--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I had to make sure I kept an eye on the…" description: "\"I had to make sure I kept an eye on the real world.\" — Roddy Doyle" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/142/roddy-doyle-10269_eye_i-had-to-make-sure-i-kept-an-eye-on-the_2174384.jpg" --- # I had to make sure I kept an eye on the real world. ![“I had to make sure I kept an eye on the real world.” quote by Roddy Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/142/roddy-doyle-10269_eye_i-had-to-make-sure-i-kept-an-eye-on-the_2174384.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/142/roddy-doyle-10269_eye_i-had-to-make-sure-i-kept-an-eye-on-the_2174384.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/142/roddy-doyle-10269_eye_i-had-to-make-sure-i-kept-an-eye-on-the_2174384.jpg) > “I had to make sure I kept an eye on the real world.” [Roddy Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roddy-doyle/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He emphasizes staying grounded in reality despite creative or professional pursuits, reminding us to keep practical awareness. **In simple terms:** Stay aware of real world while working. Key Takeaway Maintain practical perspective. Themes reality awareness grounding balance Mood thoughtful cautious Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - career planning - creative projects - daily decision making Key Concepts mindfulness practicality focus Questions to Reflect On - How do you ensure reality checks? - What consequences arise from ignoring real world? A Different Perspective May suggest distrust of imagination. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Real world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real-world/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [“The eyes were horrible. 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I could do a whole talk on 'The Matrix' and glamour. It was criticized…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-postrel/the-matrix-is-a-movie-that-is-all-about-glamour-i-could-do-a-whole/) [Virginia Postrel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-postrel/) ## More by Roddy Doyle > [“Sometimes, when you were thinking about something, trying to understand it, it opened up in your head without you expecting it to, like it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roddy-doyle/sometimes-when-you-were-thinking-about-something-trying-to-understand/) [Roddy Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roddy-doyle/) > [“It was frightening, though, how little time you got. You only became yourself when you were twenty-three or twenty-four. A few years later, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roddy-doyle/it-was-frightening-though-how-little-time-you-got-you-only-became/) [Roddy Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roddy-doyle/) > [The Irish are the niggers of Europe, lads.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roddy-doyle/the-irish-are-the-niggers-of-europe-lads/) [Roddy Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roddy-doyle/) > [“Terror. That was it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roddy-doyle/terror-that-was-it/) [Roddy Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roddy-doyle/) > [Ulysses could have done with a good editor. You know people are always putting Ulysses in the top 10 books ever written but I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roddy-doyle/ulysses-could-have-done-with-a-good-editor-you-know-people-are-always/) [Roddy Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roddy-doyle/) > [Dreaming was only nice while it lasted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roddy-doyle/dreaming-was-only-nice-while-it-lasted/) [Roddy Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roddy-doyle/) > [It was a sign of growing up, when the dark made no more difference to you than the day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roddy-doyle/it-was-a-sign-of-growing-up-when-the-dark-made-no-more-difference-to/) [Roddy Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roddy-doyle/) > [When I started writing full time I had not long stopped being a teacher and when at last I had a full day to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roddy-doyle/when-i-started-writing-full-time-i-had-not-long-stopped-being-a/) [Roddy Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roddy-doyle/) > [When I was a kid, if you didn't speak Irish, you really wanted to. 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A day is a fuckin’ eternity”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roddy-doyle/one-day-at-a-time-sweet-jesus-whoever-wrote-that-one-hadn-t-a-clue-a/) [Roddy Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roddy-doyle/) > [Schools don't really allow failure and yet it's a valid part of any endeavour, not just writing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roddy-doyle/schools-don-t-really-allow-failure-and-yet-it-s-a-valid-part-of-any/) [Roddy Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roddy-doyle/) > [My novels come from within me; they are things I feel I want to do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roddy-doyle/my-novels-come-from-within-me-they-are-things-i-feel-i-want-to-do/) [Roddy Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roddy-doyle/) > [Most working days I can be at my desk for nine hours a day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roddy-doyle/most-working-days-i-can-be-at-my-desk-for-nine-hours-a-day/) [Roddy Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roddy-doyle/) [Explore all 65 Roddy Doyle quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roddy-doyle/) ## More Eye quotes > [I need a bath." He chuckled. "You smell of smoke, as do I." The duke turned, leaning heavily on his cane. "Jameson, open the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-hawkins/i-need-a-bath-he-chuckled-you-smell-of-smoke-as-do-i-the-duke-turned/) [Karen Hawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-hawkins/) > [If you take your eye off the ball or lose focus for even a minute you can lose a game against any team.