---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Attention, if sudden and close, graduates…"
description: "\"Attention, if sudden and close, graduates into surprise; and this into astonishment; and this into stupefied amazement.\" — Charles Darwin"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ed/charles-darwin-507_amazement_attention-if-sudden-and-close-graduates_1117166.jpg"
---

#  Attention, if sudden and close, graduates into surprise…

![“Attention, if sudden and close, graduates into surprise; and this into astonishment; and this into stupefied amazement.” quote by Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ed/charles-darwin-507_amazement_attention-if-sudden-and-close-graduates_1117166.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ed/charles-darwin-507_amazement_attention-if-sudden-and-close-graduates_1117166.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ed/charles-darwin-507_amazement_attention-if-sudden-and-close-graduates_1117166.jpg)

> “Attention, if sudden and close, graduates into surprise; and this into astonishment; and this into stupefied amazement.”

[Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Sudden attention leads to surprise, then astonishment, then stupefied amazement—a cascade of cognitive reactions.

**In simple terms:** Close attention triggers surprise, then amazement.

Key Takeaway

Cultivate focus to spark deeper insight.

Themes

cognition attention surprise astonishment amazement

Mood

curious enthusiastic

Type

cognitive educational

When to use this quote

- education
- creative brainstorming
- research discovery

Key Concepts

psychology of perception attention cascade learning processes

Questions to Reflect On

- What triggers your most profound amazement?
- How can you use attention to enhance learning?

A Different Perspective

May not apply to all stimuli.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Amazement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/amazement/) [Astonishment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/astonishment/) [Attention](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/attention/) [Attention Sudden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/attention-sudden-3005310/) [Focus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/focus/) [Graduates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/graduates/) [Graduates Surprise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/graduates-surprise-3005308/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Stupefied Amazement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stupefied-amazement-3005309/) [Surprise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/surprise/)

## Related quotes

> [Thus, cases of injustice, and oppression, and tyranny, and the most extravagant bigotry, are in constant occurrence among us every day. It is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/thus-cases-of-injustice-and-oppression-and-tyranny-and-the-most/)

[Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/)

> [I was a young man with uninformed ideas. I threw out queries, suggestions, wondering all the time over everything; and to my astonishment the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/i-was-a-young-man-with-uninformed-ideas-i-threw-out-queries/)

[Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/)

> [It is easy to specify the individual objects of admiration in these grand scenes; but it is not possible to give an adequate idea…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/it-is-easy-to-specify-the-individual-objects-of-admiration-in-these/)

[Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/)

> [Every one must be struck with astonishment, when he first beholds one of these vast rings of coral-rock, often many leagues in diameter, here…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/every-one-must-be-struck-with-astonishment-when-he-first-beholds-one/)

[Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/)

> [“For the analyst it is a source of never-ending astonishment how comparatively well a person can function with the core of himself not participating.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-horney/for-the-analyst-it-is-a-source-of-never-ending-astonishment-how/)

[Karen Horney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-horney/)

> [Both of you’ll just have to believe me. Emma’s one of those women who was born with… The thing is, the minute a heterosexual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-elizabeth-phillips/both-of-you-ll-just-have-to-believe-me-emma-s-one-of-those-women-who/)

[Susan Elizabeth Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-elizabeth-phillips/)

> [For a moment Clary thought she might fall; she felt as if something essential had been torn away from her, an arm or a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/for-a-moment-clary-thought-she-might-fall-she-felt-as-if-something/)

[Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/)

> [“See? Nothing to it." "I see all right," Carly said, her tone full of awe. She gaped at him. "What?" "Um..." "Jesus, Carly, what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lissa-bryan/see-nothing-to-it-i-see-all-right-carly-said-her-tone-full-of-awe-she/)

[Lissa Bryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lissa-bryan/)

> [Those who have past much of their lives in this great city, look upon its opulence and its multitudes, its extent and variety, with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/those-who-have-past-much-of-their-lives-in-this-great-city-look-upon/)

[Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/)

> [“Witness each moment in astounded jubilation. Take every holy breath in gratitude. Rejoice in life!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryant-mcgill/witness-each-moment-in-astounded-jubilation-take-every-holy-breath-in/)

[Bryant McGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryant-mcgill/)

> [If you aren't constantly astonished at God's grace in your solitude, there's no way it can happen in public.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-keller/if-you-aren-t-constantly-astonished-at-god-s-grace-in-your-solitude/)

