--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We choose mania over boredom every time." description: "\"We choose mania over boredom every time.\" — James Gleick" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/831/james-gleick-2623_boredom_we-choose-mania-over-boredom-every-time_2040377.jpg" --- # We choose mania over boredom every time. ![“We choose mania over boredom every time.” quote by James Gleick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/831/james-gleick-2623_boredom_we-choose-mania-over-boredom-every-time_2040377.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/831/james-gleick-2623_boredom_we-choose-mania-over-boredom-every-time_2040377.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/831/james-gleick-2623_boredom_we-choose-mania-over-boredom-every-time_2040377.jpg) > “We choose mania over boredom every time.” [James Gleick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-gleick/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Choosing excitement over monotony reflects a preference for stimulating experiences over dullness. **In simple terms:** Choosing excitement over boredom. Key Takeaway Seek engaging activities. Themes excitement choice psychology Mood reflective curious Type observational philosophical When to use this quote - creative work - social events - travel - hobbies Key Concepts risk tolerance novelty seeking Questions to Reflect On - Do you chase excitement for escape? - How does boredom affect motivation? A Different Perspective Constant novelty can lead to burnout. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Boredom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boredom/) [Mania](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mania/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [When you consider how epidemic boredom is in our time, you have to concede that entertaining is a healing art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-martin/when-you-consider-how-epidemic-boredom-is-in-our-time-you-have-to/) [Judith Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-martin/) > [Every time a new technology comes along, we feel we're about to break through to a place where we will not be able to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-gleick/every-time-a-new-technology-comes-along-we-feel-we-re-about-to-break/) [James Gleick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-gleick/) > [Nursing is a kind of mania; a fever in the blood; an incurable disease.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monica-dickens/nursing-is-a-kind-of-mania-a-fever-in-the-blood-an-incurable-disease/) [Monica Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monica-dickens/) > [“Their constant outward-looking, their mania for radios, cars, and a thousand other trinkets made them dream and fix their eyes upon the trash of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wright/their-constant-outward-looking-their-mania-for-radios-cars-and-a/) [Richard Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wright/) > [All the greatest men are maniacs. They are possessed by a mania which drives them forward towards thier goal. The great scientists, the philosophers,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-fleming/all-the-greatest-men-are-maniacs-they-are-possessed-by-a-mania-which/) [Ian Fleming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-fleming/) > [He had a mania for washing and disinfecting himself. . . . For him the only danger came from the microbes that attacked the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/he-had-a-mania-for-washing-and-disinfecting-himself-for-him-the-only/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [Persecution mania is still around. In your writing, in your exchanges with people, meeting people who are in Russian affairs, Russian literature, etcetera.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-brodsky/persecution-mania-is-still-around-in-your-writing-in-your-exchanges/) [Joseph Brodsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-brodsky/) > [Mania starts off fun, not sleeping for days, keeping company with your brain, which has become a wonderful computer, showing 24 TV channels all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-fisher/mania-starts-off-fun-not-sleeping-for-days-keeping-company-with-your/) [Carrie Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-fisher/) > [The beauty of religious mania is that it has the power to explain everything. Once God (or Satan) is accepted as the first cause…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/the-beauty-of-religious-mania-is-that-it-has-the-power-to-explain/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [when the German propaganda tries to be winsome it is like a clown with homicidal mania - ludicrous and terrifying both at once.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-townsend-warner/when-the-german-propaganda-tries-to-be-winsome-it-is-like-a-clown/) [Sylvia Townsend Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-townsend-warner/) > [One of the manifestations of depression for me is that I lose my will. And I thereby lose my ability to focus. I don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-maddow/one-of-the-manifestations-of-depression-for-me-is-that-i-lose-my-will/) [Rachel Maddow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-maddow/) > [I am surrounded here by parsons and methodists, but as you will see, not infested with the mania.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-byron/i-am-surrounded-here-by-parsons-and-methodists-but-as-you-will-see/) [Lord Byron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-byron/) > [The mania started with insomnia and not eating and being driven, driven to find an apartment, driven to see everybody, driven to do New…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patty-duke/the-mania-started-with-insomnia-and-not-eating-and-being-driven/) [Patty Duke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patty-duke/) > [Deplorable mania, when something happens, to inquire what.