“Now, you can say that I’ve grown bitter but of this you may be sure
The rich have got their channels in the bedrooms of the poor
And there’s a mighty judgment coming, but I may be wrong
You see, you hear these funny voices in the Tower of Song.”
– Leonard Cohen, Tower of Song
__________
“We should treat our minds as innocent and ingenuous children whose guardians we are- be careful what objects and what subjects we thrust on their attention… Every thought that passes through the mind helps to wear and tear it, and to deepen the ruts, which, as in the streets of Pompeii, evince how much it has been used.”
– Henry David Thoreau, quoted in The Night Country by Loren Eiseley
__________
What we pay attention to we pay for.
There can be upfront costs, but often the real costs are hidden.
It’s better to pay attention to ourselves. My own thoughts are free to pluck.
And I try to curate my attention toward books.
They are relatively inexpensive.
They take effort for someone to produce.
I benefit from their careful editing.
A book does not bombard me.
I’ll never be a victim of doom scrolling a book. I’m either paying attention, turning the next page, or I simply put the book down.
The thoughts I read have civilised conversations with my own thoughts.
There is a community of ideas.
The more attention I pay to my own thoughts the wealthier my attention becomes.
I’d rather contribute to my own wealth fund than a strangers’.
And by buying books I contribute to the wealth of strangers that I have gotten to know and respect.
I practice conscious consumption.
Not all thoughts or ideas are my own.
But I try to have a tight rein on my attention so the ideas of others do not crowd my own.
I like the sound of my funny voices as they deepen the ruts of my mind.
Conversations With Quotations 