--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When I was young, I was afflicted with…" description: "\"“When I was young, I was afflicted with what my aunt called “convenient deafness.” I still am. I have the ability to tune out what is going on around m..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f4d/george-sheehan-23131_another-world_when-i-was-young-i-was-afflicted-with-wh_310661.jpg" --- # When I was young, I was afflicted with what my aunt called… ![“When I was young, I was afflicted with what my aunt called “convenient deafness.” I still am. I have the ability to tune out what is going on around me. It is normal for me to retreat inside myself and become less and less aware of my surroundings. If I am in a group and not talking, do not…” quote by George Sheehan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f4d/george-sheehan-23131_another-world_when-i-was-young-i-was-afflicted-with-wh_310661.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f4d/george-sheehan-23131_another-world_when-i-was-young-i-was-afflicted-with-wh_310661.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f4d/george-sheehan-23131_another-world_when-i-was-young-i-was-afflicted-with-wh_310661.jpg) > ““When I was young, I was afflicted with what my aunt called “convenient deafness.” I still am. I have the ability to tune out what is going on around me. It is normal for me to retreat inside myself and become less and less aware of my surroundings. If I am in a group and not talking, do not suppose I am listening. I am “away.” I am off in another world. Off in my natural habitat, my mind. Being”” [George Sheehan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-sheehan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He describes a habitual mental retreat, a self‑imposed deafness to external noise. **In simple terms:** He often tunes out the world. Key Takeaway Practice mindful presence when needed. Themes focus mindfulness social interaction self‑awareness solitude Mood contemplative introspective Type personal reflective When to use this quote - team meetings - social gatherings - meditation practice - creative work Key Concepts cognitive filtering psychological coping attention management Questions to Reflect On - When does withdrawal help versus hinder? - How can you balance inner focus with external engagement? A Different Perspective Complete disengagement may hinder relationships and opportunities. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Another world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/another-world/) [Convenient Deafness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/convenient-deafness-2949806/) [Deafness Ability](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deafness-ability-2949808/) [Listening](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/listening/) [Listening Away](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/listening-away-2949805/) [Suppose Listening](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suppose-listening-2949807/) ## Related quotes > [I suppose listening to a double album is kind of like going to the chiropractor... It's pretty good for you but you can't force…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-iha/i-suppose-listening-to-a-double-album-is-kind-of-like-going-to-the/) [James Iha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-iha/) > [ \[The Utopia of Rules\] should offer a challenge to us all. Should we just accept this bureaucracy as inevitable? Or is there a way… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gillian-tett/the-utopia-of-rules-should-offer-a-challenge-to-us-all-should-we-just/) [Gillian Tett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gillian-tett/) > [“There is another world and it is in this one. ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-eluard/there-is-another-world-and-it-is-in-this-one/) [Paul Éluard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-eluard/) > [“How often since then has she wondered what might have happened if she'd tried to remain with him; if she’d returned Richard's kiss on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/how-often-since-then-has-she-wondered-what-might-have-happened-if-she/) [Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/) > [We are here to make another world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-edwards-deming/we-are-here-to-make-another-world/) [W. Edwards Deming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-edwards-deming/) > [The young man knows that he is irretrievably lost. This is no town of cats, he finally realizes. It is the place where he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/the-young-man-knows-that-he-is-irretrievably-lost-this-is-no-town-of/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“And it was then that the things I've never liked to talk about began. Not that they were particularly terrible; I've no wish to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/and-it-was-then-that-the-things-i-ve-never-liked-to-talk-about-began/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Story is a butterfly whose wings transport us to another world where we receive gifts that change who we are and who we want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harley-king/story-is-a-butterfly-whose-wings-transport-us-to-another-world-where/) [Harley King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harley-king/) > [To try to really land a spacecraft really on another world is really difficult, and if we lose that ability, it's going to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-nye/to-try-to-really-land-a-spacecraft-really-on-another-world-is-really/) [Bill Nye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-nye/) > [“A novel is not an allegory...it is a sensual experience of another world. If you don't enter that world, hold your breath with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/azar-nafisi/a-novel-is-not-an-allegory-it-is-a-sensual-experience-of-another/) [Azar Nafisi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/azar-nafisi/) > [“Here, in the garden at night, it is another world, strange and yet friendly and familiar, never frightening. There is such quietness, such sweetness,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-hill/here-in-the-garden-at-night-it-is-another-world-strange-and-yet/) [Susan Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-hill/) > [Remove from the history of the past all those actions which