--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Nothing, save the hangman's noose…" description: "\"Nothing, save the hangman's noose, concentrates the mind like piles of cash.\" — Tim Wu" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7d9/tim-wu-7845_cash_nothing-save-the-hangman-s-noose-concent_618520.png" --- # Nothing, save the hangman's noose, concentrates the mind… ![“Nothing, save the hangman's noose, concentrates the mind like piles of cash.” quote by Tim Wu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7d9/tim-wu-7845_cash_nothing-save-the-hangman-s-noose-concent_618520.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7d9/tim-wu-7845_cash_nothing-save-the-hangman-s-noose-concent_618520.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7d9/tim-wu-7845_cash_nothing-save-the-hangman-s-noose-concent_618520.png) > “Nothing, save the hangman's noose, concentrates the mind like piles of cash.” [Tim Wu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-wu/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Money and the threat of death focus attention more sharply than anything else. **In simple terms:** Money and danger sharpen focus. Key Takeaway Recognize what truly drives your focus. Themes attention money danger Mood analytical thoughtful Type observational philosophical When to use this quote - budgeting - risk assessment - motivational strategies Key Concepts psychology economics Questions to Reflect On - What truly captures your attention? - How can you balance risk and reward? A Different Perspective Financial incentives may distort values. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cash/) [Concentrates Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/concentrates-mind-2273707/) [Hangman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hangman/) [Hangman Noose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hangman-noose-265205/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Noose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/noose/) [Noose Concentrates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/noose-concentrates-5008787/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) ## Related quotes > [Not nature, but the "genius of mankind," has knotted the hangman's noose with which it can execute itself at any moment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/not-nature-but-the-genius-of-mankind-has-knotted-the-hangman-s-noose/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) > [“Our age difference is an easy target and a better excuse, but this secret is the Hangman’s noose.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yellowbella/our-age-difference-is-an-easy-target-and-a-better-excuse-but-this/) [YellowBella](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yellowbella/) > [“As I said, I don’t expect you to understand—” “And I don’t,” he cut in. “Ye ask how I can live a life that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-hoyt/as-i-said-i-don-t-expect-you-to-understand-and-i-don-t-he-cut-in-ye/) [Elizabeth Hoyt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-hoyt/) > [If, as they say, the threat of the hangman's noose has a powerful way of focusing one's attention, the same can be said of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-cronkite/if-as-they-say-the-threat-of-the-hangman-s-noose-has-a-powerful-way/) [Walter Cronkite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-cronkite/) > [“The thread by which our fate hangs is wearing thin. Not nature, but the “genius of mankind,” has knotted the hangman’s noose with which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-g-jung/the-thread-by-which-our-fate-hangs-is-wearing-thin-not-nature-but-the/) [C.G. Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-g-jung/) > [“Heavy duty drugs those. Purpose built for keeping someone from the hangman's noose.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-nicks/heavy-duty-drugs-those-purpose-built-for-keeping-someone-from-the/) [Louise Nicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-nicks/) > [The approach of death certainly concentrates the mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-n-wilson/the-approach-of-death-certainly-concentrates-the-mind/) [A. N. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-n-wilson/) > [Tea. I find that both settles the stomach and concentrates the mind. Wonderful drink, tea.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/tea-i-find-that-both-settles-the-stomach-and-concentrates-the-mind/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [Paradox is the sharpest scalpel in the satchel of science. Nothing concentrates the mind as effectively, regardless of whether it pits two competing theories…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-christian-von-baeyer/paradox-is-the-sharpest-scalpel-in-the-satchel-of-science-nothing/) [Hans Christian von Baeyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-christian-von-baeyer/) > [Nothing concentrates one's mind so much as the realization that one is going to be hanged in the morning!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/nothing-concentrates-one-s-mind-so-much-as-the-realization-that-one/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [“Depend upon it, sir, when a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/depend-upon-it-sir-when-a-man-knows-he-is-to-be-hanged-in-a-fortnight/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Failure concentrates the mind wonderfully. If you don't make mistakes, you're not trying hard enough.