Curiosity is insubordination in its purest form. – Nabokov
I read Nabokov’s Lolita but his writing felt powerful but foreign, like tasting spicy Balinese food for the first time (I actually don’t know if that is a thing). Need to re-read.
God gives a choice to every soul between truth and peace. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Mastery, in various forms, has defined civilization and gauged human achievement. To name, to number, to time, to represent–symbolic culture is that array of masteries upon which all subsequent hierarchies and confinements rest. – John Zerzan
An elegant, concise way to define humanity in its highest form.
Life consists with Wildness. The most alive is the wildest. – Henry David Thoreau
Reminds me of Nietzsche’s quote: “Society tames the wolf into a dog. And man is the most domesticated animal of all.”
Follow the best way of life you possibly can, and habit will make this way suitable and pleasant for you. – Leo Tolstoy
Yes, the power of habit!
I feel myself driven towards an end that I do not know. As soon as I shall have reached it, as soon as I shall become unnecessary, an atom will suffice to shatter me. Till then, not all the forces of mankind can do anything against me. – Napoleon at the opening of his Russian campaign
I am reminded of the theme and messages in Eric Hoffer’s The True Believer.
A donkey was placed between a pail and a bale of hay and starved to death – Derek Sivers
Therefore I say, the Perfect Man has no self; the Holy Man has no merit; the Sage has no fame. – Zhuang Zi
Remember that you are more free if you change your opinion and follow those who have corrected your mistakes, than if you are stubborn about your mistakes. – Marcus Aurelius
I am re-reading Aurelius’s Meditations. Wise and concise. I particularly enjoy the section where Aurelius describes what he has learned from the people closest to him, from his father to Maximus (I believe this is THE Maximus from Gladiator) to Roman senators to his wife.
The warrior and the artist live by the same code of necessity, which dictates that the battle must be fought anew every day. – Steven Pressfield
I am also reading Steven Pressfield’s The War of Art. It’s an inspiring book for artists, musicians, writers, creators (really, though, every job can be a creative one).
I do not think that there is any other quality so essential to success of any kind as the quality of perseverance – Rockefeller
To God all things are fair and good and right, but men hold some things wrong and some right. – Heraclitus
Reminds me of Shakespeare: “nothing is right or wrong but thinking makes it so.”
We often confuse a clear view of the future with a short distance. – Paul Saffo
I try not to forget this, especially in the context of technology startups and Silicon Valley.
To see a world in a grain of sand and heaven in a wild flower Hold infinity in the palms of your hand and eternity in an hour. — William Blake
Every thought a person dwells upon, whether he expresses it or not, either damages or improves his life. – Lucy Malory
An innovation is anything that breaks a constraint – Michael Raynor
A clear, concise definition of innovation, heard on the a16z podcast.
Without truth there is no kindness; without kindness the truth cannot be told. – Leo Tolstoy
I believe in Spinoza’s God who reveals himself in the orderly harmony of what exists, not in a God who concerns himself with the fates and actions of human beings. – Albert Einstein
I believe in something like this, too.
If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and man. – Mark Twain
You can always count on Twain for a piercing platitude. Even if he didn’t say it, which is probably true for most quotes…
Put that coffee down…coffee’s for closers only. You think I’m fucking with you? I am not fucking with you. – Alec Baldwin, Glengarry Glen Ross
I highly recommend Alec’s podcast, Here’s The Thing.
Thanks for reading! Here’s a growing collection of my favorite quotes.