"To be concentrated means to live fully in the present." (103), and to avoid merely going through the motions of practicing an art. In this way, concentration is one of the most influential habits when practicing an art. .
The completion of mastering an art seems fairly simple when one is presented with these requirements to follow while accomplishing the task. However, as Fromm points out, modern society is constantly inundated with distractions which lead to not only a break in concentration, but a break in discipline and patience as well. Modern man has been trained to be uncomfortable when alone. "To sit still, without talking, smoking, reading, drinking, is impossible for most people" (99). The thought has been instilled in society that no matter what you have accomplished, there is always something else to be done. Man's ten hour a day, five days a week work schedule has led contemporary society into an unwitting ".battle against authoritarianism." (98) in which rebelliousness becomes an act which displays individuality. The strict routines constantly followed have also begun an endless race for time, in which one is continuously searching for more time so that they can fill it with a rushed activity and repeat the same cycle again. This kind of a lifestyle brings about a paradoxical situation, in which one yearns to relax after working hard because of the disciplinary schedule which one was forced to follow, but then feels a guilty nagging at one's lack of action. In this way, the constant distractions of society make the completion of discipline and concentration difficult. .
Furthermore, the constant problem of time makes finding natural patience in a person extremely rare, thus converting it into a "value" of contemporary society. Industrialization is still largely important to society because of the need to keep up with the rapidly growing economy. Things which are quicker are often more valuable and easily utilized than those which are slightly slower, and as a result, time has become more and more consequential to modern man.
