--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We human beings have enormous difficulty…" description: "\"“We human beings have enormous difficulty in focusing on the present; were always thinking about what we did, about how we could have done it better, a..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9d6/paulo-coelho-10_focusing-on-the-pres_we-human-beings-have-enormous-difficulty_1987737.jpg" --- # We human beings have enormous difficulty in focusing on… ![“We human beings have enormous difficulty in focusing on the present; were always thinking about what we did, about how we could have done it better, about the consequences of our actions, and about why we didn't act as we should have.” quote by Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9d6/paulo-coelho-10_focusing-on-the-pres_we-human-beings-have-enormous-difficulty_1987737.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9d6/paulo-coelho-10_focusing-on-the-pres_we-human-beings-have-enormous-difficulty_1987737.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9d6/paulo-coelho-10_focusing-on-the-pres_we-human-beings-have-enormous-difficulty_1987737.jpg) > ““We human beings have enormous difficulty in focusing on the present; were always thinking about what we did, about how we could have done it better, about the consequences of our actions, and about why we didn't act as we should have.”” [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Humans struggle to stay present, constantly replaying past and future. **In simple terms:** We find it hard to live in the now. Key Takeaway Practice mindfulness to stay present. Themes mindfulness time regret growth Mood thoughtful inspirational Type self-help philosophical When to use this quote - meditation - decision making - stress management Key Concepts philosophy psychology self-help Questions to Reflect On - What holds you from the present? - How can you let go of regret? A Different Perspective Obsessing over past/future can cause anxiety. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Difficulty Focusing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/difficulty-focusing-3428709/) [Focusing On The Present](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/focusing-on-the-present/) [Human beings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-beings/) [Present Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/present-thinking-479297/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Thinking Did](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking-did-1024532/) ## Related quotes > [“In magic - and in life - there is only the present moment, the now. You can't measure time the way you measure the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/in-magic-and-in-life-there-is-only-the-present-moment-the-now-you-can-2/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [“You can’t measure time the way you measure the distance between two points. “Time” doesn’t pass. We human beings have enormous difficulty in focusing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/you-can-t-measure-time-the-way-you-measure-the-distance-between-two-2/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [We human beings have enormous difficulty in focusing on the present; we always thinking about what we did, about how we could have done…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/we-human-beings-have-enormous-difficulty-in-focusing-on-the-present/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [“The disorientation, the distraction, the difficulty focusing-all classic. Phase One signs of deliria.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-halse-anderson/the-disorientation-the-distraction-the-difficulty-focusing-all/) [Laurie Halse Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurie-halse-anderson/) > [“Recently, she’d noticed something strange happening when she talked to people in groups. She couldn’t quite remember how to be. She’d find herself thinking:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liane-moriarty/recently-she-d-noticed-something-strange-happening-when-she-talked-to/) [Liane Moriarty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liane-moriarty/) > [“And thinking never did anybody any good, no matter what your teachers and parents and the science-club freaks tell you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/and-thinking-never-did-anybody-any-good-no-matter-what-your-teachers/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [It's time you stop thinking that because you did something, it's... amazing. All you've got to do is say, 'OK. If I'm great, what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimmy-iovine/it-s-time-you-stop-thinking-that-because-you-did-something-it-s/) [Jimmy Iovine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimmy-iovine/) > [I know what you're thinking 'Did he fire six shots or only five?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clint-eastwood/i-know-what-you-re-thinking-did-he-fire-six-shots-or-only-five/) [Clint Eastwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clint-eastwood/) > [“I was tired of so much thinking, which was what I did most in those days. I did other things, but I went on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-davis/i-was-tired-of-so-much-thinking-which-was-what-i-did-most-in-those/) [Lydia Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-davis/) > [“Siddhartha considered his circumstances. Thinking did not come easily to him. He didn't really feel like it, but he forced himself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/siddhartha-considered-his-circumstances-thinking-did-not-come-easily/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [I've had some styles that make me wonder what the hell I was thinking. How did I let someone do that to me?