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/deplorable-mania-when-something-happens-to-inquire-what/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [“Suddenly, I’m lighter, only half of who I was.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-m-mullen/suddenly-i-m-lighter-only-half-of-who-i-was/) [Shannon M Mullen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-m-mullen/) ## More by James Gleick > [When the Lilliputians first saw Gulliver's watch, that "wonderful kind of engine...a globe, half silver and half of some transparent metal," they identified it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-gleick/when-the-lilliputians-first-saw-gulliver-s-watch-that-wonderful-kind/) [James Gleick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-gleick/) > [You know, entropy is associated thermodynamically, in systems involving heat, with disorder. And in an analogous way, information is associated with disorder, which seems…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-gleick/you-know-entropy-is-associated-thermodynamically-in-systems-involving/) [James Gleick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-gleick/) > [“No one has even a definitive spelling for Cawdrey’s name (Cowdrey, Cawdry). But then, no one agreed on the spelling of most names: they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-gleick/no-one-has-even-a-definitive-spelling-for-cawdrey-s-name-cowdrey/) [James Gleick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-gleick/) > [“Where, then, is any particular gene—say, the gene for long legs in humans? This is a little like asking where is Beethoven’s Piano Sonata…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-gleick/where-then-is-any-particular-gene-say-the-gene-for-long-legs-in/) [James Gleick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-gleick/) > [Alphabetical order had to be invented to help people organize the first dictionaries. On the other hand, we may have reached a point where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-gleick/alphabetical-order-had-to-be-invented-to-help-people-organize-the/) [James Gleick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-gleick/) > [As a technology, the book is like a hammer. That is to say, it is perfect: a tool ideally suited to its task. Hammers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-gleick/as-a-technology-the-book-is-like-a-hammer-that-is-to-say-it-is/) [James Gleick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-gleick/) > [The universe is computing its own destiny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-gleick/the-universe-is-computing-its-own-destiny/) [James Gleick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-gleick/) > [A book is not necessarily made of paper. A book is not necessarily made to be read on a Kindle. A book is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-gleick/a-book-is-not-necessarily-made-of-paper-a-book-is-not-necessarily/) [James Gleick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-gleick/) > [“From this point of view, the laws of science represent data compression in action. A theoretical physicist acts like a very clever coding algorithm.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-gleick/from-this-point-of-view-the-laws-of-science-represent-data/) [James Gleick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-gleick/) > [Children and scientists share an outlook on life. If I do this, what will happen? is both the motto of the child at play…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-gleick/children-and-scientists-share-an-outlook-on-life-if-i-do-this-what/) [James Gleick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-gleick/) > [“Your body moves always in the present, the dividing line between the past and the future, but your mind is more free. It can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-gleick/your-body-moves-always-in-the-present-the-dividing-line-between-the/) [James Gleick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-gleick/) > [People worry about Twitter. Twitter is banal. It's 140-character messages. By definition, you can hardly say anything profound. On the other hand, we communicate.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-gleick/people-worry-about-twitter-twitter-is-banal-it-s-140-character/) [James Gleick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-gleick/) > [“The Difference Engine stands—for a replica works today, in the Science Museum in London—as a milestone of what could be achieved in precision engineering.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-gleick/the-difference-engine-stands-for-a-replica-works-today-in-the-science/) [James Gleick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-gleick/) > [It is significant that one says book lover and music lover and art lover but not record lover or CD lover or, conversely, text…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-gleick/it-is-significant-that-one-says-book-lover-and-music-lover-and-art/) [James Gleick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-gleick/) > [“quoting Tolstoy: “I know that most men, including those at ease with problems of the greatest complexity, can seldom accept even the simplest and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-gleick/quoting-tolstoy-i-know-that-most-men-including-those-at-ease-with/) [James Gleick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-gleick/) [Explore all 157 James Gleick quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-gleick/) ## More Boredom quotes > [I am fairly tired--bored beyond endurance--by the world we live in, and its ideals, and am ready to say so, not violently, but kindly,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-adams/i-am-fairly-tired-bored-beyond-endurance-by-the-world-we-live-in-and/) [Henry Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-adams/) > [Life is what you make it¦If one refuses to use ones imagination..it will be boring.