Quotes from The Noticer: Sometimes, All a Person Needs Is a Little Perspective

“If one makes a mistake, then an apology is usually sufficient to get things back on an even keel. However-and this is a big ‘however’- most people do not ever know why their apology did not seem to have any effect. It is simply that they did not make a mistake; they made a choice…and never understood the difference between the two.”
― Andy Andrews, quote from The Noticer: Sometimes, All a Person Needs Is a Little Perspective

“Most people think it takes a long time to change. It doesn’t. Change is immediate! Instantaneous! It may take a long time to decide to change…but change happens in a heartbeat!”
― Andy Andrews, quote from The Noticer: Sometimes, All a Person Needs Is a Little Perspective

“Everybody wants to be on the mountaintop, but if you'll remember, mountaintops are rocky and cold. There is no growth on the top of a mountain. Sure, the view is great, but what's a view for? A view just gives us a glimpse of our next destination-our next target. But to hit that target, we must come off the mountain, go through the valley, and begin to climb the next slope. It is in the valley that we slog through the lush grass and rich soil, learning and becoming what enables us to summit life's next peak.”
― Andy Andrews, quote from The Noticer: Sometimes, All a Person Needs Is a Little Perspective

“Remember, whatever you focus upon, increases...When you focus on the things you need, you'll find those needs increasing. If you concentrate your thoughts on what you don't have, you will soon be concentrating on other things that you had forgotten you don't have-and feel worse! If you set your mind on loss, you are more likely to lose...But a grateful perspective brings happiness and abundance into a person's life.”
― Andy Andrews, quote from The Noticer: Sometimes, All a Person Needs Is a Little Perspective

“Despite popular belief to the contrary, there is absolutely no power in intention. The seagull may intend to fly away, may decide to do so, may talk with the other seagulls about how wonderful it is to fly, but until the seagull flaps his wings and takes to the air, he is still on the dock. There’s no difference between that gull and all the others. Likewise, there is no difference in the person who intends to do things differently and the one who never thinks about it in the first place. Have you ever considered how often we judge ourselves by our intentions while we judge others by their actions? Yet intention without action is an insult to those who expect the best from you.”
― Andy Andrews, quote from The Noticer: Sometimes, All a Person Needs Is a Little Perspective

“One way to define wisdom is the ability to see, into the future, the consequences of your choices in the present. That ability can give you a completely different perspective on what the future might look like.”
― Andy Andrews, quote from The Noticer: Sometimes, All a Person Needs Is a Little Perspective

“Your time on this earth is a gift to be used wisely. Don't squander your words or your thoughts. Consider that even the simplest actions you take for your lives matter beyond measure...and they matter forever.”
― Andy Andrews, quote from The Noticer: Sometimes, All a Person Needs Is a Little Perspective

“See, the ‘small stuff’ is what makes up the larger picture of our lives. Many people are like you, young man. But their perspective is distorted. They ignore ‘small stuff,’ claiming to have an eye on the bigger picture, never understanding that the bigger picture is composed of nothing more than-are you ready?- ‘small stuff’.”
― Andy Andrews, quote from The Noticer: Sometimes, All a Person Needs Is a Little Perspective

“While it is true that most people never see or understand the difference they make, or sometimes only imagine their actions having a tiny effect, every single action a person takes has far-reaching consequences.”
― Andy Andrews, quote from The Noticer: Sometimes, All a Person Needs Is a Little Perspective

“The longer you've known someone- the more history there is between you- the longer it will take to establish in their mind that you have truly changed. Remember, forgiveness is an altogether different thing from trust or respect. Forgiveness is about the past. Trust and respect are about the future. Forgiveness will be in the hands of others and cna be given to you, but trust and respect are in your own hands and must be earned.”
― Andy Andrews, quote from The Noticer: Sometimes, All a Person Needs Is a Little Perspective

