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Attention Spans Quotes

Why focus keeps getting harder to hold

Several quotes here connect shorter attention spans to the sheer volume of information competing for notice, long before smartphones made the problem worse. One speaker recalls a slower media era for contrast, a nostalgia shared by our Being page on simpler states of mind.

Our attention spans have become shorter because there are more and more claims upon them - more information, more complexity; more stories, more stuff; more.

Quotes by Tom Junod

We live in a time of short attention spans and long stories. The short attention spans are seen as inevitable, the consequence of living our lives in thrall to flickering streams of information. The long stories are the surprise, as...

Quotes by Tom Junod

In '77 there was no Internet, there was no Twitter or Facebook, and I think that, without being some old git who hates anything new, people's attention spans are too short. Back then you had 'Top Of The Pops' and...

Quotes by Steve Jones

There is a lot of talk in publishing these days that we need to become more like the Internet: We need to make books for short attention spans with bells and whistles - books, in short, that are as much...

John Green

Angry Quotes

People's attention spans don't run too long these days.

Quotes by Daron Malakian

It kind of renews my faith in humankind that there's long attention spans left out there that can listen to a 12-minute song.

Quotes by Danny Carey

Today's children have very short attention spans because they are being reared on dreadful television programmes which are flickering away in the corner.

Quotes by Claire Tomalin

The dominant theory coming out of Hollywood is that peoples' attention spans are getting shorter and shorter and they need more stimulation.

Quotes by Brian Eno

Their scrambled attention spans struck me as a metaphor for the way we get our doses of reality these days.

Quotes by Bill Griffith

Attention Quotes

With so many young playwrights, the true craft of writing for living voices is not what it used to be. They write for attention spans of 10 minutes between adverts.

Quotes by Athol Fugard

Frequently Asked Questions

What do these attention spans quotes discuss?
They examine why focus has shortened, pointing to the sheer volume of information and stories competing for notice, well before today's social media.
Why search for quotes about attention spans?
The topic feels universally relevant, so readers researching media habits or productivity often want a range of perspectives on why focus slips.
Does any quote mention a specific era?
Yes, one recalls a time before the internet or social media, when people's attention still felt limited despite far less competing for it.
Is publishing discussed in this context?
It is, with one quote noting that books now need bells and whistles to hold a reader's interest the way the internet does.
Where can I read more on this theme?
Browse Bells And Whistles for that exact idea, or Attention for a broader look at focus and distraction.

Publishing gets specific attention too, with talk of adding bells and whistles to hold a reader's interest. For that exact phrase, see Bells And Whistles, or browse Attention more broadly.