--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is worth asking who decides what's an…" description: "\"It is worth asking who decides what's an \"obsession\" and where it differs from meditation or the kind of deep dwelling on a subject we see in philosoph..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9de/laura-mullen-16442_asking_it-is-worth-asking-who-decides-what-s-an_2080192.jpg" --- # It is worth asking who decides what's an "obsession" and… ![“It is worth asking who decides what's an "obsession" and where it differs from meditation or the kind of deep dwelling on a subject we see in philosophy or the work of Robert Wilson, for instance?” quote by Laura Mullen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9de/laura-mullen-16442_asking_it-is-worth-asking-who-decides-what-s-an_2080192.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9de/laura-mullen-16442_asking_it-is-worth-asking-who-decides-what-s-an_2080192.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9de/laura-mullen-16442_asking_it-is-worth-asking-who-decides-what-s-an_2080192.jpg) > “It is worth asking who decides what's an "obsession" and where it differs from meditation or the kind of deep dwelling on a subject we see in philosophy or the work of Robert Wilson, for instance?” [Laura Mullen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-mullen/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The line between obsession and meditation is blurry; both involve deep focus but differ in purpose and health impact. **In simple terms:** Obsession vs. meditation: purpose matters. Key Takeaway Distinguish healthy focus from harmful fixation. Themes psychology focus mindfulness obsession meditation Mood inquisitive analytical Type philosophical self‑help When to use this quote - therapy sessions - mindfulness training - creative projects - academic research Key Concepts cognitive intensity mental health philosophical inquiry Questions to Reflect On - What drives your deep focus? - When does focus become unhealthy? A Different Perspective Obsessions can become harmful if unchecked. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Asking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/asking/) [Decides Obsession](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decides-obsession-4059124/) [Differs Meditation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/differs-meditation-4059126/) [Dwelling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dwelling/) [Instance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/instance/) [Kind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kind/) [Meditation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/meditation/) [Obsession](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/obsession/) [Obsession Differs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/obsession-differs-4059125/) [Philosophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy/) [Robert Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/robert-wilson-573497/) [Subject Philosophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/subject-philosophy-619244/) [Subjects](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/subjects/) [Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wilson/) ## Related quotes > [I am pure performance, and Robert Wilson is pure theater.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marina-abramovic/i-am-pure-performance-and-robert-wilson-is-pure-theater/) [Marina Abramovic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marina-abramovic/) > [ In adolescence I started to find out about Robert Wilson because I saw Lou Reed's "Timerocker" at \[the Brooklyn Academy of Music\]. I started… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-brookner/in-adolescence-i-started-to-find-out-about-robert-wilson-because-i/) [Aaron Brookner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-brookner/) > [ Some philosophers are drawn to the subject \[of philosophy\] via their interest in the nature and structure of the world external to us. Others… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-stanley/some-philosophers-are-drawn-to-the-subject-of-philosophy-via-their/) [Jason Stanley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-stanley/) > [“The outstanding characteristic of Western scholarship is its specialization and cutting up of knowledge into different departments. The over-development of logical thinking and specialization,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lin-yutang/the-outstanding-characteristic-of-western-scholarship-is-its/) [Lin Yutang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lin-yutang/) > [I'm so honored to be on this recording with Ann & Nancy Wilson. They are iconic and I've truly been one of their biggest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deana-carter/i-m-so-honored-to-be-on-this-recording-with-ann-nancy-wilson-they-are/) [Deana Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deana-carter/) > [There are no Soul singer Wilson Pickett singers in disco.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilson-pickett/there-are-no-soul-singer-wilson-pickett-singers-in-disco/) [Wilson Pickett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilson-pickett/) > [It was right after Woodrow Wilson's first serious post-World War I repression, which deported thousands of people, effectively destroyed unions and independent press, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/it-was-right-after-woodrow-wilson-s-first-serious-post-world-war-i/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [I studied acting in NYU's graduate program, in which we covered everything from Ibsen and Chekov to August Wilson and David Mamet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-holland/i-studied-acting-in-nyu-s-graduate-program-in-which-we-covered/) [Andre Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-holland/) > [I could play with a chicken. 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McCulloch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-p-mcculloch/) > [I can't see why we can't toss in a Junior Walker or Wilson Pickett number in every once in a while.