--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: To the distracting occupations belong…" description: "\"To the distracting occupations belong especially my lecture courses which I am holding this winter for the first time, and which now cost much more of ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/19b/carl-friedrich-gauss-9412_able_to-the-distracting-occupations-belong-es_29425.jpg" --- # To the distracting occupations belong especially my… ![“To the distracting occupations belong especially my lecture courses which I am holding this winter for the first time, and which now cost much more of my time than I like. Meanwhile I hope that the second time this expenditure of time will be much less, otherwise I would never be able to reconcile…” quote by Carl Friedrich Gauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/19b/carl-friedrich-gauss-9412_able_to-the-distracting-occupations-belong-es_29425.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/19b/carl-friedrich-gauss-9412_able_to-the-distracting-occupations-belong-es_29425.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/19b/carl-friedrich-gauss-9412_able_to-the-distracting-occupations-belong-es_29425.jpg) > “To the distracting occupations belong especially my lecture courses which I am holding this winter for the first time, and which now cost much more of my time than I like. Meanwhile I hope that the second time this expenditure of time will be much less, otherwise I would never be able to reconcile myself to it, even practical (astronomical) work must give far more satisfaction than if one brings up to B a couple more mediocre heads which otherwise would have stopped at A.” [Carl Friedrich Gauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-friedrich-gauss/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker laments the heavy time cost of teaching new courses, hoping future iterations will be easier, and contrasts this with the greater satisfaction derived from practical scientific work. **In simple terms:** Teaching is time‑intensive, practical work is rewarding. Key Takeaway Teaching demands effort; mastery eases future teaching. Themes education effort efficiency satisfaction practicality Mood reflective determined Type philosophical personal When to use this quote - preparing a new lecture series - first‑time teaching - balancing research and teaching Key Concepts time management learning curve value of practice Practical Applications - improving teaching efficiency - prioritizing research tasks Questions to Reflect On - How can educators reduce the workload of new courses? - What aspects of practical work make it more fulfilling than teaching? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Career](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/career/) [Couple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/couple/) [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [Lectures](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lectures/) [Occupation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/occupation/) [Satisfaction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/satisfaction/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Winter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/winter/) ## Related quotes > [I don't want this to be a distraction. This has been distracting enough. I'm not going to rehash this going forward. I'm sure other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jayson-werth/i-don-t-want-this-to-be-a-distraction-this-has-been-distracting/) [Jayson Werth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jayson-werth/) > [What works for me is that I read widely and stay focused on my writing. I'm no longer concerned about what happens in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sefi-atta/what-works-for-me-is-that-i-read-widely-and-stay-focused-on-my/) [Sefi Atta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sefi-atta/) > [You don't say "Maybe I should go to bed early tonight" or do any of that stuff. It's almost like you know you're alone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ladyhawke/you-don-t-say-maybe-i-should-go-to-bed-early-tonight-or-do-any-of/) [Ladyhawke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ladyhawke/) > [“For some reason it reminded her of his fingers caressing her cheek in the tiny room. But that thought, along with his exposed throat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melanie-dickerson/for-some-reason-it-reminded-her-of-his-fingers-caressing-her-cheek-in/) [Melanie Dickerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melanie-dickerson/) > [For a long time, I would write without music, because I thought it was distracting until I appreciated that it actually unlocks a certain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hodgman/for-a-long-time-i-would-write-without-music-because-i-thought-it-was/) [John Hodgman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hodgman/) > [Distracting reactions about anything undermine a clear mind about anything else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-allen/distracting-reactions-about-anything-undermine-a-clear-mind-about/) [David Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-allen/) > [I think some of my colleagues' spicier lines are distracting. They draw attention away from what the justice is trying to say.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-bader-ginsburg/i-think-some-of-my-colleagues-spicier-lines-are-distracting-they-draw/) [Ruth Bader Ginsburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-bader-ginsburg/) > [Reading a book and having to re-read the same paragraph over and over again because your thoughts are too distracting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit/reading-a-book-and-having-to-re-read-the-same-paragraph-over-and-over/) [AmiT](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit/) > [The climb will go. Get rid of the rope. It's only distracting you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-lowe/the-climb-will-go-get-rid-of-the-rope-it-s-only-distracting-you/) [Jeff Lowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-lowe/) > [“Why is it that you think that technologies are any more distracting than your own mind or anything else in the world?