--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Energies expended on sideshows, never on…" description: "\"“Energies expended on sideshows, never on the main event. Where the hell was the main event? Was there a main event?”\" — Haruki Murakami" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/032/haruki-murakami-21_choices_energies-expended-on-sideshows-never-on_932517.jpg" --- # Energies expended on sideshows, never on the main event… ![“Energies expended on sideshows, never on the main event. Where the hell was the main event? Was there a main event?” quote by Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/032/haruki-murakami-21_choices_energies-expended-on-sideshows-never-on_932517.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/032/haruki-murakami-21_choices_energies-expended-on-sideshows-never-on_932517.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/032/haruki-murakami-21_choices_energies-expended-on-sideshows-never-on_932517.jpg) > ““Energies expended on sideshows, never on the main event. Where the hell was the main event? Was there a main event?”” [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Diverting energy to side activities distracts from the central purpose, leading to missed impact. **In simple terms:** Focus on the main goal, not distractions. Key Takeaway Prioritize core objectives. Themes focus efficiency goal‑orientation Mood reflective critical Type strategic motivational When to use this quote - project planning - event organization - creative writing Key Concepts time management priority setting Questions to Reflect On - What is your main event right now? - How can side activities support the main goal? A Different Perspective Side projects can still add value; sometimes they reveal new opportunities. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Choices](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/choices/) [Distraction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/distraction/) [Energy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/energy/) [Event Hell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/event-hell-1530364/) [Event Main](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/event-main-1530366/) [Expended Sideshows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/expended-sideshows-1530362/) [Journey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/journey/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Main Event](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/main-event-261244/) [Sideshows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sideshows/) [Wrestling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wrestling/) ## Related quotes > [I'm a name that can be as a co-main event or a main event and people want to see.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/demian-maia/i-m-a-name-that-can-be-as-a-co-main-event-or-a-main-event-and-people/) [Demian Maia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/demian-maia/) > [I do think the women should get paid, a main event is a main event.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-mccool/i-do-think-the-women-should-get-paid-a-main-event-is-a-main-event/) [Michelle McCool](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-mccool/) > [We're not mere spectators, or a cosmic accident, or some sideshow, or the Greek chorus to the main event. The human experience IS the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/we-re-not-mere-spectators-or-a-cosmic-accident-or-some-sideshow-or/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [Emotional intelligence is what humans are good at and that's not a sideshow. That's the cutting edge of human intelligence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-kurzweil/emotional-intelligence-is-what-humans-are-good-at-and-that-s-not-a/) [Ray Kurzweil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-kurzweil/) > [Note the individual and subjective nature of each case. No two are alike and there is no reason to expect them to be. Each…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/note-the-individual-and-subjective-nature-of-each-case-no-two-are/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [If the euro zone doesn't come up with a comprehensive vision of its own future, you'll have a whole range of nationalist, xenophobic and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-clegg/if-the-euro-zone-doesn-t-come-up-with-a-comprehensive-vision-of-its/) [Nick Clegg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-clegg/) > [Television is god-damned amusement park. Television is a circus, a carnival, a traveling troupe of acrobats, storytellers, dancers, singers, jugglers, sideshow freaks, lion tamers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paddy-chayefsky/television-is-god-damned-amusement-park-television-is-a-circus-a/) [Paddy Chayefsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paddy-chayefsky/) > [The literary man? An indiscreet man, who devaluates his miseries, divulges them, tells them like so many beads: immodesty-the sideshow of second thoughts-is his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-m-cioran/the-literary-man-an-indiscreet-man-who-devaluates-his-miseries/) [Emile M. Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-m-cioran/) > [Ideas aren't a sideshow that make our factory a little more valuable. Our factory is a sideshow that makes our ideas a little more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-godin/ideas-aren-t-a-sideshow-that-make-our-factory-a-little-more-valuable/) [Seth Godin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-godin/) > [I am alone in possessing a key to this barbarous sideshow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-am-alone-in-possessing-a-key-to-this-barbarous-sideshow/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Television is not the truth! Television is a goddamned amusement park. Television is a circus, a carnival, a travelling troupe of acrobats and story-tellers,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paddy-chayefsky/television-is-not-the-truth-television-is-a-goddamned-amusement-park/) [Paddy Chayefsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paddy-chayefsky/) > [But if you're coming off ACL surgery, you don't need to be having a press conference at OTAs. Every week? Really? It becomes a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donovan-mcnabb/but-if-you-re-coming-off-acl-surgery-you-don-t-need-to-be-having-a/) [Donovan McNabb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donovan-mcnabb/) > [So far as the colleges go, the sideshows are swallowing up the circus.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/so-far-as-the-colleges-go-the-sideshows-are-swallowing-up-the-circus/) [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) > [“Circuses are about entertainment and juggling and animals and all that shit. Sideshows are about freaks, about people and the limits of acceptability. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-abani/circuses-are-about-entertainment-and-juggling-and-animals-and-all/) [Chris Abani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-abani/) > [I am an invisible man. No, I am not a spook like those who haunted Edgar Allan Poe; nor am I one of your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-ellison/i-am-an-invisible-man-no-i-am-not-a-spook-like-those-who-haunted/) [Ralph Ellison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-ellison/) ## More by Haruki Murakami > [I always feel like I'm struggling to become someone else. Like I'm trying to find a new place, grab hold of a new life,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/i-always-feel-like-i-m-struggling-to-become-someone-else-like-i-m/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [If writing novels is like planting a forest, then writing short stories is more like planting a garden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/if-writing-novels-is-like-planting-a-forest-then-writing-short/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“The sad truth is that what I could recall in five seconds all too soon needed ten, then thirty, thena full minute...