Meditation refines the attention that daily life dissipates… it’s a powerful truth. This idea is the entire reason I got into mindfulness years ago. It’s not about emptying your mind, it’s about rebuilding your focus from the ground up.
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Meaning
At its core, this quote means that meditation is a workout for your attention span, counteracting the constant distractions of modern life that fragment your focus.
Explanation
Think about it. Your attention is like a precious resource. And modern life? It’s designed to spend it for you. Every ping, notification, and open tab is a tiny withdrawal from your focus bank. What’s left by 3 PM is just scraps. Meditation is the practice of saying, “No more.” You sit, you bring your attention back to your breath, again and again. And that act, that simple, frustrating, powerful act of returning, is like strength training for your mind. You’re not stopping thoughts; you’re building the mental muscle to choose where your attention goes, instead of having life choose for you. It’s the ultimate act of taking back control.
Quote Summary
| Context | Attributes |
|---|---|
| Original Language | English (3668) |
| Category | Personal Development (697) |
| Topics | attention (57), discipline (252), focus (155) |
| Literary Style | concise (408) |
| Emotion / Mood | centered (8) |
| Overall Quote Score | 73 (94) |
Origin & Factcheck
This gem comes straight from Daniel Goleman’s 1988 book, The Meditative Mind: The Varieties of Meditative Experience. It’s a foundational text, written long before his massive hit Emotional Intelligence. You sometimes see similar sentiments floating around, but this is the original, authoritative phrasing from a leading expert.
Attribution Summary
| Context | Attributes |
|---|---|
| Author | Daniel Goleman (125) |
| Source Type | Book (4032) |
| Source/Book Name | The Meditative Mind: The Varieties of Meditative Experience (60) |
| Origin Timeperiod | Modern (530) |
| Original Language | English (3668) |
| Authenticity | Verified (4032) |
Author Bio
Daniel Goleman is a psychologist and bestselling author whose journalism at The New York Times brought brain and behavior science to a wide audience. He earned a BA from Amherst and a PhD in psychology from Harvard, and studied in India on a Harvard fellowship. Goleman’s research and writing helped mainstream emotional intelligence, leadership competencies, attention, and contemplative science. He co-founded CASEL and a leading research consortium on EI at work. The Daniel Goleman book list includes Emotional Intelligence, Working with Emotional Intelligence, Primal Leadership, Social Intelligence, Focus, and Altered Traits.
| Official Website
Where is this quotation located?
| Quotation | Meditation refines the attention that daily life dissipates |
| Book Details | Publication Year/Date: 1977 (originally as The Varieties of Meditative Experience, revised 1988 as The Meditative Mind); ISBN: 9780874778335; Last Edition: Tarcher/Putnam 1988; Number of pages: 320. |
| Where is it? | Approximate page from 1988 edition, Chapter 3: Concentrative Meditation |