noise and distractions, of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-honor/in-this-media-drenched-data-rich-channel-surfing-computer-gaming-age/) [Carl Honore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-honor/) > [If you are only getting two takes and you are on a crazy set where there is a lot of noise and distractions and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shannon/if-you-are-only-getting-two-takes-and-you-are-on-a-crazy-set-where/) [Michael Shannon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shannon/) > [The most obvious drawback of social media is that they are aggressive distractions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-keller/the-most-obvious-drawback-of-social-media-is-that-they-are-aggressive/) [Bill Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-keller/) > [“Distractions provide us with some relief from thoughts”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noah-elkrief/distractions-provide-us-with-some-relief-from-thoughts/) [Noah Elkrief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noah-elkrief/) > [What is sickness? What is health? Both are distractions. Put them both aside and go forward.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/huston-smith/what-is-sickness-what-is-health-both-are-distractions-put-them-both/) [Huston Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/huston-smith/) > [I find that when I come out of the library I'm in what I call the library bliss of being totally taken away from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracy-chevalier/i-find-that-when-i-come-out-of-the-library-i-m-in-what-i-call-the/) [Tracy Chevalier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracy-chevalier/) > [Life is too full of distractions nowadays. When I was a kid we had a little Emerson radio and that was it. We were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stan-getz/life-is-too-full-of-distractions-nowadays-when-i-was-a-kid-we-had-a/) [Stan Getz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stan-getz/) > [“Procrasdemon is fighting hard to feed off of distractions and pleasures.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neeraj-agnihotri/procrasdemon-is-fighting-hard-to-feed-off-of-distractions-and/) [Neeraj Agnihotri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neeraj-agnihotri/) > [I imagine that one of the biggest troubles with colleges is there are too many distractions, too much panty-raiding, fraternities, and boola-boola and all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-x/i-imagine-that-one-of-the-biggest-troubles-with-colleges-is-there-are/) [Malcolm X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-x/) > [You have a number of choices. You could continue to always fight against people who are really distractions. They're people in the cheap seats…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarence-thomas/you-have-a-number-of-choices-you-could-continue-to-always-fight/) [Clarence Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarence-thomas/) > [ The writer cannot make the seas of distraction stand still, but he \[or she\] can at times come between the madly distracted and the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/the-writer-cannot-make-the-seas-of-distraction-stand-still-but-he-or/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) ## More by Aldous Huxley > [“Unorthodoxy threatens more than the life of a mere individual; it strikes at Society itself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/unorthodoxy-threatens-more-than-the-life-of-a-mere-individual-it/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [Man has an almost infinite capacity for taking things and people for granted and thereby missing out on the pleasure of being grateful that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/man-has-an-almost-infinite-capacity-for-taking-things-and-people-for/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [My fate cannot be mastered; it can only be collaborated with and thereby, to some extent, directed. Nor am I the captain of my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/my-fate-cannot-be-mastered-it-can-only-be-collaborated-with-and/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [Impulse arrested spills over, and the flood is feeling, the flood is passion, the flood is even madness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/impulse-arrested-spills-over-and-the-flood-is-feeling-the-flood-is/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [Of course the Dharma-body of the Buddha was the hedge at the bottom of the garden. At the same time, and no less obviously,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/of-course-the-dharma-body-of-the-buddha-was-the-hedge-at-the-bottom/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [“The question for the man of sense is: Do we or do we not want to go to hell? And his answer is: No,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/the-question-for-the-man-of-sense-is-do-we-or-do-we-not-want-to-go-to/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [“I’ll MAKE you be free whether you want to or not.’ -The Savage”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/i-ll-make-you-be-free-whether-you-want-to-or-not-the-savage/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [Thought of the incomprehensible sequence of changes and chances that make up a life, all the beauties and horrors and absurdities whose conjunctions create…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/thought-of-the-incomprehensible-sequence-of-changes-and-chances-that/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [The third petition of the Lord's Prayer is repeated daily by millions who have not the slightest intention of letting anyone's will be done…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/the-third-petition-of-the-lord-s-prayer-is-repeated-daily-by-millions/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [“Then what’s time for?” asked Lenina in some astonishment. Apparently, for going on walks in the Lake District; for that was what he now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/then-what-s-time-for-asked-lenina-in-some-astonishment-apparently-for/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [All right then," said the Savage defiantly, "I'm claiming the right to be unhappy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/all-right-then-said-the-savage-defiantly-i-m-claiming-the-right-to-be/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [Speed, it seems to me, provides the one genuinely modern pleasure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/speed-it-seems-to-me-provides-the-one-genuinely-modern-pleasure/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [“What you need is a gramme of soma.” “All the advantages of Christianity and alcohol; none of their defects.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/what-you-need-is-a-gramme-of-soma-all-the-advantages-of-christianity/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [To be enlightened is to be aware, always, of total reality in its immanent otherness - to be aware of it and yet remain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/to-be-enlightened-is-to-be-aware-always-of-total-reality-in-its/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [“Quote of the day:Quote of the day: A democracy which makes or even effectively prepares for modern, scientific war must necessarily cease to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/quote-of-the-day-quote-of-the-day-a-democracy-which-makes-or-even/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) [Explore all 1,291 Aldous Huxley quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) ## More Accounts quotes > [I think most artists feel like they're outside society - no matter how many accolades they receive, or how much money is in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-rose/i-think-most-artists-feel-like-they-re-outside-society-no-matter-how/) [Aaron Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-rose/) > [Think of these things, whence you came, where you are going, and to whom you must account.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/think-of-these-things-whence-you-came-where-you-are-going-and-to-whom/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/believing-with-you-that-religion-is-a-matter-which-lies-solely/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [There is nothing that we can properly call our own but our time, and yet everybody fools us out of it who has a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/there-is-nothing-that-we-can-properly-call-our-own-but-our-time-and/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [The Hindus have a peculiar slovenliness in business matters, not being sufficiently methodical and strict in keeping accounts etc.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/the-hindus-have-a-peculiar-slovenliness-in-business-matters-not-being/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [With the Truman book, I wrote the entire account of his experiences in World War I before going over to Europe to follow his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mccullough/with-the-truman-book-i-wrote-the-entire-account-of-his-experiences-in/) [David McCullough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mccullough/) > [A great read; an exciting, frightening account of organized crime today. But like all important works of nonfiction, it goes further… This book is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/le-ly-hayslip/a-great-read-an-exciting-frightening-account-of-organized-crime-today/) [Le Ly Hayslip](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/le-ly-hayslip/) > [I had a very blessed journey with the upbringing I had. When you're working on sets as a stuntman, you have a firsthand account…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ric-roman-waugh/i-had-a-very-blessed-journey-with-the-upbringing-i-had-when-you-re/) [Ric Roman Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ric-roman-waugh/) > [The suppression of uncomfortable ideas may be common in religion or in politics, but it is not the path to knowledge; it has no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/the-suppression-of-uncomfortable-ideas-may-be-common-in-religion-or/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [You've got to exercise. Your health account, your bank account, they're the same thing. The more you put in, the more you can take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-lalanne/you-ve-got-to-exercise-your-health-account-your-bank-account-they-re/) [Jack LaLanne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-lalanne/) > [No physiologist who calmly considers the question in connection with the general truths of his science, can long resist the conviction that different parts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/no-physiologist-who-calmly-considers-the-question-in-connection-with/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [God puts you where God needs you. You are where you are supposed to be. The job you are doing may not be any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-kushner/god-puts-you-where-god-needs-you-you-are-where-you-are-supposed-to-be/) [Lawrence Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-kushner/) > [Stop trying to treat music like it's a tennis shoe, something to be branded. 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