"If you do a practice and train your attention to hover in the present, then you will build the internal capacity to do that as needed - at will and voluntarily"
About this Quote
The intent is quietly disciplinary. Goleman isn’t promising constant calm; he’s selling self-regulation. “Internal capacity” sounds like a psychological muscle you build so you can respond rather than react: in conflict, under pressure, in the dopamine churn of devices and deadlines. That’s the subtext: attention is scarce, contested, and monetized; if you don’t train it, something else will gladly take over.
Context matters because Goleman comes from the emotional intelligence tradition, which treats feelings and focus as trainable competencies with real-world outcomes. The payoff phrase - “at will and voluntarily” - is almost civics for the mind. Freedom, here, isn’t doing whatever you want; it’s being able to choose where your awareness goes, even when your impulses and your environment are trying to vote you off the island.
Quote Details
| Topic | Meditation |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Goleman, Daniel. (2026, January 17). If you do a practice and train your attention to hover in the present, then you will build the internal capacity to do that as needed - at will and voluntarily. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/if-you-do-a-practice-and-train-your-attention-to-42788/
Chicago Style
Goleman, Daniel. "If you do a practice and train your attention to hover in the present, then you will build the internal capacity to do that as needed - at will and voluntarily." FixQuotes. January 17, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/if-you-do-a-practice-and-train-your-attention-to-42788/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"If you do a practice and train your attention to hover in the present, then you will build the internal capacity to do that as needed - at will and voluntarily." FixQuotes, 17 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/if-you-do-a-practice-and-train-your-attention-to-42788/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.
