--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I blame the newspapers because every day…" description: "\"I blame the newspapers because every day they call our attention to insignificant things, while three or four times in our lives,we read books that con..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/056/marcel-proust-114_attention_i-blame-the-newspapers-because-every-day_369267.jpg" --- # I blame the newspapers because every day they call our… ![“I blame the newspapers because every day they call our attention to insignificant things, while three or four times in our lives,we read books that contain essential things. Once we feverishly tear the band of paper enclosing our newspapers, things should change and we should find--I do not…” quote by Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/056/marcel-proust-114_attention_i-blame-the-newspapers-because-every-day_369267.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/056/marcel-proust-114_attention_i-blame-the-newspapers-because-every-day_369267.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/056/marcel-proust-114_attention_i-blame-the-newspapers-because-every-day_369267.jpg) > “I blame the newspapers because every day they call our attention to insignificant things, while three or four times in our lives,we read books that contain essential things. Once we feverishly tear the band of paper enclosing our newspapers, things should change and we should find--I do not know--the Pensées by Pascal!” [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Newspapers distract with trivialities, while books offer deeper insight; a call to prioritize meaningful reading. **In simple terms:** Books give depth, newspapers give noise. Key Takeaway Choose reading that enriches mind over fleeting news. Themes media focus knowledge Mood thoughtful critical Type intellectual philosophical When to use this quote - daily news consumption - academic study - personal growth - library visits Key Concepts information overload literary value Questions to Reflect On - How can you limit media distraction? - What book could replace a daily newspaper? A Different Perspective Time constraints may limit deep reading. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Attention](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/attention/) [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Insignificant things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/insignificant-things/) [Journalism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/journalism/) [Knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowledge/) [News](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/news/) [Newspapers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/newspapers/) [Tears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tears/) ## Related quotes > [“What I fault newspapers for is that day after day they draw our attention to insignificant things whereas only three or four times in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/what-i-fault-newspapers-for-is-that-day-after-day-they-draw-our/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“In his "Pensées," Pascal said, "If there is a God, He is infinitely incomprehensible, since, having neither parts nor limits, He has no affinity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/in-his-pensees-pascal-said-if-there-is-a-god-he-is-infinitely/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“But even with respect to the most insignificant things in life, none of us constitutes a material whole, identical for everyone, which a person…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/but-even-with-respect-to-the-most-insignificant-things-in-life-none/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [I read about eight newspapers in a day. When I'm in a town with only one newspaper, I read it eight times.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-rogers/i-read-about-eight-newspapers-in-a-day-when-i-m-in-a-town-with-only/) [Will Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-rogers/) > [Read two newspapers a day. And not just online. Hold them in your hands. Get ink on your fingers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-callaway/read-two-newspapers-a-day-and-not-just-online-hold-them-in-your-hands/) John Callaway > [I'm naturally curious, and I read four newspapers a day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eli-broad/i-m-naturally-curious-and-i-read-four-newspapers-a-day/) [Eli Broad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eli-broad/) > [I don't do well with changes in my routine. I read at least three newspapers a day, for example. I'm frustrated if for some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-mcmurtry/i-don-t-do-well-with-changes-in-my-routine-i-read-at-least-three/) [Larry McMurtry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larry-mcmurtry/) > [I am a political junkie. During a presidential campaign, I will often buy a couple of newspapers a day just to keep up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ortberg/i-am-a-political-junkie-during-a-presidential-campaign-i-will-often/) [John Ortberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ortberg/) > [ What does Reverence for Life say abut the relations between \[humanity\] and the animal world? Whenever I injury any kind of life I must… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-schweitzer/what-does-reverence-for-life-say-abut-the-relations-between-humanity/) [Albert Schweitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-schweitzer/) > [I could've written songs about, for example, the Paris attacks as they happened and have the song out the day after, but doing this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jens-lekman/i-could-ve-written-songs-about-for-example-the-paris-attacks-as-they/) [Jens Lekman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jens-lekman/) > [It is better to be doing the most insignificant thing than to reckon even a half-hour insignificant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/it-is-better-to-be-doing-the-most-insignificant-thing-than-to-reckon/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [“If we try to complicate our lives, developing clever plans and ambitions, we lose sight of the way in which small, insignificant things actually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yi-ping-ong/if-we-try-to-complicate-our-lives-developing-clever-plans-and/) Yi-Ping Ong > [“Possibly the only way to maintain some sort of resemblance of normalcy was by thinking about insignificant things. 