[Timothy Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-keller/)

> [If there be a skeptical star I was born under it. Yet I have lived all my days in complete astonishment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-macneile-dixon/if-there-be-a-skeptical-star-i-was-born-under-it-yet-i-have-lived-all/)

[William Macneile Dixon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-macneile-dixon/)

> [A lot of what I am looking for is a moment of astonishment, he says. Those moments of pure consciousness when you involuntarily inhale…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-meyerowitz/a-lot-of-what-i-am-looking-for-is-a-moment-of-astonishment-he-says/)

[Joel Meyerowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-meyerowitz/)

> [Rich men are resolved to be astonished at nothing. When they see a masterpiece, they must needs at one glance recognize some flaw to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/rich-men-are-resolved-to-be-astonished-at-nothing-when-they-see-a/)

[Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/)

> [“A writer lives, at least, in a state of astonishment. Beneath any feeling he has of the good or evil of the world lies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-sansom/a-writer-lives-at-least-in-a-state-of-astonishment-beneath-any/)

[William Sansom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-sansom/)

## More by Charles Darwin

> [The love for all living creatures is the most noble attribute of man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/the-love-for-all-living-creatures-is-the-most-noble-attribute-of-man/)

[Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/)

> [The main conclusion here arrived at ... is that man is descended from some less highly organized form.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/the-main-conclusion-here-arrived-at-is-that-man-is-descended-from/)

[Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/)

> [So great is the economy of nature, that most flowers which are fertilised by crepuscular or nocturnal insects emit their odour chiefly or exclusively…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/so-great-is-the-economy-of-nature-that-most-flowers-which-are/)

[Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/)

> [I see no good reasons why the views given in this volume should shock the religious views of anyone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/i-see-no-good-reasons-why-the-views-given-in-this-volume-should-shock/)

[Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/)

> [I am quite conscious that my speculations run beyond the bounds of true science…It is a mere rag of an hypothesis with as many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/i-am-quite-conscious-that-my-speculations-run-beyond-the-bounds-of/)

[Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/)

> [If worms have the power of acquiring some notion, however rude, of the shape of an object and over their burrows, as seems the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/if-worms-have-the-power-of-acquiring-some-notion-however-rude-of-the/)

[Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/)

> [We can allow satellites, planets, suns, universe, nay whole systems of universes, to be governed by laws, but the smallest insect, we wish to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/we-can-allow-satellites-planets-suns-universe-nay-whole-systems-of/)

[Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/)

> [Formerly Milton's Paradise Lost had been my chief favourite, and in my excursions during the voyage of the Beagle, when I could take only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/formerly-milton-s-paradise-lost-had-been-my-chief-favourite-and-in-my/)

[Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/)

> [May we not suspect that the vague but very real fears of children, which are quite independent of experience, are the inherited effects of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/may-we-not-suspect-that-the-vague-but-very-real-fears-of-children/)

[Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/)

> [It may be said that natural selection is daily and hourly scrutinizing, throughout the world, every variation, even the slightest; rejecting that which is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/it-may-be-said-that-natural-selection-is-daily-and-hourly/)

[Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/)

> [“Darwin, landing in Brazil in 1832, had a similar reaction, colored by his reading of his predecessor." Humboldt's glorious descriptions are &amp; will for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/darwin-landing-in-brazil-in-1832-had-a-similar-reaction-colored-by/)

[Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/)

> [...all nature is perverse &amp; will not do as I wish it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/all-nature-is-perverse-will-not-do-as-i-wish-it/)

[Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/)

> [“To admit that species generally become rare before they become extinct—to feel no surprise at the comparative rarity of one species with another, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/to-admit-that-species-generally-become-rare-before-they-become/)

[Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/)

> [To suppose that the eye could have been formed by natural selection, seems, I freely confess, absurd in the highest possible degree](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/to-suppose-that-the-eye-could-have-been-formed-by-natural-selection/)

[Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/)

> [It is interesting to contemplate an entangled bank clothed with many plants of many kinds with birds singing on the bushes, with various insects…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/it-is-interesting-to-contemplate-an-entangled-bank-clothed-with-many/)

[Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/)

[Explore all 497 Charles Darwin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/)

## More Amazement quotes

> [We started this together, Leo. Seems only right you come along. You find us a ride, you're in." "Yes!" Leo pumped his fist. \*…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-riordan/we-started-this-together-leo-seems-only-right-you-come-along-you-find/)