have either sprung directly from the religious nature of man, or been modified…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-hopkins/remove-from-the-history-of-the-past-all-those-actions-which-have/) [Mark Hopkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-hopkins/) > [I had never done anything with blue screen before, or prosthetics, or anything like that. Lord of the Rings was like stepping into a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cate-blanchett/i-had-never-done-anything-with-blue-screen-before-or-prosthetics-or/) [Cate Blanchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cate-blanchett/) > [Every time you touch me I stop breathing, that's why I never have much to say. Every time I see you, my heart skips…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/every-time-you-touch-me-i-stop-breathing-that-s-why-i-never-have-much/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I identify with Superman. I am adopted, I am an only child, and I love the idea that he comes from another world, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-singer/i-identify-with-superman-i-am-adopted-i-am-an-only-child-and-i-love/) [Bryan Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-singer/) ## More by George Sheehan > [“The runner is coming to know, or will know if he runs enough...that the universe is the smallest divisible unit.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-sheehan/the-runner-is-coming-to-know-or-will-know-if-he-runs-enough-that-the/) [George Sheehan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-sheehan/) > [“Courage, then, has nothing to do with a single act of bravery. Courage is how one lives, not one specific incident. Just as mortal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-sheehan/courage-then-has-nothing-to-do-with-a-single-act-of-bravery-courage/) [George Sheehan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-sheehan/) > [“I myself am my only obstacle to perfection,” wrote Kierkegaard.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-sheehan/i-myself-am-my-only-obstacle-to-perfection-wrote-kierkegaard/) [George Sheehan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-sheehan/) > [“The 5-year-old sees that Paradise correctly, not in technology but in the fairy story, in the great myths that control and guide our lives.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-sheehan/the-5-year-old-sees-that-paradise-correctly-not-in-technology-but-in/) [George Sheehan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-sheehan/) > [“There were a lot of people in the service,” says Dickey, “who cried when they were discharged because they knew they would have to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-sheehan/there-were-a-lot-of-people-in-the-service-says-dickey-who-cried-when/) [George Sheehan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-sheehan/) > [“The trouble with this country,” the late John Berryman once told fellow poet James Dickey, “is that a man can live his entire life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-sheehan/the-trouble-with-this-country-the-late-john-berryman-once-told-fellow/) [George Sheehan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-sheehan/) > [“Running is just such a monestary-- a retreat, a place to commune with God and yourself, a place for psychological and spiritual renewal.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-sheehan/running-is-just-such-a-monestary-a-retreat-a-place-to-commune-with/) [George Sheehan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-sheehan/) > [“Disease, then, is one of those bad experiences that turns information into knowledge and knowledge into wisdom. The bad experiences that make you love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-sheehan/disease-then-is-one-of-those-bad-experiences-that-turns-information/) [George Sheehan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-sheehan/) > [“If you think that life has passed you by, or, even worse, that you are living someone else’s life, you can still prove the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-sheehan/if-you-think-that-life-has-passed-you-by-or-even-worse-that-you-are/) [George Sheehan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-sheehan/) > [“Boredom, like beauty, is in the mind of the beholder. ’There is no such thing as an uninteresting subject,’ said Chesterton. ’The only thing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-sheehan/boredom-like-beauty-is-in-the-mind-of-the-beholder-there-is-no-such/) [George Sheehan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-sheehan/) > [“Thomas Merton, another solitary, understood that. The beginning of freedom, he wrote, is not liberation from the body but liberation from the mind. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-sheehan/thomas-merton-another-solitary-understood-that-the-beginning-of/) [George Sheehan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-sheehan/) > [“I am a lonely figure when I run the roads. People wonder how far I have come, how far I have to go. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-sheehan/i-am-a-lonely-figure-when-i-run-the-roads-people-wonder-how-far-i/) [George Sheehan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-sheehan/) > [“Writing, someone said, is turning blood into ink.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-sheehan/writing-someone-said-is-turning-blood-into-ink/) [George Sheehan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-sheehan/) > [“Anyone with a sense of humor can see that life is a joke, not a tragedy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-sheehan/anyone-with-a-sense-of-humor-can-see-that-life-is-a-joke-not-a-tragedy/) [George Sheehan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-sheehan/) > [“The athlete doesn’t stop smoking and start training. He starts training and finds he has stopped smoking.