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I stress out over very insignificant things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/courtney-barnett/if-i-make-a-wrong-decision-i-worry-what-might-have-been-i-stress-out/) [Courtney Barnett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/courtney-barnett/) ## More by Marcel Proust > [“machinery' of life at Versailles; and was able, too, to persuade herself that her silence, a shade of good humour or of arrogance on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/machinery-of-life-at-versailles-and-was-able-too-to-persuade-herself/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [ “For her \[Françoise\], wealth was like a necessary condition without which virtue would lack both merit and charm. She made so little distinction between… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/for-her-fran-oise-wealth-was-like-a-necessary-condition-without-which/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [Knowing does not always allow us to prevent, but at least the things that we know, we hold them, if not in our hands,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/knowing-does-not-always-allow-us-to-prevent-but-at-least-the-things/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [Death is in truth an illness from which we recover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/death-is-in-truth-an-illness-from-which-we-recover/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [The bonds that unite another person to our self exist only in our mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/the-bonds-that-unite-another-person-to-our-self-exist-only-in-our-mind/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [...a writer's works, like the water in an artesian well, mount to a height which is in proportion to the depth to which suffering…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/a-writer-s-works-like-the-water-in-an-artesian-well-mount-to-a-height/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“Then from those profound slumbers we awake in a dawn, not knowing who we are, being nobody, newly born, ready for anything, the brain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/then-from-those-profound-slumbers-we-awake-in-a-dawn-not-knowing-who/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“Art extracted from the most familiar reality does indeed exist and its domain is perhaps the largest of any.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/art-extracted-from-the-most-familiar-reality-does-indeed-exist-and/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [I find very reasonable the Celtic belief that the souls of our dearly departed are trapped in some inferior being, in an animal, aplant,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/i-find-very-reasonable-the-celtic-belief-that-the-souls-of-our-dearly/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“When you heard anyone in the middle of a talk which was being deliberately kept off the Affair announce furtively some piece of political…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/when-you-heard-anyone-in-the-middle-of-a-talk-which-was-being/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“We betroth ourselves by proxy, and then feel obliged to marry the intermediary.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/we-betroth-ourselves-by-proxy-and-then-feel-obliged-to-marry-the/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“But the old lady on the contrary, far from justifying her daughter’s fears, felt every time someone of her own age “disappeared” that she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/but-the-old-lady-on-the-contrary-far-from-justifying-her-daughter-s/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [Often it is just lack of imagination that keeps a man from suffering very much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/often-it-is-just-lack-of-imagination-that-keeps-a-man-from-suffering/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“When we are nice to others, we generally lose all claim to their respect.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/when-we-are-nice-to-others-we-generally-lose-all-claim-to-their/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“Nobility is often no more than the inner aspect which our egotistical feelings assume when we have not yet named and classified them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/nobility-is-often-no-more-than-the-inner-aspect-which-our-egotistical/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) [Explore all 1,113 Marcel Proust quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) ## 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. Thanksgiving will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-murray/let-us-thank-god-heartily-as-often-as-we-pray-that-we-have-his-spirit/) [Andy Murray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-murray/) > [Enlightened people live in very charged states of attention, with a tremendous power circuiting through them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/enlightened-people-live-in-very-charged-states-of-attention-with-a/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [We must have a welfare system that we can afford, which will mean giving greater attention to directing the welfare program toward its primary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-portillo/we-must-have-a-welfare-system-that-we-can-afford-which-will-mean/) [Michael Portillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-portillo/) > [The director's job should give you a sense of music without drawing attention to itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taylor-hackford/the-director-s-job-should-give-you-a-sense-of-music-without-drawing/) [Taylor Hackford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taylor-hackford/) [Browse all 10,153 Attention quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/attention/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I blame the newspapers because every day they call our attention to insignificant things, while three or four times in our lives,we read books that contain essential things. 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