--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I felt my attention wandering off. It…" description: "\"“I felt my attention wandering off. It generally does at the phrase \"mere child.”\" — Elaine Dundy" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/72f/elaine-dundy-10668_children_i-felt-my-attention-wandering-off-it-gen_1872597.png" --- # I felt my attention wandering off. It generally does at… ![“I felt my attention wandering off. It generally does at the phrase "mere child.” quote by Elaine Dundy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/72f/elaine-dundy-10668_children_i-felt-my-attention-wandering-off-it-gen_1872597.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/72f/elaine-dundy-10668_children_i-felt-my-attention-wandering-off-it-gen_1872597.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/72f/elaine-dundy-10668_children_i-felt-my-attention-wandering-off-it-gen_1872597.png) > ““I felt my attention wandering off. It generally does at the phrase "mere child.”” [Elaine Dundy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elaine-dundy/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The mind drifts when confronted with innocence, indicating discomfort or distraction from the purity of a child. **In simple terms:** Children can make us lose focus. Key Takeaway Stay present when faced with innocence. Themes attention innocence distraction psychology Mood thoughtful gentle Type literary reflective When to use this quote - parenting - teaching - creative writing - self‑analysis Key Concepts cognitive drift mindfulness psychological response Questions to Reflect On - Why does innocence cause wandering thoughts? - How can we maintain focus around children? A Different Perspective The phrase “mere child” may be culturally specific, reducing universal relevance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) ## Related quotes > [If my attention is wandering, there is somewhere it wants to go, so obviously it does not want to be where I am holding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-prather/if-my-attention-is-wandering-there-is-somewhere-it-wants-to-go-so/) [Hugh Prather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-prather/) > [ “\[...\] Louisa's attention, which had been wandering more and more during the progress of Magdalen's inquiries, wandered away altogether.” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilkie-collins/louisa-s-attention-which-had-been-wandering-more-and-more-during-the/) [Wilkie Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilkie-collins/) > [“as St Augustine put it, was man a mere child playing in the rock pools of a beach ignoring the great ocean whispering beside…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-doherty/as-st-augustine-put-it-was-man-a-mere-child-playing-in-the-rock-pools/) [Paul Doherty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-doherty/) > [These things you're gonna onto and, you're just a mere child who growing so wild you need protection, some love and direction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sugar-minott/these-things-you-re-gonna-onto-and-you-re-just-a-mere-child-who/) [Sugar Minott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sugar-minott/) > [I must take issue with the term 'a mere child,' for it has been my invariable experience that the company of a mere child…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fran-lebowitz/i-must-take-issue-with-the-term-a-mere-child-for-it-has-been-my/) [Fran Lebowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fran-lebowitz/) > [“All kisses before this have been mere child’s play. I drink him in and know my fate is sealed: I am his.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willow-aster/all-kisses-before-this-have-been-mere-child-s-play-i-drink-him-in-and/) [Willow Aster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willow-aster/) > [There was a lot of playing by myself, wearing last year's Halloween costume and wandering around the yard talking to myself - which may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jefferson-mays/there-was-a-lot-of-playing-by-myself-wearing-last-year-s-halloween/) [Jefferson Mays](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jefferson-mays/) > [Wandering, (is) considered as a state of detachment form every given point in space.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-simmel/wandering-is-considered-as-a-state-of-detachment-form-every-given/) [Georg Simmel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-simmel/) > [ “\[Y\]ou were too alert to the figurative possibilities of words not to see the phrase \[angle of repose\] as descriptive of human as well… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/y-ou-were-too-alert-to-the-figurative-possibilities-of-words-not-to/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [“Out of three or four in a room One is always standing at the window Hair dark above his thoughts Behind him the words…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yehuda-amichai/out-of-three-or-four-in-a-room-one-is-always-standing-at-the-window/) [Yehuda Amichai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yehuda-amichai/) > [“So, with all the wide world to choose from, you didn't choose at all. You simply stopped wandering one day”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-hobb/so-with-all-the-wide-world-to-choose-from-you-didn-t-choose-at-all/) [Robin Hobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-hobb/) > [He who has attained the freedom of reason to any extent cannot, for a long time, regard himself otherwise than as a wanderer on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/he-who-has-attained-the-freedom-of-reason-to-any-extent-cannot-for-a/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [I've always found a cure for the blues is wandering into something unknown, and resting there, before coming back to whatever weight you were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-sawyer/i-ve-always-found-a-cure-for-the-blues-is-wandering-into-something/) [Diane Sawyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-sawyer/) > [“Ô, Wanderess, Wanderess When did you feel your most euphoric kiss? Was I the source of your greatest bliss?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roman-payne/wanderess-wanderess-when-did-you-feel-your-most-euphoric-kiss-was-i/) [Roman Payne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roman-payne/) > [About myself - no. I'm unimportant, an observer, a wandering animal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-stead/about-myself-no-i-m-unimportant-an-observer-a-wandering-animal/) [Christina Stead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-stead/) ## More by Elaine Dundy > [What’s the use of remembering anything? If it was unpleasant it was unpleasant and if it was pleasant it’s over.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elaine-dundy/what-s-the-use-of-remembering-anything-if-it-was-unpleasant-it-was/) [Elaine Dundy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elaine-dundy/) > [“I'm a real phony, one of those half-baked hot-house plants we're growing nowadays, instead of the honest-to-God two-fisted women we should be...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elaine-dundy/i-m-a-real-phony-one-of-those-half-baked-hot-house-plants-we-re/) [Elaine Dundy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elaine-dundy/) > [“He tried to kiss me. One of the few things that had impressed me in college was a Southern girl’s account o how she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elaine-dundy/he-tried-to-kiss-me-one-of-the-few-things-that-had-impressed-me-in/) [Elaine Dundy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elaine-dundy/) > [... I was merely a disinterested spectator at the Banquet of Life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elaine-dundy/i-was-merely-a-disinterested-spectator-at-the-banquet-of-life/) [Elaine Dundy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elaine-dundy/) > [“You're not playing the game," he said grimly. "English gossip isn't supposed to get back to the person it's about.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elaine-dundy/you-re-not-playing-the-game-he-said-grimly-english-gossip-isn-t/) [elaine dundy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elaine-dundy/) > [“I have never known anyone with less money and less visible means of getting hold of it. He had slept around everywhere, from the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elaine-dundy/i-have-never-known-anyone-with-less-money-and-less-visible-means-of/) [Elaine Dundy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elaine-dundy/) > [The vehemence of my moral indignation surprised me. Was I beginning to have standards and principles, and, oh dear, scruples? 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