quote · Words worth keeping
Evidently, a given object took no particular amount of time to draw; instead the artist took the time, or didn’t take it, at pleasure. And,similarly, things themselves possessed no fixed and intrinsic amount of interest; instead things were interesting as long as you had attention to give them. How long does it take to draw a baseball mitt? As much time as you care to give it. Not an infinite amount of time, but more time than you first imagined. For many days, so long as you want to keep drawing that mitt, and studying that mitt, there will always be a new and finer layer of distinctions to draw out and lay in. Your attention discovers—seems thereby to produce—an array of interesting features in any object, like a lamp.
Evidently, a given object took no particular amount of time to draw; instead the artist took the time, or didn’t take it, at pleasure. And,similarly, things themselves possessed no fixed and intrinsic amount of interest; instead things were interesting as long as you had attention to give them. How long does it take to draw a baseball mitt? As much time as you care to give it. Not an infinite amount of time, but more time than you first imagined. For many days, so long as you want to keep drawing that mitt, and studying that mitt, there will always be a new and finer layer of distinctions to draw out and lay in. Your attention discovers—seems thereby to produce—an array of interesting features in any object, like a lamp.
Approximate author period: c. 1945 AD · modern
Meaning not yet available
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- Author or tradition
- Annie Dillard
Attribution: attributed - Country attributed
- Not established
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- Approximate author period: c. 1945 AD · modern
Approximate author-period anchor from documented birth year 1945; activity date not established; Wikidata Q176558, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q176558 (accessed 2026-10-08). Not a quotation composition date.
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Supplied reference C; CSV row 385696; supplied attribution, independently unverified
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