Live Fully, Embrace Self‑curiosity Before It’s Too Late
Two thoughts from Irvin D. Yalom “Live your life to the fullest; and then, and only then, die. Don’t leave any unlived life behind.” “When people don’t have any curiosity about themselves, that is always a bad sign.”
Deep Dive Into Tinkered Thinking with Jameson Olsen
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: Going Deep with Tinkered Thinking and Jameson Olsen ⚔️🥚🛡️🏰🐴, by @LibertyRPF https://t.co/wFk0JSyReq
Mirrors, Windows, and the Power of Attentive Focus
Two thoughts from Fritz Perls “We live in a house of mirrors and think we are looking out the windows.” “If you are bored, you are not paying attention.”
Don’t Scale Until You Find Product‑Market Fit
“You don’t want to scale up your operations before you’ve hit product-market fit, because you don’t really know what it is you’re supposed to be building.” ~@_brianpotter
Explore Multiple Solutions; Great Problems Appear in Clusters
Two thoughts from George Pólya “It is better to solve one problem five different ways, than to solve five problems one way.” “Good problems and mushrooms of certain kinds have something in common; they grow in clusters.”
Laughter Is Light; Go Seek the World.
Two thoughts from Donna Tartt “I had the epiphany that laughter was light, and light was laughter, and that this was the secret of the universe.” “The world won’t come to me… so I must go to it.”
Revolutionary Ideas Rarely Deliver as Promised
“Every 10 to 20 years someone comes along and says, ‘Oh, I have a brilliant idea. I will revolutionize the industry with these factory-built methods that nobody has ever thought of before.’ And then they...don’t work out the way that...
A Mother's Raw Journey Through Unthinkable Grief
An excerpt from the forthcoming "Dispatches from Grief: A Mother's Journey Through the Unthinkable" by @DCrittenden1 Available next month from @infinitebooks https://t.co/NhwdLlzFOe
Staggering, Beautiful Portrait of Grief and Lost Daughter
My colleague Dylan says it perfectly—@DCrittenden1’s book is a staggering portrayal of grief, but also a beautiful portrayal of the daughter she lost. Proud that @infinitebooks is publishing it.
Fiction Reveals Universal Truths Better Than History
“Aristotle calls fiction more philosophical than history, because it allows you to see the universals.” ~@costofglory
Zeal Fuels Growth; Envy Drags Others Down
“Zeal is what spurs you to achieve more, to excellence. Envy is about destroying other people to bring them down to your level.” ~@costofglory
Act Decisively; Tenacity Beats Fear and Doubters
Two thoughts from Amelia Earhart “The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity. The fears are paper tigers. You can do anything you decide to do.” “Never interrupt someone doing what you said couldn't be done.”
A Modern Classic Rivals Alcott, Dickens, and Defoe
"It's rare to read a book that merits comparison with Alcott, Dickens, and Defoe, but he has done it. This book deserves a place on the shelf alongside those classics. It's one of the year's best books." https://t.co/hghel2VJl2
True Love Reveals Eternal Beauty; Wisdom Cultivates Contemplation
Two thoughts from Gabriel Marcel “You know you have loved someone when you have glimpsed in them that which is too beautiful to die.” "The wise man knows how to run his life so that contemplation is possible."
Know Yourself, Chase Happiness, Play Life on the Field
Two thoughts from Wendy Mass “The trick is that as long as you know who you are and what makes you happy, it doesn’t matter how others see you.” “The sidelines may be safer but life is played on the field.”
Hear Your Mind, Choose What Truly Matters
Two thoughts from Michael A. Singer “There is nothing more important to true growth than realizing that you are not the voice of the mind, you are the one who hears it.” “It doesn’t matter what others do, unless you decide that...
Iterate, Experiment, and Slowly Build a Better World
“Do things, run experiments, try to improve things bit by bit, see what works, see when things bite back, and make a better world slowly but surely.” ~@arbesman
Open‑mindedness Matters More than Being Smart
“It’s less about smart versus not smart, and more about having an open mind versus not having an open mind.” ~@arbesman
Surrender to Reality; Control Is an Illusion
Two thoughts from Byron Katie “When I argue with reality, I lose, but only 100% of the time.” “If you want real control, drop the illusion of control; let life have you. It does anyway. You’re just telling yourself the story of...
True Leadership Shines in Storms; Pleasing All Ensures Failure
Two thoughts from Publilius Syrus “Anyone can hold the helm when the sea is calm.” “Seek to please many, and you seek a failure.”
Let Go of Fear, Embrace Imperfect Humanity
Two thoughts from Donald Miller “Fear is a manipulative emotion that can trick us into living a boring life.” “When you stop expecting people to be perfect, you can like them for who they are.”
Brain May Filter, Not Create, Consciousness, Says Bi
My guest @JohnathanBi suggests that scientific materialism isn’t wrong—it’s just incomplete. “Materialism assumes the brain creates the mind. But there are strong reasons to think the brain might be filtering consciousness instead.” ~Johnathan Bi
Self‑mastery and Unbowed Resilience in the Face of Adversity
Two thoughts from William Ernest Henley “It matters not how strait the gate, How charged with punishments the scroll, I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul.” “Under the bludgeonings of chance, My head is bloody, but unbowed.”