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leslie-bibb/i-ve-had-some-styles-that-make-me-wonder-what-the-hell-i-was-thinking/) [Leslie Bibb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leslie-bibb/) > [Focusing on the future will make you stress and focusing on the past will make you cry. Start focusing on the present so your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jayden-hayes/focusing-on-the-future-will-make-you-stress-and-focusing-on-the-past/) [Jayden Hayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jayden-hayes/) > [“People with BPD spend a great deal of their emotional energy worrying about past pain or potential future problems. “If I do that, this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/valerie-porr-m-a/people-with-bpd-spend-a-great-deal-of-their-emotional-energy-worrying/) [Valerie Porr M.A](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/valerie-porr-m-a/) > [“By letting go of the past, focusing on the present, and creating a brighter future, we can live a life full of happiness, fulfillment,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-izad/by-letting-go-of-the-past-focusing-on-the-present-and-creating-a/) [Sam Izad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-izad/) > [Forget about the past, it's done. Make yourself a brighter future by focusing on the present.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/forget-about-the-past-it-s-done-make-yourself-a-brighter-future-by/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Paulo Coelho > [I have inside me the winds, the deserts, the oceans, the stars, and everything created in the universe. We were all made by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/i-have-inside-me-the-winds-the-deserts-the-oceans-the-stars-and/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [Love will never separate a man from his personal legend.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/love-will-never-separate-a-man-from-his-personal-legend/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [The world has a soul and whoever understands that soul can also understand the language of many things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/the-world-has-a-soul-and-whoever-understands-that-soul-can-also/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [You dont choose your life; it chooses you. Theres no point asking why life has reserved certain joys or griefs, you just accept them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/you-dont-choose-your-life-it-chooses-you-theres-no-point-asking-why/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [To love is to be in communion with the other and to discover in that other the spark of God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/to-love-is-to-be-in-communion-with-the-other-and-to-discover-in-that/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [It is not enough to dream of the Impossible Love - it is necessary to conquer it too.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/it-is-not-enough-to-dream-of-the-impossible-love-it-is-necessary-to/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [Eat when it is time to eat. And walk when it is time to walk.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/eat-when-it-is-time-to-eat-and-walk-when-it-is-time-to-walk/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [People are reading more and writing more because of the internet. So the virtual world is a way for me to listen to my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/people-are-reading-more-and-writing-more-because-of-the-internet-so/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [“Joy is like sex – it begins and ends. I want pleasure. I want to be contended, but happiness? I no longer fall into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/joy-is-like-sex-it-begins-and-ends-i-want-pleasure-i-want-to-be/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [“Trudi se da zivis, sjecanja su za starije ljude.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/trudi-se-da-zivis-sjecanja-su-za-starije-ljude/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [I've always been a very restless person. I work hard, spend too much time looking after my son, I dance like a mad thing,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/i-ve-always-been-a-very-restless-person-i-work-hard-spend-too-much/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [When someone leaves, it's because someone else is about to arrive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/when-someone-leaves-it-s-because-someone-else-is-about-to-arrive/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [The past and the future become unimportant. There is only that moment, and the incredible certainty that everything under the sun has been written…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/the-past-and-the-future-become-unimportant-there-is-only-that-moment/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [She didn't need to understand the meaning of life; it was enough to find someone who did, and then fall asleep in his arms…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/she-didn-t-need-to-understand-the-meaning-of-life-it-was-enough-to/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [“The simpler the pose, the better; the more sober, the more beautiful.