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jasper-fforde/failure-concentrates-the-mind-wonderfully-if-you-don-t-make-mistakes/) [Jasper Fforde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jasper-fforde/) > [When a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/when-a-man-knows-he-is-to-be-hanged-in-a-fortnight-it-concentrates/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [“So if the ties that bind ever do come loose Tie them in a knot like a hangman's noose Cause I'll go to heaven…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/the-band-perry/so-if-the-ties-that-bind-ever-do-come-loose-tie-them-in-a-knot-like-a/) [The Band Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/the-band-perry/) > [The circle of an empty day is brutal and at night it tightens around your neck like a noose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elena-ferrante/the-circle-of-an-empty-day-is-brutal-and-at-night-it-tightens-around/) [Elena Ferrante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elena-ferrante/) ## More by Tim Wu > [Google has - at least at this point - maintained the line where it keeps organic results separate from the advertisements. But over time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-wu/google-has-at-least-at-this-point-maintained-the-line-where-it-keeps/) [Tim Wu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-wu/) > [When you pay for stuff, it has more of your interests in heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-wu/when-you-pay-for-stuff-it-has-more-of-your-interests-in-heart/) [Tim Wu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-wu/) > [“JUST WHAT IS GOOGLE? In 1902, the New York Telephone Company opened the world’s first school for “telephone girls.” It was an exclusive institution…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-wu/just-what-is-google-in-1902-the-new-york-telephone-company-opened-the/) [Tim Wu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-wu/) > [“When we speak of living environments and their effects on us, then, we are often speaking too broadly—of the city, the countryside, and so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-wu/when-we-speak-of-living-environments-and-their-effects-on-us-then-we/) [Tim Wu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-wu/) > [Now, he doesn't control the media, but Donald Trump has been incredibly successful in having his face appear everywhere. You cannot go a day…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-wu/now-he-doesn-t-control-the-media-but-donald-trump-has-been-incredibly/) [Tim Wu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-wu/) > [The best antidote to the disruptive power of innovation is overregulation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-wu/the-best-antidote-to-the-disruptive-power-of-innovation-is/) [Tim Wu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-wu/) > [“In 1956, two psychologists, Donald Horton and Richard Wohl, would conclude that television’s representation of celebrities was carefully constructed to create an “illusion of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-wu/in-1956-two-psychologists-donald-horton-and-richard-wohl-would/) [tim wu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-wu/) > [“Markets are born free, yet no sooner are they born than some would-be emperor is forging chains. Paradoxically,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-wu/markets-are-born-free-yet-no-sooner-are-they-born-than-some-would-be/) [Tim Wu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-wu/) > [I want to say, however, one thing our media in America has done which didn't happen in other totalitarian states is it has very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-wu/i-want-to-say-however-one-thing-our-media-in-america-has-done-which/) [Tim Wu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-wu/) > [Advertising just keeps getting heavier and heavier and heavier. It doesn't have any natural limit, and we haven't found the place for the limit.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-wu/advertising-just-keeps-getting-heavier-and-heavier-and-heavier-it/) [Tim Wu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-wu/) > [I wish more of the web had stayed nonprofit. But the advertising model took over and I think has delivered us to where we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-wu/i-wish-more-of-the-web-had-stayed-nonprofit-but-the-advertising-model/) [Tim Wu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-wu/) > [There's always people - it doesn't take many - who have a different psychological makeup than most of us who really get joy out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-wu/there-s-always-people-it-doesn-t-take-many-who-have-a-different/) [Tim Wu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-wu/) > [In the media, traditional media like print, we had boundaries. You know, we had spaces that ads didn't leave. They stayed where they were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-wu/in-the-media-traditional-media-like-print-we-had-boundaries-you-know/) [Tim Wu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-wu/) > [Google - and some of the other sites, YouTube and, you know - Google has an amazing search engine. The map product is incredible.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-wu/google-and-some-of-the-other-sites-youtube-and-you-know-google-has-an/) [Tim Wu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-wu/) > [One thing that all the totalitarian states did was make the great leader's face everywhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-wu/one-thing-that-all-the-totalitarian-states-did-was-make-the-great/) [Tim Wu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-wu/) [Explore all 87 Tim Wu quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-wu/) ## More Cash quotes > [“This one’s mental.’ ‘Eccentric.’ ‘What’s the difference?’ ‘A bag of cash.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/this-one-s-mental-eccentric-what-s-the-difference-a-bag-of-cash/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [A garden has a curious innocent way of consuming cash while all the time you are under the illusion that you are spending nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esther-meynell/a-garden-has-a-curious-innocent-way-of-consuming-cash-while-all-the/) [Esther Meynell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esther-meynell/) > [Nothing knits man to man like the frequent passage from hand to hand of cash.