--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: People habituate themselves to let things…" description: "\"People habituate themselves to let things pass through their minds, as one may speak, rather than to think of them. Thus by use they become satisfied m..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b45/joseph-butler-15390_attention_people-habituate-themselves-to-let-thing_1218708.jpg" --- # People habituate themselves to let things pass through… ![“People habituate themselves to let things pass through their minds, as one may speak, rather than to think of them. Thus by use they become satisfied merely with seeing what is said, without going any further. Review and attention, and even forming a judgment, becomes fatigue; and to lay anything…” quote by Joseph Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b45/joseph-butler-15390_attention_people-habituate-themselves-to-let-thing_1218708.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b45/joseph-butler-15390_attention_people-habituate-themselves-to-let-thing_1218708.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b45/joseph-butler-15390_attention_people-habituate-themselves-to-let-thing_1218708.jpg) > “People habituate themselves to let things pass through their minds, as one may speak, rather than to think of them. Thus by use they become satisfied merely with seeing what is said, without going any further. Review and attention, and even forming a judgment, becomes fatigue; and to lay anything before them that requires it, is putting them quite out of their way.” [Joseph Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-butler/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People often let thoughts drift without deep engagement, leading to superficial understanding and mental fatigue. **In simple terms:** Thinking shallowly causes fatigue. Key Takeaway Practice mindful, focused attention. Themes attention mindfulness critical thinking mental fatigue habit Mood contemplative serious Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - reading complex texts - solving problems - meditation - decision making Key Concepts philosophy psychology cognitive science Questions to Reflect On - What habits help deepen attention? - When does reflection become counterproductive? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on focus can cause burnout; balance needed. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Attention](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/attention/) [Focus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/focus/) [Judgment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/judgment/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Philosophical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophical/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [“It is in the nature of the mind that when you habituate it with a positive quality it can be developed limitlessly.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama-xiv/it-is-in-the-nature-of-the-mind-that-when-you-habituate-it-with-a/) [Dalai Lama XIV](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama-xiv/) > [There are magic moments, involving great physical fatigue and intense motor excitement, that produce visions of people known in the past. As I learned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/there-are-magic-moments-involving-great-physical-fatigue-and-intense/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) > [“Bodily haste and exertion usually leave our thoughts very much at the mercy of our feelings and imagination.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/bodily-haste-and-exertion-usually-leave-our-thoughts-very-much-at-the/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [I spend a lot of time thinking and worrying about fatigue. It is the thing I struggle with the most.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kadeena-cox/i-spend-a-lot-of-time-thinking-and-worrying-about-fatigue-it-is-the/) [Kadeena Cox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kadeena-cox/) > [Fatigue can make it hard to have faith. Too much busyness can make it hard to have faith. 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Fatigue meant nothing when you actually wanted to suffer.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lev-grossman/being-brave-was-easy-when-you-would-rather-die-than-give-up-fatigue/) [Lev Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lev-grossman/) > [Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/those-who-expect-to-reap-the-blessings-of-freedom-must-like-men/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [The divine drink which builds up resistance and fights fatigue. A cup of this precious drink permits a man to walk for a whole…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hernando-cortes/the-divine-drink-which-builds-up-resistance-and-fights-fatigue-a-cup/) [Hernando Cortes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hernando-cortes/) > [Tuberculosis, starvation, fatigue, and there are many who have no desire to live.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-r-murrow/tuberculosis-starvation-fatigue-and-there-are-many-who-have-no-desire/) [Edward R. Murrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-r-murrow/) > [Thankfully, I found a doctor at Presbyterian Hospital in New York, Scott Hammer, who diagnosed my chronic fatigue as the Epstein-Barr virus, and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tucker-halpern/thankfully-i-found-a-doctor-at-presbyterian-hospital-in-new-york/) [Tucker Halpern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tucker-halpern/) > [Fatigue is the safest sleeping draught.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/fatigue-is-the-safest-sleeping-draught/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) ## More by Joseph Butler > [Every man is to be considered in two capacities, the private and public; as designed to pursue his own interest, and likewise to contribute…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-butler/every-man-is-to-be-considered-in-two-capacities-the-private-and/) [Joseph Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-butler/) > [Every man hath a general desire of his own happiness; and likewise a variety of particular affections, passions, and appetites to particular external objects.