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-carreras/i-can-t-see-why-we-can-t-toss-in-a-junior-walker-or-wilson-pickett/) [Jose Carreras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-carreras/) > [Cicero most reminds me of Harold Wilson. Both men knew how to keep the show on the road.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-harris/cicero-most-reminds-me-of-harold-wilson-both-men-knew-how-to-keep-the/) [Robert Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-harris/) > [Ballin' like Jordan you ballin' like wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mac-miller/ballin-like-jordan-you-ballin-like-wilson/) [Mac Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mac-miller/) > [“I love the way you smile at me... knocks me on my arse.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-harmon/i-love-the-way-you-smile-at-me-knocks-me-on-my-arse/) [Amy Harmon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-harmon/) ## More by Laura Mullen > [Oh my research. Well, I got an English Degree. And I got that degree in a certain time/at a certain place. If you add…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-mullen/oh-my-research-well-i-got-an-english-degree-and-i-got-that-degree-in/) [Laura Mullen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-mullen/) > [The boundary between expert and amateur was an imposed social-cultural "protection" which actually exposed a number of women to a fatal disease, because decaying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-mullen/the-boundary-between-expert-and-amateur-was-an-imposed-social/) [Laura Mullen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-mullen/) > [In Frankenstein there is a transfer first of life into death (in the creation and animation of the monster), and then of death into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-mullen/in-frankenstein-there-is-a-transfer-first-of-life-into-death-in-the/) [Laura Mullen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-mullen/) > [Is it possible that where the subject is socially approved (tah tah tah TAH tah, it's war) almost no one thinks we're "stuck," but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-mullen/is-it-possible-that-where-the-subject-is-socially-approved-tah-tah/) [Laura Mullen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-mullen/) > [There's a case in Baton Rouge, haunting me, where a mother left her twelve-year-old daughter to be babysat (every day for months) by a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-mullen/there-s-a-case-in-baton-rouge-haunting-me-where-a-mother-left-her/) [Laura Mullen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-mullen/) > [Admitting how ill we are, how deep the damage goes, how constantly the abuse cycle is repeated and how horribly we have failed those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-mullen/admitting-how-ill-we-are-how-deep-the-damage-goes-how-constantly-the/) [Laura Mullen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-mullen/) > [It seems all "protection" has to be monitored, considered, weighed and justified - I am suggesting we do that (but it's something Mary Shelley…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-mullen/it-seems-all-protection-has-to-be-monitored-considered-weighed-and/) [Laura Mullen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-mullen/) > [In the "Intervention" section of the book we go into that looping from a battery of positions (where healer and sufferer are blurred). I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-mullen/in-the-intervention-section-of-the-book-we-go-into-that-looping-from/) [Laura Mullen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-mullen/) > [And Complicated Grief is a text that announces, from the start, in its citation of influence, dense intertextuality and hybridity, a failure of some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-mullen/and-complicated-grief-is-a-text-that-announces-from-the-start-in-its/) [Laura Mullen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-mullen/) > [Maybe one way to think about it would be in the context of the historical development of germ theory. The problem of childbed fever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-mullen/maybe-one-way-to-think-about-it-would-be-in-the-context-of-the/) [Laura Mullen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-mullen/) > [Star Wars film is breaking all previous box office records. (Why might we want to revisit those characters, that narrative, those jokes and tropes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-mullen/star-wars-film-is-breaking-all-previous-box-office-records-why-might/) [Laura Mullen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-mullen/) > [The most important aspect of writing the pieces that make up this eighth book was yielding to my obsessive side, letting my own "complicated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-mullen/the-most-important-aspect-of-writing-the-pieces-that-make-up-this/) [Laura Mullen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-mullen/) > [I can tell that I shaped the book very deliberately, after a great deal of thought, and that I insisted this piece function as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-mullen/i-can-tell-that-i-shaped-the-book-very-deliberately-after-a-great/) [Laura Mullen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-mullen/) > [There's a nice clear difference between real protection (wash your hands, or wear a condom) and the fake protection offered by institutions which often…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-mullen/there-s-a-nice-clear-difference-between-real-protection-wash-your/) [Laura Mullen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-mullen/) > [One might say that "Torch Song" is, in part, about the urgency of the effort to pin things down and what wild dart throwing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-mullen/one-might-say-that-torch-song-is-in-part-about-the-urgency-of-the/) [Laura Mullen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-mullen/) [Explore all 40 Laura Mullen quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-mullen/) ## More Asking quotes > [Why did Erich von Stronheim leave Germany? Why did Hitchcock leave England? If you were a director you'd like to work in Hollywood too.