Life's Flow: Never the Same River, Never Same Self
“No man ever steps in the same river twice; it is not the same river, and he is not the same man.” ~Heraclitus
Pain Happens, Choose How You Respond; Embrace Others' Differences
Two thoughts from Haruki Murakami “Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.” “You don’t have to judge the whole world by your own standards. Not everybody is like you, you know.”
Self‑suffering Dwarfs External Humiliation; True Interests Fuel Endurance
Two thoughts from Heimito von Doderer “In comparison to what I've suffered from myself, the humiliation and suffering inflicted on me by others vanishes into insignificance.” “The exhaustibility of a person is in inverse proportion to their real interests.”
Doubt Fuels Faith; Conformity Breeds Boredom
Two thoughts from Elias Canetti “No faith that is not surrounded by doubt can survive.” "The first effect of adjusting to other people is that one becomes boring."
Discovering Molly's Unique Method for Selecting Founders
Had a wonderful lunch today with @mollyfmielke where I learned about her unique approach to finding the right founders she wants to work with and fun. She has a very intriguing approach. https://t.co/inLJ3UvoRl
Embrace Impermanence; Treat Imagination as Real Action
Two thoughts from Gaston Bachelard “It is better to live in a state of impermanence than in one of finality.” "Why should the actions of the imagination not be as real as those of perception?"
Character Shows on Later Attempts; Embrace Life’s Hand
Two thoughts from James Michener “Character consists of what you do on the third and fourth tries.” “All I can do is play the game the way the cards fall.”
Thought Shapes Reality; We Live Under Suggestion
Two thoughts from Émile Coué "The power of thought, of idea, is incommensurable, is immeasurable. The world is dominated by thought." "From our birth to our death we are all the slaves of suggestion."
Success Comes From Challenging Ideas, Not People
“Some of the most successful people in the world are able to attack ideas instead of attacking people.” ~@polinapompliano
Memory Shapes Identity; Forgiveness Prevents Loneliness
Two thoughts from Stephen Elliott "What we remember, and how we order and interpret what we believe to be true, are what shapes who we are." "If you never forgive you'll always be alone."
Memory Anchors the Past; Consciousness Embraces Playful Possibilities
Two thoughts from Julian Jaynes “Memory is the medium of the must-have-been.” "Consciousness is always open to many possibilities because it involves play. It is always an adventure."
Screens Might Not Improve Sleep, Could Even Harm It
What if we discover at the end of the experiment that screens had NO affect on his sleep? Or, since the funniest result is often the case, what if a year after no screens, his sleep got worse?
Reject Monotony, Chase Risk; Mortality Underscores Fleeting Effort
Two thoughts from Peter O’Toole “I will not be a common man. I will stir the smooth sands of monotony. I do not crave security. I wish to hazard my soul to opportunity.” “The only exercise I take is walking behind the...
Testing Complaints: Turning Trends Into Real Numbers
“One of my favorite things to do is take a trend that everybody’s complaining about and then see if we can actually see it in the numbers.” ~@a_m_mastroianni
Your Distraction Urge Reveals Hidden Priorities
“Whenever I feel that I want to spend a few more minutes on Reddit… or… watch some YouTube… and I really clearly want to get distracted… I train my brain to treat those signals as a red flag.” ~Arkady Kulik
Learning Fails when Beliefs Block Evidence
Two thoughts from Annie Duke “Experience can be an effective teacher. But, clearly, only some students listen to their teachers.” “Fake news works because people who already hold beliefs consistent with the story generally won’t question the evidence.”
Journalism's Laziness Eclipses Competence; History Challenges Beliefs
Two thoughts from Kingsley Amis "Laziness has become the chief characteristic of journalism, displacing incompetence." "It's never pleasant to have one's unquestioning beliefs put in their historical context, as I know from experience, I can assure you."
Resilience Beats Absurdity: Rise More Than You Fall
Two thoughts from Oliver Goldsmith "Success consists of getting up just one more time than you fall." “Every absurdity has a champion to defend it.”
Exploring NYC Streets Through My Wife's Lens
If you're a lover of photography, you may enjoy this interview with my wife, @mwoshaughnessy, about her street photography work in NYC https://t.co/UEwzSXd7Jd
Embrace Change and Diverse Minds for a Vibrant Life
Two thoughts from Evelyn Waugh “[Change is] the only evidence of life.” “It would be a dull world if we all thought alike.”
Demand Specific Madness, Turn Impossible Into Must‑Do
Two thoughts from Natasha Pulley “Being mad isn’t an excuse for being vague. Can we at least have specific madness?” “Stop looking at it as an impossible thing and start looking at it as a thing that must be done.”
Time Is Wealth; Stop Waiting for “Someday”
Two thoughts from Rolf Potts "Time is the truest form of wealth. And the beauty is, we are all born equally rich in time." “Someday” (“someday I’ll do this, someday I’ll do that”) is a disease that will take your dreams to...