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-butler/every-man-hath-a-general-desire-of-his-own-happiness-and-likewise-a/) [Joseph Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-butler/) > [The principle we call self-love never seeks anything external for the sake of the thing, but only as a means of happiness or good:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-butler/the-principle-we-call-self-love-never-seeks-anything-external-for-the/) [Joseph Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-butler/) > [However, without considering this connection, there is no doubt but that more good than evil, more delight than sorrow, arises from compassion itself; there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-butler/however-without-considering-this-connection-there-is-no-doubt-but/) [Joseph Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-butler/) > [There is a much more exact correspondence between the natural and moral world than we are apt to take notice of.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-butler/there-is-a-much-more-exact-correspondence-between-the-natural-and/) [Joseph Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-butler/) > [Virtue, as such, naturally procures considerable advantages to the virtuous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-butler/virtue-as-such-naturally-procures-considerable-advantages-to-the/) [Joseph Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-butler/) > [Remember likewise there are persons who love fewer words, an inoffensive sort of people, and who deserve some regard, though of too still and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-butler/remember-likewise-there-are-persons-who-love-fewer-words-an/) [Joseph Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-butler/) > [This was the man, this Balaam, I say, was the man, who desired to die the death of the righteous, and that his last…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-butler/this-was-the-man-this-balaam-i-say-was-the-man-who-desired-to-die-the/) [Joseph Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-butler/) > [Love of our neighbour, then, has just the same respect to, is no more distant from, self-love, than hatred of our neighbour, or than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-butler/love-of-our-neighbour-then-has-just-the-same-respect-to-is-no-more/) [Joseph Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-butler/) > [Pain and sorrow and misery have a right to our assistance: compassion puts us in mind of the debt, and that we owe it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-butler/pain-and-sorrow-and-misery-have-a-right-to-our-assistance-compassion/) [Joseph Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-butler/) > [The object of self-love is expressed in the term self; and every appetite of sense, and every particular affection of the heart, are equally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-butler/the-object-of-self-love-is-expressed-in-the-term-self-and-every/) [Joseph Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-butler/) > [The love of liberty that is not a real principle of dutiful behavior to authority is as hypocritical as the religion that is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-butler/the-love-of-liberty-that-is-not-a-real-principle-of-dutiful-behavior/) [Joseph Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-butler/) > [Happiness does not consist in self-love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-butler/happiness-does-not-consist-in-self-love/) [Joseph Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-butler/) > [It is not at all incredible, that a book which has been so long in the possession of mankind should contain many truths as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-butler/it-is-not-at-all-incredible-that-a-book-which-has-been-so-long-in-the/) [Joseph Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-butler/) > [As this world was not intended to be a state of any great satisfaction or high enjoyment, so neither was it intended to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-butler/as-this-world-was-not-intended-to-be-a-state-of-any-great/) [Joseph Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-butler/) [Explore all 43 Joseph Butler quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-butler/) ## More Attention quotes > [It appears to me that one great cause of our difference in opinion on subjects which we often discuss is that you have always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-ricardo/it-appears-to-me-that-one-great-cause-of-our-difference-in-opinion-on/) [David Ricardo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-ricardo/) > [People pay far too much attention to the television and they're quite literal in some ways. 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They are but improved means to an unimproved end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/our-inventions-are-wont-to-be-pretty-toys-which-distract-our/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [What people don't normally know about us is the hustle is very real, and it's sorely driven a lot by how we consider ourselves.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lzzy-hale/what-people-don-t-normally-know-about-us-is-the-hustle-is-very-real/) [Lzzy Hale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lzzy-hale/) > [For me, the term "psychotherapy" is limiting. It implies that we work with mind and emotions, but excludes the body and pays scant attention…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jed-diamond/for-me-the-term-psychotherapy-is-limiting-it-implies-that-we-work/) [Jed Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jed-diamond/) > [When you approach something to photograph it, first be still with yourself until the object of your attention affirms your presence. Then don't leave…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/minor-white/when-you-approach-something-to-photograph-it-first-be-still-with/) [Minor White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/minor-white/) > [I'm writing about real things. Real people. Real characters. You have to believe what I write about is true or you wouldn't pay any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lou-reed/i-m-writing-about-real-things-real-people-real-characters-you-have-to/) [Lou Reed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lou-reed/) > [ I went to a mosque in Philadelphia with \[my wife\] in December 24, 1999. And we we went to this mosque in Philly, and… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahershala-ali/i-went-to-a-mosque-in-philadelphia-with-my-wife-in-december-24-1999/) [Mahershala Ali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahershala-ali/) > [The Harvard Business Review recently had an article called 'The Human Moment,' about how to make real contact with a person at work: ...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-goleman/the-harvard-business-review-recently-had-an-article-called-the-human/) [Daniel Goleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-goleman/) > [Let us thank God heartily as often as we pray that we have His Spirit in us to teach us to pray. 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