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roman-polanski/why-did-erich-von-stronheim-leave-germany-why-did-hitchcock-leave/) [Roman Polanski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roman-polanski/) > [And in your new lives you'll have to live entirely for that one sensation-that of imminent truth. And you're going to have to holler…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/and-in-your-new-lives-you-ll-have-to-live-entirely-for-that-one/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) > [“Stop asking yourself how or why and tell yourself you can." - Charmainism”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charmaine-smith-ladd/stop-asking-yourself-how-or-why-and-tell-yourself-you-can-charmainism/) [Charmaine Smith Ladd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charmaine-smith-ladd/) > [Closing his eyes, he sent up a prayer to anyone who was listening, asking please, for God's sake, stop sending him signals that they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-r-ward/closing-his-eyes-he-sent-up-a-prayer-to-anyone-who-was-listening/) [J.R. Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-r-ward/) > [People will identify with a persecuted minority without asking themselves what they are identifying with.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mantel/people-will-identify-with-a-persecuted-minority-without-asking/) [Hilary Mantel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mantel/) > [If you're having a bad day already and everybody is just asking you petty questions, it drives people to the edge, or something really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jess-weixler/if-you-re-having-a-bad-day-already-and-everybody-is-just-asking-you/) [Jess Weixler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jess-weixler/) > [You never give away your heart; you lend it from time to time. If it were not so, how could we take it back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/you-never-give-away-your-heart-you-lend-it-from-time-to-time-if-it/) [Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/) > [I'm not asking people to feel sorry for me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-abramoff/i-m-not-asking-people-to-feel-sorry-for-me/) [Jack Abramoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-abramoff/) > [The boldness of asking deep questions may require unforeseen flexibility if we are to accept the answers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-greene/the-boldness-of-asking-deep-questions-may-require-unforeseen/) [Brian Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-greene/) > [Use Google Before Asking A Stupid Question.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muskaan/use-google-before-asking-a-stupid-question/) [Muskaan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muskaan/) > [There were people asking 'Can women be funny?' People still ask that. 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Using your voice in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-shriver/whether-that-s-speaking-up-in-your-job-or-asking-for-a-promotion-or/) [Maria Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-shriver/) > [Love cannot be had for the asking; it comes only as a gift from the heart of another](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paramahansa-yogananda/love-cannot-be-had-for-the-asking-it-comes-only-as-a-gift-from-the/) [Paramahansa Yogananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paramahansa-yogananda/) > [The Baseball Hall of Fame is something every player dreams about, but being a member of God's Hall of Fame is the greatest achievement…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-carter/the-baseball-hall-of-fame-is-something-every-player-dreams-about-but/) [Gary Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-carter/) > [“In such a regime, I say you died a good death if your life had inspired someone to come forward and shoot your murdered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chinua-achebe/in-such-a-regime-i-say-you-died-a-good-death-if-your-life-had/) [Chinua Achebe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chinua-achebe/) [Browse all 3,313 Asking quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/asking/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It is worth asking who decides what's an \"obsession\" and where it differs from meditation or the kind of deep dwelling on a subject we see in philosophy or the work of Robert Wilson, for instance?", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Laura Mullen" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-mullen/it-is-worth-asking-who-decides-what-s-an-obsession-and-where-it/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Asking" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-mullen/it-is-worth-asking-who-decides-what-s-an-obsession-and-where-it/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9de/laura-mullen-16442_asking_it-is-worth-asking-who-decides-what-s-an_2080192.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9de/laura-mullen-16442_asking_it-is-worth-asking-who-decides-what-s-an_2080192.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9de/laura-mullen-16442_asking_it-is-worth-asking-who-decides-what-s-an_2080192.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It is worth asking who decides what's an \"obsession\" and where it differs from meditation or the kind of…” — Laura Mullen", "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": "Laura Mullen", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-mullen/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "It is worth asking who decides...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-mullen/it-is-worth-asking-who-decides-what-s-an-obsession-and-where-it/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-mullen/it-is-worth-asking-who-decides-what-s-an-obsession-and-where-it/#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 } } ] } ```