“Remember, young man, experience is not the best teacher. Other people's experience is the best teacher. By reading about the lives of great people, you can unlock the secrets to what made them great.”
― Andy Andrews, quote from The Noticer: Sometimes, All a Person Needs Is a Little Perspective

“Well, that's why smart people get tripped up with worry and fear. Worry...fear...is just a misuse of the creative imagination that has been placed in each of us. Because we are smart and creative, we imagine all the things that could happen, that might happen, that will happen if this or that happens. See what I mean?”
― Andy Andrews, quote from The Noticer: Sometimes, All a Person Needs Is a Little Perspective

“In desperate times, much more than anything else, folks need perspective. For perspective brings calm. Calm leads to clear thinking. Clear thinking yields new ideas. And ideas produce the bloom...of an answer. Keep your head and heart clear. Perspective can just as easily be lost as it can be found.”
― Andy Andrews, quote from The Noticer: Sometimes, All a Person Needs Is a Little Perspective

“Wisdom can be gathered on your downtime. Wisdom that can change the very course of your life will come from the people you are around, the books you read, and the things you listen to or watch on radio or television. Of course, bad information is gathered in your downtime too. Bad information that can change the very course of your life will come from the people you are around, the books you read, and the things you listen to or watch on radio or television. One of wisdom's greatest benefits, is accurate discernment- the learned ability to immediately tell right from wrong. Good from evil. Acceptable from unacceptable. Time well spent from time wasted. The right decision from the wrong decision. And many times this is simply a matter of having the correct perspective. One way to define wisdom is THE ABILITY TO SEE, INTO THE FUTURE, THE CONSEQUENCES OF YOUR CHOICES IN THE PRESENT. That ability can give you a completely different perspective on what the future might look like... with a degree of intelligence and a hint of wisdom, most people can tell the difference between good and bad. However, it takes a truly wise person to discern the oh-so-thin line between good and best. And that line...[gives you the] perspective that allows you to see clearly the long-term consequences of your choices. ”
― Andy Andrews, quote from The Noticer: Sometimes, All a Person Needs Is a Little Perspective

“Listen carefully to me. Despite popular belief to the contrary, there is absolutely no power in intention...There is no difference in the person who intends to do things differently and the one who never thinks about it in the first place. Have you ever considered how often we judge ourselves by out intentions while we judge others by their actions? Yet intention without action is an insult to those who expect the best from you.”
― Andy Andrews, quote from The Noticer: Sometimes, All a Person Needs Is a Little Perspective

“It’s obvious you kids are smart-school and good teachers will do that for you-but wisdom is something altogether different. Wisdom can be gathered in your downtime. Wisdom that can change the very course of your life will come from the people you are around, the books you read, and the things you listen to or watch on radio or television.”
― Andy Andrews, quote from The Noticer: Sometimes, All a Person Needs Is a Little Perspective

“Remember, whatever you focus upon, increases. . . . When you focus on the things you need, you'll find those needs increasing. If you concentrate your thoughts on what you don't have, you will soon be concentrating on other things that you had forgotten you don't have--and feel worse! If you set your mind on loss, you are more likely to lose. But a grateful perspective brings happiness and abundance into a person's life.”
― Andy Andrews, quote from The Noticer: Sometimes, All a Person Needs Is a Little Perspective

“I just think it’s amazing that a person could lose everything, chasing nothing.”
― Andy Andrews, quote from The Noticer: Sometimes, All a Person Needs Is a Little Perspective

“Your big picture will never be a masterpiece if you ignore the tiny brushstrokes. You're trying so hard to be successful that true success is eluding you.”
― Andy Andrews, quote from The Noticer: Sometimes, All a Person Needs Is a Little Perspective

“Then the old man's face hardened. "What about you young man?" he asked flatly. "Would you like to get what you deserve?" Jones let that question hang in the air for a moment, then sighed, shook his head, and said "Me? I surely don't want what I deserve. I'm hoping for mercy, not justice.”
― Andy Andrews, quote from The Noticer: Sometimes, All a Person Needs Is a Little Perspective

