Help me remember a quote about 'seeing the big picture'.

June 12, 2009 10:18 AM

Help me remember a quote about 'seeing the big picture'.

I am trying to remember a quote I saw a few weeks ago. The general message was that you shouldn't get so caught up with day to day minutiae (like doing routine chores) that you miss out on the big picture of life and all that is out there to experience. Does this ring a bell for anyone?

posted by mockjovial to writing & language (5 comments total)

Not seeing the forest for the trees?
posted by jckll at 10:20 AM on June 12

Don't major in minor things?
posted by Askr at 10:25 AM on June 12

Similar to the above, but it was a few sentences long and may have been a quote attributed to an author.
posted by mockjovial at 10:52 AM on June 12

Can you give any other info (specific phrases you think were in the quote, where you might have seen it, etc.)? We need more to go on. All I can think of at the moment is Ferris Bueller: "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."

But there are tons of quotes out there with the same general sentiment, so anything else you can provide will help narrow it down and increase the chances that someone will come up with it.
posted by Ms. Informed at 11:40 AM on June 12 [1 favorite]

You have jogged my memory!

I just found it through a few keyword searches on http://www.quotationspage.com

"In the absence of clearly-defined goals, we become strangely loyal to performing daily trivia until ultimately we become enslaved by it."
Robert Heinlein (1907 - 1988)
posted by mockjovial at 12:02 PM on June 12 [4 favorites]