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-sickert/nothing-knits-man-to-man-like-the-frequent-passage-from-hand-to-hand/) [Walter Sickert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-sickert/) > [“It’s me,” he says softly. “Stop listening to everything else. Remember the way you feel when I’m kissing you and touching you. Don’t think with your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-leighton/it-s-me-he-says-softly-stop-listening-to-everything-else-remember-the/) [M. Leighton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-leighton/) > [After I graduated, I carried on with my academic work, via grants but I often had a market stall on Camden Market selling hand-painted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bettany-hughes/after-i-graduated-i-carried-on-with-my-academic-work-via-grants-but-i/) [Bettany Hughes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bettany-hughes/) > [You might be a redneck if you have a picture of Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, or Elvis over your fireplace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-foxworthy/you-might-be-a-redneck-if-you-have-a-picture-of-johnny-cash-willie/) [Jeff Foxworthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-foxworthy/) > [American forces in Iraq found $650 million in American cash sealed in a hidden cottage. See, this is why President Bush wants to invade…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-leno/american-forces-in-iraq-found-650-million-in-american-cash-sealed-in/) [Jay Leno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-leno/) > [I feel a lot better when I've got a bit of cash on me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-doherty/i-feel-a-lot-better-when-i-ve-got-a-bit-of-cash-on-me/) [Pete Doherty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-doherty/) > [If our financial industry regarded security the way the health-care sector does, I would stuff my cash in a mattress under my bed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/avi-rubin/if-our-financial-industry-regarded-security-the-way-the-health-care/) [Avi Rubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/avi-rubin/) > [Why, just a couple of economic seasons ago, was idle cash considered an indication of bad management or lazy management? Because it meant that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-forbes/why-just-a-couple-of-economic-seasons-ago-was-idle-cash-considered-an/) [Malcolm Forbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-forbes/) > [The only issue cash presents you is the independence of not stressing about funds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johnny-carson/the-only-issue-cash-presents-you-is-the-independence-of-not-stressing/) [Johnny Carson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johnny-carson/) > [It's funny about men and women. Men pay in cash to get them and pay in cash to get rid of them. Women pay…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hedy-lamarr/it-s-funny-about-men-and-women-men-pay-in-cash-to-get-them-and-pay-in/) [Hedy Lamarr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hedy-lamarr/) > [ I mean, you take a look at this, it's one way. \[Mexicans\] get the jobs, they get the factories, they get the cash, and… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/i-mean-you-take-a-look-at-this-it-s-one-way-mexicans-get-the-jobs/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) > [It was really starting to get pathetic, everyday they would come in looking for one thing or another. 'Zach, can you give me some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zach-braff/it-was-really-starting-to-get-pathetic-everyday-they-would-come-in/) [Zach Braff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zach-braff/) > [One of my officers said to me that Trinidad and Tobago is seen like an ATM card... you come in with the card and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kamla-persad-bissessar/one-of-my-officers-said-to-me-that-trinidad-and-tobago-is-seen-like/) [Kamla Persad-Bissessar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kamla-persad-bissessar/) [Browse all 1,141 Cash quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cash/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Nothing, save the hangman's noose, concentrates the mind like piles of cash.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Tim Wu" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-wu/nothing-save-the-hangman-s-noose-concentrates-the-mind-like-piles-of/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Cash" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-wu/nothing-save-the-hangman-s-noose-concentrates-the-mind-like-piles-of/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7d9/tim-wu-7845_cash_nothing-save-the-hangman-s-noose-concent_618520.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7d9/tim-wu-7845_cash_nothing-save-the-hangman-s-noose-concent_618520.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7d9/tim-wu-7845_cash_nothing-save-the-hangman-s-noose-concent_618520.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Nothing, save the hangman's noose, concentrates the mind like piles of cash.” — Tim Wu", "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": "Tim Wu", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-wu/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Nothing, save the hangman's noose, concentrates...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-wu/nothing-save-the-hangman-s-noose-concentrates-the-mind-like-piles-of/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-wu/nothing-save-the-hangman-s-noose-concentrates-the-mind-like-piles-of/#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 } } ] } ```