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-sheehan/the-athlete-doesn-t-stop-smoking-and-start-training-he-starts/) [George Sheehan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-sheehan/) [Explore all 25 George Sheehan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-sheehan/) ## More Another world quotes > [I identify with Superman. I am adopted, I am an only child, and I love the idea that he comes from another world, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-singer/i-identify-with-superman-i-am-adopted-i-am-an-only-child-and-i-love/) [Bryan Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-singer/) > [Every time you touch me I stop breathing, that's why I never have much to say. Every time I see you, my heart skips…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/every-time-you-touch-me-i-stop-breathing-that-s-why-i-never-have-much/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I had never done anything with blue screen before, or prosthetics, or anything like that. Lord of the Rings was like stepping into a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cate-blanchett/i-had-never-done-anything-with-blue-screen-before-or-prosthetics-or/) [Cate Blanchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cate-blanchett/) > [Remove from the history of the past all those actions which have either sprung directly from the religious nature of man, or been modified…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-hopkins/remove-from-the-history-of-the-past-all-those-actions-which-have/) [Mark Hopkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-hopkins/) > [“Here, in the garden at night, it is another world, strange and yet friendly and familiar, never frightening. There is such quietness, such sweetness,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-hill/here-in-the-garden-at-night-it-is-another-world-strange-and-yet/) [Susan Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-hill/) > [“A novel is not an allegory...it is a sensual experience of another world. If you don't enter that world, hold your breath with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/azar-nafisi/a-novel-is-not-an-allegory-it-is-a-sensual-experience-of-another/) [Azar Nafisi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/azar-nafisi/) > [To try to really land a spacecraft really on another world is really difficult, and if we lose that ability, it's going to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-nye/to-try-to-really-land-a-spacecraft-really-on-another-world-is-really/) [Bill Nye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-nye/) > [“Story is a butterfly whose wings transport us to another world where we receive gifts that change who we are and who we want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harley-king/story-is-a-butterfly-whose-wings-transport-us-to-another-world-where/) [Harley King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harley-king/) > [“And it was then that the things I've never liked to talk about began. Not that they were particularly terrible; I've no wish to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/and-it-was-then-that-the-things-i-ve-never-liked-to-talk-about-began/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The young man knows that he is irretrievably lost. This is no town of cats, he finally realizes. It is the place where he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/the-young-man-knows-that-he-is-irretrievably-lost-this-is-no-town-of/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [ \[The Utopia of Rules\] should offer a challenge to us all. Should we just accept this bureaucracy as inevitable? Or is there a way… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gillian-tett/the-utopia-of-rules-should-offer-a-challenge-to-us-all-should-we-just/) [Gillian Tett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gillian-tett/) > [We are here to make another world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-edwards-deming/we-are-here-to-make-another-world/) [W. Edwards Deming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-edwards-deming/) > [“How often since then has she wondered what might have happened if she'd tried to remain with him; if she’d returned Richard's kiss on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/how-often-since-then-has-she-wondered-what-might-have-happened-if-she/) [Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/) > [“There is another world and it is in this one. ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-eluard/there-is-another-world-and-it-is-in-this-one/) [Paul Éluard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-eluard/) > [“One late-autumn day I opened the back door to fetch some water, and there was a young hare sat on my back step. Save…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-ansell/one-late-autumn-day-i-opened-the-back-door-to-fetch-some-water-and/) [Neil Ansell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-ansell/) [Browse all 707 Another world quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/another-world/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“When I was young, I was afflicted with what my aunt called “convenient deafness.” I still am. I have the ability to tune out what is going on around me. It is normal for me to retreat inside myself and become less and less aware of my surroundings. If I am in a group and not talking, do not suppose I am listening. I am “away.” I am off in another world. Off in my natural habitat, my mind. Being”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "George Sheehan" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-sheehan/when-i-was-young-i-was-afflicted-with-what-my-aunt-called-convenient/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Another world" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-sheehan/when-i-was-young-i-was-afflicted-with-what-my-aunt-called-convenient/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f4d/george-sheehan-23131_another-world_when-i-was-young-i-was-afflicted-with-wh_310661.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f4d/george-sheehan-23131_another-world_when-i-was-young-i-was-afflicted-with-wh_310661.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f4d/george-sheehan-23131_another-world_when-i-was-young-i-was-afflicted-with-wh_310661.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“When I was young, I was afflicted with what my aunt called “convenient deafness.” I still am. I have the…” — George Sheehan", "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": "George Sheehan", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-sheehan/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“When I was young, I was...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-sheehan/when-i-was-young-i-was-afflicted-with-what-my-aunt-called-convenient/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-sheehan/when-i-was-young-i-was-afflicted-with-what-my-aunt-called-convenient/#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 } } ] } ```