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felipe-anderson/if-you-take-your-eye-off-the-ball-or-lose-focus-for-even-a-minute-you/) [Felipe Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felipe-anderson/) > [“He blinked. His eyes fell as he processed her response. Then he lifted his chin and attempted a grin that was almost painfully dejected.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marissa-meyer/he-blinked-his-eyes-fell-as-he-processed-her-response-then-he-lifted/) [Marissa Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marissa-meyer/) > [How could anybody confuse truth with beauty, I thought as I looked at him. Truth came with sunken eyes, bony or scarred, decayed. Its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-fitch/how-could-anybody-confuse-truth-with-beauty-i-thought-as-i-looked-at/) [Janet Fitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-fitch/) > [I wrote when I was a young teen, but I didn't put an eye on the available markets until I was seventeen. The next…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-reed/i-wrote-when-i-was-a-young-teen-but-i-didn-t-put-an-eye-on-the/) [Robert Reed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-reed/) > [Changes before your eyes, things you can do and things you can't. My attitude is always let it keep rolling.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terrence-malick/changes-before-your-eyes-things-you-can-do-and-things-you-can-t-my/) [Terrence Malick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terrence-malick/) > [But editors are still the world's readers. And thus the eyes of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/but-editors-are-still-the-world-s-readers-and-thus-the-eyes-of-the/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) > [Quotations can be valuable, like raisins in the rice pudding, for adding iron as well as eye appeal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peg-bracken/quotations-can-be-valuable-like-raisins-in-the-rice-pudding-for/) [Peg Bracken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peg-bracken/) > [Clearly, when we baptize, our eyes should gaze beyond the baptismal font to the holy temple. The great garner into which the sheaves should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-a-maxwell/clearly-when-we-baptize-our-eyes-should-gaze-beyond-the-baptismal/) [Neal A. Maxwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-a-maxwell/) > [At the end of night, before you close your eyes, be content with what you've done and be proud of who you are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-almond/at-the-end-of-night-before-you-close-your-eyes-be-content-with-what/) [Steve Almond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-almond/) > [Be neither too early in the fashion, nor too long out of it, nor too precisely in it; what custom hath civilized is become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-quarles/be-neither-too-early-in-the-fashion-nor-too-long-out-of-it-nor-too/) [Francis Quarles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-quarles/) > [It lies around us like a cloud- A world we do not see; Yet the sweet closing of an eye May bring us there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-beecher-stowe/it-lies-around-us-like-a-cloud-a-world-we-do-not-see-yet-the-sweet/) [Harriet Beecher Stowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-beecher-stowe/) > [A man cannot speak but he judges himself. With his will or against his will he draws his portrait to the eye of his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/a-man-cannot-speak-but-he-judges-himself-with-his-will-or-against-his/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [She'd read once that if you ran into a bear in the woods you should avoid eye contact and you shouldn't run away, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-ursu/she-d-read-once-that-if-you-ran-into-a-bear-in-the-woods-you-should/) [Anne Ursu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-ursu/) > [Liesel observed the strangeness of her foster father's eyes. They were made of kindness, and silver.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-zusak/liesel-observed-the-strangeness-of-her-foster-father-s-eyes-they-were/) [Markus Zusak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/markus-zusak/) Browse all 16,237 Eye quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I had to make sure I kept an eye on the real world.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Roddy Doyle" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roddy-doyle/i-had-to-make-sure-i-kept-an-eye-on-the-real-world/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Eye" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roddy-doyle/i-had-to-make-sure-i-kept-an-eye-on-the-real-world/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/142/roddy-doyle-10269_eye_i-had-to-make-sure-i-kept-an-eye-on-the_2174384.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/142/roddy-doyle-10269_eye_i-had-to-make-sure-i-kept-an-eye-on-the_2174384.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/142/roddy-doyle-10269_eye_i-had-to-make-sure-i-kept-an-eye-on-the_2174384.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I had to make sure I kept an eye on the real world.” — Roddy Doyle", "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": "Roddy Doyle", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roddy-doyle/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I had to make sure I...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roddy-doyle/i-had-to-make-sure-i-kept-an-eye-on-the-real-world/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roddy-doyle/i-had-to-make-sure-i-kept-an-eye-on-the-real-world/#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 } } ] } ```