---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Do you think,” the professor was saying…"
description: "\"“Do you think,” the professor was saying, “that you could spend two hours reading the same passage, the same sentence, even the same word? Do you think..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/283/elif-batuman-2172_think-professor_do-you-think-the-professor-was-saying-th_1813444.png"
---

#  Do you think,” the professor was saying, “that you could…

![“Do you think,” the professor was saying, “that you could spend two hours reading the same passage, the same sentence, even the same word? Do you think you might find it tedious, or boring?” quote by Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/283/elif-batuman-2172_think-professor_do-you-think-the-professor-was-saying-th_1813444.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/283/elif-batuman-2172_think-professor_do-you-think-the-professor-was-saying-th_1813444.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/283/elif-batuman-2172_think-professor_do-you-think-the-professor-was-saying-th_1813444.png)

> ““Do you think,” the professor was saying, “that you could spend two hours reading the same passage, the same sentence, even the same word? Do you think you might find it tedious, or boring?””

[Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/)

## About This Quote

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

The professor questions the value of rereading the same text, suggesting it may become tedious.

**In simple terms:** Rereading can feel boring.

Key Takeaway

Seek fresh perspectives when revisiting material.

Themes

learning repetition engagement

Mood

thoughtful inquisitive

Type

educational philosophical

When to use this quote

- studying
- research
- creative writing

Key Concepts

education attention span

Questions to Reflect On

- When does repetition become beneficial?
- How can you stay engaged with familiar material?

A Different Perspective

Repetition can deepen understanding despite boredom.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

## Related quotes

> [Watching a scene from a film in slow motion is possible, but there’s an unreal air to it; reading a passage from a book…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-buzbee/watching-a-scene-from-a-film-in-slow-motion-is-possible-but-there-s/)

[Lewis Buzbee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-buzbee/)

> [“Tea and water give each other life,' the Professor was saying. 'The tea is still alive. This tea has tea and water vitality.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-goodwin/tea-and-water-give-each-other-life-the-professor-was-saying-the-tea/)

Jason Goodwin

> [“I remember my professor saying "Walk merrily to your execution." I always thought of that line when I did something stupid. Just love with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-beazley/i-remember-my-professor-saying-walk-merrily-to-your-execution-i/)

Lisa Beazley

> [“There was no room for dust devils in the laws of physics, as least in the rigid form in which they were usually taught.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-stephenson/there-was-no-room-for-dust-devils-in-the-laws-of-physics-as-least-in/)

[Neal Stephenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-stephenson/)

> [When I was at the University of California at Berkeley, I went to some classes that must have had more than four hundred students…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephan-pastis/when-i-was-at-the-university-of-california-at-berkeley-i-went-to-some/)

[Stephan Pastis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephan-pastis/)

> [I think of myself as a serious professor who, during the weekend, writes novels.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/i-think-of-myself-as-a-serious-professor-who-during-the-weekend/)

[Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/)

> [If you say to a group of women professors, 'Close your eyes and think of a professor,' what they will see is a guy.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/if-you-say-to-a-group-of-women-professors-close-your-eyes-and-think/)

[Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/)

> [I think every professor and writer is in some way an exhibitionist because his or her normal activity is a theatrical one. When you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/i-think-every-professor-and-writer-is-in-some-way-an-exhibitionist/)

[Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/)

> [What do you think I'm a professor of? The little finger? (On offers of honorary doctorates.)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-cartier-bresson/what-do-you-think-i-m-a-professor-of-the-little-finger-on-offers-of/)

[Henri Cartier-Bresson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-cartier-bresson/)

> [Every time I'm in the studio, I always think of my professor in undergrad. He was like, "There are so many artists in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wardell-milan/every-time-i-m-in-the-studio-i-always-think-of-my-professor-in/)

[Wardell Milan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wardell-milan/)

## More by Elif Batuman

> [My parents were born into a secular country. They met in Turkey's top medical school, moved to America in the nineteen-seventies, and became researchers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/my-parents-were-born-into-a-secular-country-they-met-in-turkey-s-top/)

[Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/)

> [“I leafed through the phrase book. If a Martian read it, the Martian would probably decide to avoid Hungary.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/i-leafed-through-the-phrase-book-if-a-martian-read-it-the-martian/)

[Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/)

> [You can't invent something you have no epistemological access to. In a way, it's all recombination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/you-can-t-invent-something-you-have-no-epistemological-access-to-in-a/)

[Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/)

> [Poetry is another space, like love, where we extend that extra credit to the writer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/poetry-is-another-space-like-love-where-we-extend-that-extra-credit/)

[Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/)

