--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I am obsessive, also I am industrious…" description: "\"I am obsessive, also I am industrious. Besides, the time when you are most alive and most aware is in childhood and one is trying to recapture that hei..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/812/edna-o-brien-2155_alive_i-am-obsessive-also-i-am-industrious-bes_556055.png" --- # I am obsessive, also I am industrious. Besides, the time… ![“I am obsessive, also I am industrious. Besides, the time when you are most alive and most aware is in childhood and one is trying to recapture that heightened awareness.” quote by Edna O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/812/edna-o-brien-2155_alive_i-am-obsessive-also-i-am-industrious-bes_556055.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/812/edna-o-brien-2155_alive_i-am-obsessive-also-i-am-industrious-bes_556055.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/812/edna-o-brien-2155_alive_i-am-obsessive-also-i-am-industrious-bes_556055.png) > “I am obsessive, also I am industrious. Besides, the time when you are most alive and most aware is in childhood and one is trying to recapture that heightened awareness.” [Edna O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-o-brien/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote reflects a longing to regain the vivid, attentive state of childhood, suggesting that adult industriousness can be driven by nostalgia for that heightened awareness. **In simple terms:** Adults may seek to recapture childlike awareness through hard work. Key Takeaway Embrace curiosity and purposeful work. Themes nostalgia awareness industriousness childhood purpose Mood reflective hopeful nostalgic Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - creative projects - learning new skills - parenting - career development Key Concepts psychology memory motivation Questions to Reflect On - How can you channel childlike curiosity without neglecting adult duties? - What activities make you feel most alive now? A Different Perspective Nostalgia can idealize childhood, overlooking adult responsibilities. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Alive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alive/) [Awareness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/awareness/) [Childhood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/childhood/) [Childhood Trying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/childhood-trying-1769372/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Industrious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/industrious/) [Industrious Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/industrious-time-2322663/) [Obsessive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/obsessive/) [Obsessive Industrious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/obsessive-industrious-4619691/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Trying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trying/) ## Related quotes > [The human species is often amazingly inventive and industrious but at the same time profoundly lazy. It's very clear that we humans don't like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-petzold/the-human-species-is-often-amazingly-inventive-and-industrious-but-at/) [Charles Petzold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-petzold/) > [I spent my whole childhood trying to find places to be on my own. I used to sit on the water tank in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-fallon/i-spent-my-whole-childhood-trying-to-find-places-to-be-on-my-own-i/) [Jane Fallon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-fallon/) > [Building and tinkering were such a huge part of our childhood, whether we were trying to entertain ourselves as kids, helping our parents out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/drew-scott/building-and-tinkering-were-such-a-huge-part-of-our-childhood-whether/) [Drew Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/drew-scott/) > [I wasted my childhood trying to be grown up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khat-leen/i-wasted-my-childhood-trying-to-be-grown-up/) [Khat Leen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khat-leen/) > [In fact I spent a lot of time in my childhood trying to figure out what other people wanted of me. 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M. Tomlinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-m-tomlinson/) > [“The smell of the sweat is not sweet, but the fruit of the sweat is very sweet.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-kalantri/the-smell-of-the-sweat-is-not-sweet-but-the-fruit-of-the-sweat-is/) [Amit Kalantri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-kalantri/) > [I would like, then, to end by putting in a good word for the non-industrious poor. At least they aren’t hurting anyone. Insofar as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-graeber/i-would-like-then-to-end-by-putting-in-a-good-word-for-the-non/) [David Graeber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-graeber/) > [For it is an absurdity to call a country civilized in which a decent and industrious man, laboriously mastering a trade which is valuble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/for-it-is-an-absurdity-to-call-a-country-civilized-in-which-a-decent/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [Nature, being a wise and provident lady, governs her parts very wisely, methodically, and orderly: Also, she is very industrious and hates to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-cavendish/nature-being-a-wise-and-provident-lady-governs-her-parts-very-wisely/) [Margaret Cavendish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-cavendish/) ## More by Edna O'Brien > [... a country encapsulates our childhood and those lanes, byres, fields, flowers, insects, suns, moons and stars are forever reoccurring.