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/the-sad-truth-is-that-what-i-could-recall-in-five-seconds-all-too/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“Intelligent teenage girls were often instinctively theatrical, purposely eccentric, mouthing highly suggestive words to confuse people.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/intelligent-teenage-girls-were-often-instinctively-theatrical/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [Memory is like fiction; or else it's fiction that's like memory. This really came home to me once I started writing fiction, that memory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/memory-is-like-fiction-or-else-it-s-fiction-that-s-like-memory-this/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [The most dangerous creature here would have to be me. So maybe I'm just scared of my own shadow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/the-most-dangerous-creature-here-would-have-to-be-me-so-maybe-i-m/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [If you listen to the radio for a whole hour there's maybe one decent song. The rest is mass-produced garbage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/if-you-listen-to-the-radio-for-a-whole-hour-there-s-maybe-one-decent/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“that one of our problems was our inability to recognize and accept our own deformities”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/that-one-of-our-problems-was-our-inability-to-recognize-and-accept/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“When I look back at myself at age twenty, what I remember most is being alone and lonely. I had no girlfriend to warm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/when-i-look-back-at-myself-at-age-twenty-what-i-remember-most-is/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“There's not a branch of publishing or broadcasting that doesn't depend in some way on advertising. It'd be like an aquarium without water. Why,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/there-s-not-a-branch-of-publishing-or-broadcasting-that-doesn-t/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“One by one, I'll face the tasks before me and complete them as best I can. Focusing on each stride forward, but at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/one-by-one-i-ll-face-the-tasks-before-me-and-complete-them-as-best-i/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“Eleven o'clock had come and gone. I had to find a way to bring this conversation to a successful conclusion and get out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/eleven-o-clock-had-come-and-gone-i-had-to-find-a-way-to-bring-this/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“Some people get a kick out of reading railway timetables and that's all they do all day. 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It’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/when-the-time-comes-everybody-s-got-to-end-up-where-they-belong-only/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“You let something out of the bag before yourself knew what it was all about”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/you-let-something-out-of-the-bag-before-yourself-knew-what-it-was-all/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) [Explore all 2,928 Haruki Murakami quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) ## More Choices quotes > [Of all the people who have affected my life and influenced the choices I've made, none has been more important than my father. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teddy-atlas/of-all-the-people-who-have-affected-my-life-and-influenced-the/) [Teddy Atlas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teddy-atlas/) > [“Don’t allow anyone to pressure you into taking a job in a field that doesn’t feel right in your gut. You are the one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-james/don-t-allow-anyone-to-pressure-you-into-taking-a-job-in-a-field-that/) [Alison James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-james/) > [When you have a choice, choose happy!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pancho-barnes/when-you-have-a-choice-choose-happy/) [Pancho Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pancho-barnes/) > [By making conscious choices in our behavior and where we focus our attention, we can transform our experience of our body, decrease our biological…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/by-making-conscious-choices-in-our-behavior-and-where-we-focus-our/) [Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/) > [Movies have power. Power to impact society and the choices we make. I want to entertain, but I also want to say something to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gina-prince-bythewood/movies-have-power-power-to-impact-society-and-the-choices-we-make-i/) [Gina Prince-Bythewood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gina-prince-bythewood/) > [If you have a different mindset, you will have a different outcome: if you make different choices from your peers, your life will then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-ma/if-you-have-a-different-mindset-you-will-have-a-different-outcome-if/) [Jack Ma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-ma/) > [Personally, I prefer contemporary films, but the market calls for more period choices, especially since China opened up a cinema market in Hong Kong.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donnie-yen/personally-i-prefer-contemporary-films-but-the-market-calls-for-more/) [Donnie Yen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donnie-yen/) > [Clarissa," he said, "here with the vampire, I see. When things have settled a bit, we really must discuss you choice in pets..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/clarissa-he-said-here-with-the-vampire-i-see-when-things-have-settled/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [Change is inevitable but personal growth is a choice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-proctor/change-is-inevitable-but-personal-growth-is-a-choice/) [Bob Proctor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-proctor/) > [Time hath not yet so dried this blood of mine, Nor age so eat up my invention, Nor fortune made such havoc of my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/time-hath-not-yet-so-dried-this-blood-of-mine-nor-age-so-eat-up-my/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [If you choose to draw from the inner well of free will, then you can make choices that are outside your current karmic patterns.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/if-you-choose-to-draw-from-the-inner-well-of-free-will-then-you-can/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Act always so as to increase the number of choices](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heinz-von-foerster/act-always-so-as-to-increase-the-number-of-choices/) [Heinz von Foerster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heinz-von-foerster/) > [Give me a platter of choice finnan haddie, freshly cooked in its bath of water and milk, add melted butter, a slice or two…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-claiborne/give-me-a-platter-of-choice-finnan-haddie-freshly-cooked-in-its-bath/) [Craig Claiborne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-claiborne/) > [I don't know that any woman could ever not think about that at some point - even making the choice not to do it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-watts/i-don-t-know-that-any-woman-could-ever-not-think-about-that-at-some/) [Naomi Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-watts/) > [In this choice of inheritance we have given to our frame of polity the image of a relation in blood; binding up the constitution…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/in-this-choice-of-inheritance-we-have-given-to-our-frame-of-polity/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) [Browse all 11,466 Choices quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/choices/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Energies expended on sideshows, never on the main event. 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