Curtis White, “The spirit of disobedience: An invitation to resistance,” Harper’s, April 2006, p. 4
“
It is perhaps the saddest, most hopeless thing we can say about our culture that it is a culture of distraction. “Attention deficit” is a cultural disorder, a debasement of spirit, before it is an ailment in our children to be treated with Ritalin.
— Curtis White on Distraction
What It Means
This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "It is perhaps the saddest, most hopeless thing we can say about our culture that it is a culture of distraction. “Attention deficit” is a cultural disorder, a debasement of spirit, before it is an ailment in our children to be treated with Ritalin." in the context of "Curtis White, “The spirit of disobedience: An invitation to resistance,” Harper’s, April 2006, p. 4" to mean that wisdom is timeless.
Source: Wikiquote: "Distraction" (Quotes, Twentieth century)
The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Tags
About Curtis White
Curtis White is an American essayist and author. He serves as professor of English at Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois, and as President of the Board of Directors of the Center for Book Culture.
About Curtis White
Curtis White is an American essayist and author. He serves as professor of English at Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois, and as President of the Board of Directors of the Center for Book Culture.
View all quotes →