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-o-brien/a-country-encapsulates-our-childhood-and-those-lanes-byres-fields/) [Edna O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-o-brien/) > [You have to be lonely to be a writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-o-brien/you-have-to-be-lonely-to-be-a-writer/) [Edna O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-o-brien/) > [I crossed the room, and what you did was to feel my hair over and over again and in different ways, touch it, with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-o-brien/i-crossed-the-room-and-what-you-did-was-to-feel-my-hair-over-and-over/) [Edna O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-o-brien/) > [In our deepest moments we say the most inadequate things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-o-brien/in-our-deepest-moments-we-say-the-most-inadequate-things/) [Edna O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-o-brien/) > [We hide the truer part of ourselves when we love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-o-brien/we-hide-the-truer-part-of-ourselves-when-we-love/) [Edna O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-o-brien/) > [The vote means nothing to women. 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Fiction, by contrast, is largely the work of injured bystanders.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-o-brien/history-is-said-to-be-written-by-the-victors-fiction-by-contrast-is/) [Edna O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-o-brien/) > [“A healer! The beauty of the word a balm. In a mounting astonishment she hears how this man heals with his own blood, pricks…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-o-brien/a-healer-the-beauty-of-the-word-a-balm-in-a-mounting-astonishment-she/) [Edna O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-o-brien/) > [“If I could feel like myself I’d thank God but I don’t feel and never will.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-o-brien/if-i-could-feel-like-myself-i-d-thank-god-but-i-don-t-feel-and-never/) [Edna O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-o-brien/) > [...people liking you or not liking you is an accident and is to do with them and not you. That goes for love too,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-o-brien/people-liking-you-or-not-liking-you-is-an-accident-and-is-to-do-with/) [Edna O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-o-brien/) > [“tears running down her cheeks and her nose, tears from the cold and the prospect of being absent for weeks.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-o-brien/tears-running-down-her-cheeks-and-her-nose-tears-from-the-cold-and/) [Edna O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-o-brien/) > [“laughter filling that end of the ward, overflowing, one bringing a chair for Eleanora, another a cup of coffee, marveling that at long last…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-o-brien/laughter-filling-that-end-of-the-ward-overflowing-one-bringing-a/) [Edna O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-o-brien/) > [“Dilly reckons it would be difficult to thread those needles, the eyes so small, especially with her cataracts.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-o-brien/dilly-reckons-it-would-be-difficult-to-thread-those-needles-the-eyes/) [Edna O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-o-brien/) [Explore all 182 Edna O'Brien quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-o-brien/) ## More Alive quotes > [I understand that it's the music that keeps me alive... That's my lifeblood. And to give that up for, like, the TV, the cars,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-springsteen/i-understand-that-it-s-the-music-that-keeps-me-alive-that-s-my/) [Bruce Springsteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-springsteen/) > [I feel very grateful to be alive and well enough to make music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-ant/i-feel-very-grateful-to-be-alive-and-well-enough-to-make-music/) [Adam Ant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-ant/) > [I don't crave applause. I'm not one of those guys who comes alive on stage. I'm much more alive at home, I think.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bowie/i-don-t-crave-applause-i-m-not-one-of-those-guys-who-comes-alive-on/) [David Bowie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bowie/) > [We must master our egoism, and through this mastery, step outside ourselves and educate ourselves in giving. Fasting requires that we rediscover all that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tariq-ramadan/we-must-master-our-egoism-and-through-this-mastery-step-outside/) [Tariq Ramadan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tariq-ramadan/) > [I can't say that there are 'things' that make me come alive. There are thoughts that make me come alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/i-can-t-say-that-there-are-things-that-make-me-come-alive-there-are/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) > [We're like the wicked witch. We promise gingerbread, then eat the little brats alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/we-re-like-the-wicked-witch-we-promise-gingerbread-then-eat-the/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [If Jovan Belcher didn't possess a gun, he and Kasandra Perkins would both be alive today.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-costas/if-jovan-belcher-didn-t-possess-a-gun-he-and-kasandra-perkins-would/) [Bob Costas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-costas/) > [Peace is an ongoing process. It begins with the first step and it does not end. We, all of us alive today, are the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-krieger/peace-is-an-ongoing-process-it-begins-with-the-first-step-and-it-does/) [David Krieger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-krieger/) > [I think adoption becomes complicated whenever the biological parents are alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-haven/i-think-adoption-becomes-complicated-whenever-the-biological-parents/) [James Haven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-haven/) > [The pain of love is the pain of being alive. 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"That is perhaps the most childishly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-goldman/you-re-alive-fezzik-cried-the-man-in-black-sat-immobile-like-a/) [William Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-goldman/) [Browse all 7,282 Alive quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alive/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I am obsessive, also I am industrious. 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