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/the-simpler-the-pose-the-better-the-more-sober-the-more-beautiful/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) [Explore all 3,665 Paulo Coelho quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) ## More Human beings quotes > [Houses are like the human beings that inhabit them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/houses-are-like-the-human-beings-that-inhabit-them/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [Humans are, as Sartre put it, 'condemned to be free'. To insist that science, or God, objectively defines moral values is to abandon our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenan-malik/humans-are-as-sartre-put-it-condemned-to-be-free-to-insist-that/) [Kenan Malik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenan-malik/) > [Human beings have an innate inner drive to be autonomous, self-determined, and connected to one another. And when that drive is liberated, people achieve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-h-pink/human-beings-have-an-innate-inner-drive-to-be-autonomous-self/) [Daniel H. Pink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-h-pink/) > [Gambling has held human beings in thrall for millennia. It has been engaged in everywhere, from the dregs of society to the most respectable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-l-bernstein/gambling-has-held-human-beings-in-thrall-for-millennia-it-has-been/) [Peter L. Bernstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-l-bernstein/) > [Here's the reality. The image of a white Jesus has been used to justify enslavement, conquest, colonialism, the genocide of indigenous peoples. There are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-wise/here-s-the-reality-the-image-of-a-white-jesus-has-been-used-to/) [Tim Wise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-wise/) > [What is music? Music is language. A human being wants to express ideas in this language, but not ideas that can be translated into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-webern/what-is-music-music-is-language-a-human-being-wants-to-express-ideas/) [Anton Webern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-webern/) > [What we're supposed to do as actors is be able to portray real human beings and emotions. And if you grow up in this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-browning/what-we-re-supposed-to-do-as-actors-is-be-able-to-portray-real-human/) [Emily Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-browning/) > [I think everybody, or the great majority of human beings, have this aspiration to become other: to live a different identity, at least for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario-vargas-llosa/i-think-everybody-or-the-great-majority-of-human-beings-have-this/) [Mario Vargas Llosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-vargas-llosa/) > [“Is there any holy beings like human beings?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/is-there-any-holy-beings-like-human-beings/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [A human being can only absorb a small amount of the mystical kundalini, you can be exposed again and again to it, but it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/a-human-being-can-only-absorb-a-small-amount-of-the-mystical/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [I recognize I am essentially a failed human being in the sense that I can't possibly live up to the expectations of an Almighty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/i-recognize-i-am-essentially-a-failed-human-being-in-the-sense-that-i/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [A composer knows that music is written by human beings for human beings and that music is a continuation of life, not something separated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hanns-eisler/a-composer-knows-that-music-is-written-by-human-beings-for-human/) [Hanns Eisler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hanns-eisler/) > [“According to this model, human beings are, at least in one aspect, sensation-receiving machines; and although our receptory apparatus is competent to select and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cruce-stark/according-to-this-model-human-beings-are-at-least-in-one-aspect/) [Cruce Stark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cruce-stark/) > [For our purposes as human beings, the mind is the center of everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/for-our-purposes-as-human-beings-the-mind-is-the-center-of-everything/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) > [Human beings seek community, and permanent openness is hard to sustain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-douthat/human-beings-seek-community-and-permanent-openness-is-hard-to-sustain/) [Ross Douthat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-douthat/) [Browse all 6,948 Human beings quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-beings/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“We human beings have enormous difficulty in focusing on the present; were always thinking about what we did, about how we could have done it better, about the consequences of our actions, and about why we didn't act as we should have.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Paulo Coelho" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/we-human-beings-have-enormous-difficulty-in-focusing-on-the-present-2/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Human beings" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/we-human-beings-have-enormous-difficulty-in-focusing-on-the-present-2/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9d6/paulo-coelho-10_focusing-on-the-pres_we-human-beings-have-enormous-difficulty_1987737.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9d6/paulo-coelho-10_focusing-on-the-pres_we-human-beings-have-enormous-difficulty_1987737.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9d6/paulo-coelho-10_focusing-on-the-pres_we-human-beings-have-enormous-difficulty_1987737.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We human beings have enormous difficulty in focusing on the present; were always thinking about what we did…” — Paulo Coelho", "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": "Paulo Coelho", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“We human beings have enormous difficulty...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/we-human-beings-have-enormous-difficulty-in-focusing-on-the-present-2/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/we-human-beings-have-enormous-difficulty-in-focusing-on-the-present-2/#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 } } ] } ```