> [“Svetlana said that she identified with that Madonna more than with any other woman in any other painting. She kept asking me what painting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/svetlana-said-that-she-identified-with-that-madonna-more-than-with/)

[Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/)

> [One of the most painful parts of a breakup is having the feeling that your life is a story, and then the other person…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/one-of-the-most-painful-parts-of-a-breakup-is-having-the-feeling-that/)

[Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/)

> [“Dracula visited the Wolf Department at the Zoological Gardens. "These wolves seem upset at something," he observed. The next morning the cage was all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/dracula-visited-the-wolf-department-at-the-zoological-gardens-these/)

[Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/)

> [I like to think that I know a lot of words, but I definitely don't know all of them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/i-like-to-think-that-i-know-a-lot-of-words-but-i-definitely-don-t/)

[Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/)

> [“I don't know if I ended up siding with the academics just because I happened to end up in graduate school, or if I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/i-don-t-know-if-i-ended-up-siding-with-the-academics-just-because-i/)

[Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/)

> [People don't become writers because they love having spontaneous, real-world interactions with living people as bodies with clothes in time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/people-don-t-become-writers-because-they-love-having-spontaneous-real/)

[Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/)

> [“Each work of criticism is supposed to build on the body of work, to increase the total sum of human understanding. It's not like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/each-work-of-criticism-is-supposed-to-build-on-the-body-of-work-to/)

[Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/)

> [Humor is really important to me. All my favorite writers are writers I consider to be funny, including Tolstoy and Dostoevsky, even though that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/humor-is-really-important-to-me-all-my-favorite-writers-are-writers-i/)

[Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/)

> [Every time a meteor comes close to the earth, we all think about the end of the world - but our internal soundtrack doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/every-time-a-meteor-comes-close-to-the-earth-we-all-think-about-the/)

[Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/)

> [I felt grateful to Ataturk that my parents were so well educated, that they weren't held back by superstition or religion, that they were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/i-felt-grateful-to-ataturk-that-my-parents-were-so-well-educated-that/)

[Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/)

> [“For a moment it felt like we weren’t in the Danube at all but in the river of time, and everyone was at a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/for-a-moment-it-felt-like-we-weren-t-in-the-danube-at-all-but-in-the/)

[Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/)

[Explore all 182 Elif Batuman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/)

## More Think Professor quotes

> [Every time I'm in the studio, I always think of my professor in undergrad. He was like, "There are so many artists in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wardell-milan/every-time-i-m-in-the-studio-i-always-think-of-my-professor-in/)

[Wardell Milan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wardell-milan/)

> [What do you think I'm a professor of? The little finger? (On offers of honorary doctorates.)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-cartier-bresson/what-do-you-think-i-m-a-professor-of-the-little-finger-on-offers-of/)

[Henri Cartier-Bresson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-cartier-bresson/)

> [I think of myself as a serious professor who, during the weekend, writes novels.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/i-think-of-myself-as-a-serious-professor-who-during-the-weekend/)

[Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/)

> [When I was at the University of California at Berkeley, I went to some classes that must have had more than four hundred students…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephan-pastis/when-i-was-at-the-university-of-california-at-berkeley-i-went-to-some/)

[Stephan Pastis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephan-pastis/)

> [If you say to a group of women professors, 'Close your eyes and think of a professor,' what they will see is a guy.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/if-you-say-to-a-group-of-women-professors-close-your-eyes-and-think/)

[Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/)

> [I think every professor and writer is in some way an exhibitionist because his or her normal activity is a theatrical one. When you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/i-think-every-professor-and-writer-is-in-some-way-an-exhibitionist/)

[Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/)

Browse all 7 Think Professor quotes

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "“Do you think,” the professor was saying, “that you could spend two hours reading the same passage, the same sentence, even the same word? Do you think you might find it tedious, or boring?”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Elif Batuman"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/do-you-think-the-professor-was-saying-that-you-could-spend-two-hours/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Think Professor"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/do-you-think-the-professor-was-saying-that-you-could-spend-two-hours/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/283/elif-batuman-2172_think-professor_do-you-think-the-professor-was-saying-th_1813444.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/283/elif-batuman-2172_think-professor_do-you-think-the-professor-was-saying-th_1813444.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/283/elif-batuman-2172_think-professor_do-you-think-the-professor-was-saying-th_1813444.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Do you think,” the professor was saying, “that you could spend two hours reading the same passage, the same…” — Elif Batuman",
                "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": "Elif Batuman",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“Do you think,” the professor was...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/do-you-think-the-professor-was-saying-that-you-could-spend-two-hours/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/do-you-think-the-professor-was-saying-that-you-could-spend-two-hours/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