[Rick Riordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-riordan/)

> [When I got on the set of 'Saving Private Ryan,' I discovered, to my amazement, that Steven Spielberg is a gamer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vin-diesel/when-i-got-on-the-set-of-saving-private-ryan-i-discovered-to-my/)

[Vin Diesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vin-diesel/)

> [With education symmetrical and true we will take the dead mass buried by slavery's hand and touch them to life. This beauteous angel, which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-tecumseh-vernon/with-education-symmetrical-and-true-we-will-take-the-dead-mass-buried/)

[William Tecumseh Vernon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-tecumseh-vernon/)

> [The very fact that we make such a to-do over golden weddings indicates our amazement at human endurance. The celebration is more in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilka-chase/the-very-fact-that-we-make-such-a-to-do-over-golden-weddings/)

[Ilka Chase](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilka-chase/)

> [I think it wasn't so much that the White House altered me in any essential way as that I found the resources with which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betty-ford/i-think-it-wasn-t-so-much-that-the-white-house-altered-me-in-any/)

[Betty Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betty-ford/)

> [He sees with amazement that our defeats are but the stepping stones to victory and that all his victories are stepping stones to ruin.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/he-sees-with-amazement-that-our-defeats-are-but-the-stepping-stones/)

[Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/)

> [Sometime in the last ten years the best brains of the Occident discovered to their amazement that we live in an Environment. This discovery…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-snyder/sometime-in-the-last-ten-years-the-best-brains-of-the-occident/)

[Gary Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-snyder/)

> [When one thinks of the wondrous glory of Christ, how astonishing that He can join with us! But more, when one thinks of His…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-wigram/when-one-thinks-of-the-wondrous-glory-of-christ-how-astonishing-that/)

[George Wigram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-wigram/)

> [Other people's marriages are a perpetual source of amazement.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-o-brian/other-people-s-marriages-are-a-perpetual-source-of-amazement/)

[Patrick O'Brian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-o-brian/)

> [Adlai Stevenson, himself a notable speaker, often reminisced about his last meeting with Churchill. I asked him on whom or what he had based…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-bourke-cockran/adlai-stevenson-himself-a-notable-speaker-often-reminisced-about-his/)

[William Bourke Cockran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-bourke-cockran/)

> [I realized a long time ago, with a certain amazement, that no mattter how important something is in your life, no matter how huge…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-shinn/i-realized-a-long-time-ago-with-a-certain-amazement-that-no-mattter/)

[Sharon Shinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-shinn/)

> [Basically, I want to spend my time in retreat, but to my own amazement, I agreed to help with a project to start a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tenzin-palmo/basically-i-want-to-spend-my-time-in-retreat-but-to-my-own-amazement/)

[Tenzin Palmo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tenzin-palmo/)

> [Ten times a day something happens to me like this - some strengthening throb of amazement - some good sweet empathic ping and swell.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/ten-times-a-day-something-happens-to-me-like-this-some-strengthening/)

[Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/)

> [DREAM PREDICTION ELITE is the realization of true amazement in your audiences reactions. This is PURE GOLD - A REAL WINNER](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/banachek/dream-prediction-elite-is-the-realization-of-true-amazement-in-your/)

[Banachek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/banachek/)

> [Poetry is a language in which man explores his own amazement.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-fry/poetry-is-a-language-in-which-man-explores-his-own-amazement/)

[Christopher Fry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-fry/)

[Browse all 241 Amazement quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/amazement/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "Attention, if sudden and close, graduates into surprise; and this into astonishment; and this into stupefied amazement.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Charles Darwin"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/attention-if-sudden-and-close-graduates-into-surprise-and-this-into/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Amazement"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/attention-if-sudden-and-close-graduates-into-surprise-and-this-into/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ed/charles-darwin-507_amazement_attention-if-sudden-and-close-graduates_1117166.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ed/charles-darwin-507_amazement_attention-if-sudden-and-close-graduates_1117166.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ed/charles-darwin-507_amazement_attention-if-sudden-and-close-graduates_1117166.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Attention, if sudden and close, graduates into surprise; and this into astonishment; and this into stupefied…” — Charles Darwin",
                "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": "Charles Darwin",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Attention, if sudden and close, graduates...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/attention-if-sudden-and-close-graduates-into-surprise-and-this-into/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/attention-if-sudden-and-close-graduates-into-surprise-and-this-into/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