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/manoush-zomorodi/why-is-it-that-you-think-that-technologies-are-any-more-distracting/) Manoush Zomorodi > [“You’re distracting,” I said truthfully. “I won’t be. I promise,” Noah said. “I’ll get some crayons and draw quietly. Alone. In a corner.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-hodkin/you-re-distracting-i-said-truthfully-i-won-t-be-i-promise-noah-said-i/) [Michelle Hodkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-hodkin/) > [It's too distracting to read about yourself. You want to be perfect and you want everyone to love you, and that's never going to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saoirse-ronan/it-s-too-distracting-to-read-about-yourself-you-want-to-be-perfect/) [Saoirse Ronan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saoirse-ronan/) > [Silence and solitude are more distracting to me than chatter and commotion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilu-henner/silence-and-solitude-are-more-distracting-to-me-than-chatter-and/) [Marilu Henner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilu-henner/) > [Eyes are distracting. You see too much. You don't see enough.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-graham/eyes-are-distracting-you-see-too-much-you-don-t-see-enough/) [Will Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-graham/) > [I find it personally distracting when kids are constantly texting, but they can be texting something that is just benign and just fine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-dewine/i-find-it-personally-distracting-when-kids-are-constantly-texting-but/) [Mike DeWine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-dewine/) ## More by Carl Friedrich Gauss > [The total number of Dirichlet's publications is not large: jewels are not weighed on a grocery scale.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-friedrich-gauss/the-total-number-of-dirichlet-s-publications-is-not-large-jewels-are/) [Carl Friedrich Gauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-friedrich-gauss/) > [If others would but reflect on mathematical truths as deeply and continuously as I have, they would make my discoveries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-friedrich-gauss/if-others-would-but-reflect-on-mathematical-truths-as-deeply-and/) [Carl Friedrich Gauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-friedrich-gauss/) > [“Thou, nature, art my goddess; to thy laws my services are bound... { His second motto, from King Lear by Shakespeare }”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-friedrich-gauss/thou-nature-art-my-goddess-to-thy-laws-my-services-are-bound-his/) [Carl Friedrich Gauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-friedrich-gauss/) > [I have the vagary of taking a lively interest in mathematical subjects only where I may anticipate ingenious association of ideas and results recommending…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-friedrich-gauss/i-have-the-vagary-of-taking-a-lively-interest-in-mathematical/) [Carl Friedrich Gauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-friedrich-gauss/) > [Arc, amplitude, and curvature sustain a similar relation to each other as time, motion, and velocity, or as volume, mass, and density.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-friedrich-gauss/arc-amplitude-and-curvature-sustain-a-similar-relation-to-each-other/) [Carl Friedrich Gauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-friedrich-gauss/) > [There are problems to whose solution I would attach an infinitely greater importance than to those of mathematics, for example touching ethics, or our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-friedrich-gauss/there-are-problems-to-whose-solution-i-would-attach-an-infinitely/) [Carl Friedrich Gauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-friedrich-gauss/) > [Mathematics is the queen of sciences and number theory is the queen of mathematics. She often condescends to render service to astronomy and other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-friedrich-gauss/mathematics-is-the-queen-of-sciences-and-number-theory-is-the-queen/) [Carl Friedrich Gauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-friedrich-gauss/) > [I protest against the use of infinite magnitude ..., which is never permissible in mathematics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-friedrich-gauss/i-protest-against-the-use-of-infinite-magnitude-which-is-never/) [Carl Friedrich Gauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-friedrich-gauss/) > [ It is always noteworthy that all those who seriously study this science \[the theory of numbers\] conceive a sort of passion for it. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-friedrich-gauss/it-is-always-noteworthy-that-all-those-who-seriously-study-this/) [Carl Friedrich Gauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-friedrich-gauss/) > [You have no idea, how much poetry there is in the calculation of a table of logarithms!