“In Jones's experience, the decision to turn one's life around in a different direction rarely arrived with fireworks and marching bands. Often, the decision came with tears and regret. Then, almost impossibly, the power of forgiveness would fill an unseen void, allowing a new day's optimism and sense of purpose to take hold and point that life in a new direction.”
― Andy Andrews, quote from The Noticer: Sometimes, All a Person Needs Is a Little Perspective

“Of course it does, Jomes answered earnestly. Many of life's treasures remain hidden from us simply because we never search for them. Often we do not ask the proper questions that might lead us to the answer to all our challenges. We are so caught up in fear and regret, that hope seems a foolish endeavor. Proof of hope, however, is not only possible, it is an overlooked law of the universe.”
― Andy Andrews, quote from The Noticer: Sometimes, All a Person Needs Is a Little Perspective

“What would you think if I told you that, yes, your bad choices and decisions have had a part in your ending up under this pier, but beyond that, under this pier is exactly where you should be in order for a future to occur that you can’t even imagine at this point?”
― Andy Andrews, quote from The Noticer: Sometimes, All a Person Needs Is a Little Perspective

“life is like a game of Monopoly. You may own hotels on Boardwalk or you may be renting on Baltic Avenue. But in the end, it all goes back in the box. The next generation will be getting out all your stuff and playing with it or fighting over it.”
― Andy Andrews, quote from The Noticer: Sometimes, All a Person Needs Is a Little Perspective

“Most people spend so much time fearing the things that are never going to happen or can't be controlled that they have no energy to deal with the few things they can actually handle.”
― Andy Andrews, quote from The Noticer: Sometimes, All a Person Needs Is a Little Perspective

“Forgiveness is about the past. Trust and respect are about the future. Forgiveness will be in the hands of others and can be given to you, but trust and respect are in your own hands … and must be earned.”
― Andy Andrews, quote from The Noticer: Sometimes, All a Person Needs Is a Little Perspective

“Have you ever considered how often we judge ourselves by our intentions while we judge others by their actions? Yet intention without action is an insult to those who expect the best from you.”
― Andy Andrews, quote from The Noticer: Sometimes, All a Person Needs Is a Little Perspective

“A life filled with opportunities and encouragement finds more and more opportunities and encouragement, and success becomes inevitable.”
― Andy Andrews, quote from The Noticer: Sometimes, All a Person Needs Is a Little Perspective

“It's time to stop letting your history control your destiny.”
― Andy Andrews, quote from The Noticer: Sometimes, All a Person Needs Is a Little Perspective

“At this very moment, you possess the power of perspective. You can choose to see your life becoming whatever you wish. If you so choose, you can move the mountains in your life's path with the eventual help of those who will come to love you and learn to respect you for what you are becoming.”
― Andy Andrews, quote from The Noticer: Sometimes, All a Person Needs Is a Little Perspective

About the author

Popular quotes

“Listen, darling, tomorrow I'll buy you a whole lot of detective stories, but don't worry your pretty little head over mysteries tonight.”
― Dashiell Hammett, quote from The Thin Man

“Try to persuade a person by appealing to their consciousness, by saying outright what you want, by showing all your cards, and what hope do you have? You are just one more irritation to be tuned out.”
― Robert Greene, quote from The Art of Seduction

“What's past is prologue, and the world awaits.”
― Lisa Mantchev, quote from Eyes Like Stars

“He's never shown the slightest interest in you before. I mean, he's never stared at you like you're the only person in the room when we're al together. Or sulked around for days because you turned him down for a dance. Or touched the sleeve of your sweater when he thinks no one's looking -”
― Claire LaZebnik, quote from Epic Fail

“Honey, if you got yourself a man who's willing to pay court to you even after the vows are spoke, you got yourself a treasure, not a problem.”
― Karen Witemeyer, quote from Short-Straw Bride

Interesting books

About BookQuoters

BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.

We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.

Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.