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-what-you-make-it-if-one-refuses-to-use-ones-imagination-it/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Boredom is vastly underrated. Boredom means that nothing is trying to kill you every day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-hobb/boredom-is-vastly-underrated-boredom-means-that-nothing-is-trying-to/) [Robin Hobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-hobb/) > [I'm bored of being bored because being bored is very boring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sachithra/i-m-bored-of-being-bored-because-being-bored-is-very-boring/) [Sachithra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sachithra/) > [When people look in the mirror, sometimes they see are their shells in the mirror, nothing else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-people-look-in-the-mirror-sometimes-they-see-are-their-shells-in/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I don't think anyone wants to do the same thing over and over again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-bachmann/i-don-t-think-anyone-wants-to-do-the-same-thing-over-and-over-again/) [Eric Bachmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-bachmann/) > [“A car is one of the most interesting inventions, but driving is one of the most boring activities.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/a-car-is-one-of-the-most-interesting-inventions-but-driving-is-one-of/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [The most total opposite of pleasure is not pain but boredom, for we are willing to risk pain to make a boring life interesting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-kreeft/the-most-total-opposite-of-pleasure-is-not-pain-but-boredom-for-we/) [Peter Kreeft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-kreeft/) > [We shop out of boredom, for release, for excitement, for a sense of achievement, for a sense of control over our unruly existences. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-gunn/we-shop-out-of-boredom-for-release-for-excitement-for-a-sense-of/) [Tim Gunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-gunn/) > [That human life must be some kind of mistake is sufficiently proved by the simple observation that man is a compound of needs which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-schopenhauer/that-human-life-must-be-some-kind-of-mistake-is-sufficiently-proved/) [Arthur Schopenhauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-schopenhauer/) > [Isn’t ‘not to be bored’ one of the principal goals of life?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/isn-t-not-to-be-bored-one-of-the-principal-goals-of-life/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [The worst sin, the ultimate sin for me, in anything, is to be bored.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-turner/the-worst-sin-the-ultimate-sin-for-me-in-anything-is-to-be-bored/) [Ted Turner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-turner/) > [Exploitation and manipulation produce boredom and triviality; they cripple man, and all factors that make man into a psychic cripple turn him also into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/exploitation-and-manipulation-produce-boredom-and-triviality-they/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [“To me, at least in retrospect, the really interesting question is why dullness proves to be such a powerful impediment to attention. Why we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/to-me-at-least-in-retrospect-the-really-interesting-question-is-why/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [Listen deeply. Meditate on that which is arising. Even if it's boredom or difficulty or maybe a feeling of being stuck, that in itself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rodney-yee/listen-deeply-meditate-on-that-which-is-arising-even-if-it-s-boredom/) [Rodney Yee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rodney-yee/) [Browse all 1,505 Boredom quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boredom/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We choose mania over boredom every time.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "James Gleick" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-gleick/we-choose-mania-over-boredom-every-time/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Boredom" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-gleick/we-choose-mania-over-boredom-every-time/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/831/james-gleick-2623_boredom_we-choose-mania-over-boredom-every-time_2040377.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/831/james-gleick-2623_boredom_we-choose-mania-over-boredom-every-time_2040377.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/831/james-gleick-2623_boredom_we-choose-mania-over-boredom-every-time_2040377.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We choose mania over boredom every time.” — James Gleick", "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": "James Gleick", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-gleick/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "We choose mania over boredom every...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-gleick/we-choose-mania-over-boredom-every-time/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-gleick/we-choose-mania-over-boredom-every-time/#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 } } ] } ```