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-friedrich-gauss/you-have-no-idea-how-much-poetry-there-is-in-the-calculation-of-a/) [Carl Friedrich Gauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-friedrich-gauss/) > [The Infinite is only a manner of speaking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-friedrich-gauss/the-infinite-is-only-a-manner-of-speaking/) [Carl Friedrich Gauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-friedrich-gauss/) > [Sophie Germain proved to the world that even a woman can accomplish something in the most rigorous and abstract of sciences and for that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-friedrich-gauss/sophie-germain-proved-to-the-world-that-even-a-woman-can-accomplish/) [Carl Friedrich Gauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-friedrich-gauss/) > [God does arithmetic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-friedrich-gauss/god-does-arithmetic/) [Carl Friedrich Gauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-friedrich-gauss/) > [ Mathematics is the queen of the sciences and arithmetic \[number theory\] is the queen of mathematics. She often condescends to render service to astronomy… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-friedrich-gauss/mathematics-is-the-queen-of-the-sciences-and-arithmetic-number-theory/) [Carl Friedrich Gauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-friedrich-gauss/) > [Mathematical discoveries, like springtime violets in the woods, have their season which no human can hasten or retard.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-friedrich-gauss/mathematical-discoveries-like-springtime-violets-in-the-woods-have/) [Carl Friedrich Gauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-friedrich-gauss/) [Explore all 73 Carl Friedrich Gauss quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-friedrich-gauss/) ## More Able quotes > [I am certain that children always know more than they are able to tell, and that makes the big difference between them and adults,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lusseyran/i-am-certain-that-children-always-know-more-than-they-are-able-to/) [Jacques Lusseyran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lusseyran/) > [I have observed this in my experience of slavery, - that whenever my condition was improved, instead of its increasing my contentment, it only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/i-have-observed-this-in-my-experience-of-slavery-that-whenever-my/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [There is something about the South that accepts the supernatural. If you don't accept it and you're having a conversation with someone who does,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-englert/there-is-something-about-the-south-that-accepts-the-supernatural-if/) [Alice Englert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-englert/) > [In the '80s, the way radio was programmed, if you didn't have a hit record you weren't going to be able to make any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/huey-lewis/in-the-80s-the-way-radio-was-programmed-if-you-didn-t-have-a-hit/) [Huey Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/huey-lewis/) > [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/) > [I have that need in me, I want everyone to love me, but I'm embarrassed by that need, so I wanted to cover it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-jeselnik/i-have-that-need-in-me-i-want-everyone-to-love-me-but-i-m-embarrassed/) [Anthony Jeselnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-jeselnik/) > [Thinking about the things that happened, I don't know any other ball player would could have done what he (Jackie Robinson) did. To be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pee-wee-reese/thinking-about-the-things-that-happened-i-don-t-know-any-other-ball/) [Pee Wee Reese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pee-wee-reese/) > [I wanted to remember in order to be able to return.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/i-wanted-to-remember-in-order-to-be-able-to-return/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [Government schools, with your tax money, now discourage the teaching of multiplication tables by rote memorization but teach reading by the 'look-and-say' method which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-perry/government-schools-with-your-tax-money-now-discourage-the-teaching-of/) Greg Perry > [I don't know if I would qualify as mainstream. I think I have managed to function pretty successfully on the fringes of the music…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-metheny/i-don-t-know-if-i-would-qualify-as-mainstream-i-think-i-have-managed/) [Pat Metheny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-metheny/) > [What we're supposed to do as actors is be able to portray real human beings and emotions. And if you grow up in this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-browning/what-we-re-supposed-to-do-as-actors-is-be-able-to-portray-real-human/) [Emily Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-browning/) > [The reason that Apple is able to create products like iPad is because we always try to be at the intersection of technology and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-jobs/the-reason-that-apple-is-able-to-create-products-like-ipad-is-because/) [Steve Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-jobs/) > [It was an important period for us, because even though we weren't a "punk band", and what became a model for a punk band,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-mallinder/it-was-an-important-period-for-us-because-even-though-we-weren-t-a/) [Stephen Mallinder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-mallinder/) > [- You look fine. - Right. I look fine. Except I don't, said Zora, tugging sadly at her man's nightshirt. This was why Kiki…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/you-look-fine-right-i-look-fine-except-i-don-t-said-zora-tugging/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) > [There is a way to be a woman, ask for what we deserve and be able to negotiate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracee-ellis-ross/there-is-a-way-to-be-a-woman-ask-for-what-we-deserve-and-be-able-to/) [Tracee Ellis Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracee-ellis-ross/) Browse all 17,257 Able quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "To the distracting occupations belong especially my lecture courses which I am holding this winter for the first time, and which now cost much more of my time than I like. 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