"If it's boring, then it's tiring"
About this Quote
Boredom isn’t neutral in Jackie Cooper’s line; it’s a drain, a kind of slow hemorrhage of attention. “If it’s boring, then it’s tiring” flips the usual complaint on its head: we tend to treat boredom as a lack of stimulation, but Cooper treats it as labor. You don’t just sit through dullness - you spend energy resisting it, staying polite, pretending to care, pushing time forward with your face arranged in “I’m fine.”
Coming from an actor who started as a child star and grew up inside the studio system, the subtext is professional and a little bruised. Hollywood trains you to equate engagement with survival: if a scene drags, if a take goes flat, if the story can’t hold you, the set doesn’t just get quiet - it gets heavy. Boring material doesn’t merely fail; it demands extra work from everyone forced to prop it up. Cooper’s phrasing is plainspoken, almost parental, which makes it sting: no grand theory, just the weary verdict of someone who’s watched boredom metastasize into fatigue on soundstages, in meetings, in the endless performance of “being on.”
The intent is also a stealth standard for craft. Don’t mistake busyness for vitality. A film, a conversation, a life choice can be “safe” and still exhaust you because it asks you to ignore your own attention. Cooper’s point is ruthless and practical: your body keeps the receipts for what your mind can’t invest in.
Coming from an actor who started as a child star and grew up inside the studio system, the subtext is professional and a little bruised. Hollywood trains you to equate engagement with survival: if a scene drags, if a take goes flat, if the story can’t hold you, the set doesn’t just get quiet - it gets heavy. Boring material doesn’t merely fail; it demands extra work from everyone forced to prop it up. Cooper’s phrasing is plainspoken, almost parental, which makes it sting: no grand theory, just the weary verdict of someone who’s watched boredom metastasize into fatigue on soundstages, in meetings, in the endless performance of “being on.”
The intent is also a stealth standard for craft. Don’t mistake busyness for vitality. A film, a conversation, a life choice can be “safe” and still exhaust you because it asks you to ignore your own attention. Cooper’s point is ruthless and practical: your body keeps the receipts for what your mind can’t invest in.
Quote Details
| Topic | Witty One-Liners |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Cooper, Jackie. (2026, January 17). If it's boring, then it's tiring. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/if-its-boring-then-its-tiring-80028/
Chicago Style
Cooper, Jackie. "If it's boring, then it's tiring." FixQuotes. January 17, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/if-its-boring-then-its-tiring-80028/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"If it's boring, then it's tiring." FixQuotes, 17 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/if-its-boring-then-its-tiring-80028/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.
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