this is a collection of wise words i have heard or read, or quotes i’ve thought of myself. I’ve categorized quotes by what they pertain to to make this page easier to maintain. Authors are not always credited, because a lot of things are just a subconscious paraphrase of other things i’ve heard. If it isn’t attributed to anyone, i may have put the words together, but i don’t claim it as my own
more organized collections of personal wisdom are under
creation
learning
- viewing yourself as too old to learn something is a toxic paradigm
- the more you learn, the more you will realize how much you’ve missed out on from ignorance
- why read boring books about magic when you can read great books that are magic?
writing
- it’s unwise to write from the perspective of how things should be, and rather, write from the perspective of how things feel. This allows you to build upon the truth within you that is always developing. Readers can better connect with the characters and deduce their own truths from the stories you weave in their place
- you can’t write about anything good until you understand your own reaction to what you are writing about
- being a good story teller is all about knowing what information is too broad, too personal, or not clear
technology
- complexity is inversely proportional to number of lines of code
the creative process
- a poet is always trying to describe what cannot be said — Alan Watts
- no piece of art is ever done, it’s just abandoned — John Tyler (a friend)
- be the fan that isn’t getting quite what you are looking for
- don’t try to create and analyze at the same time. They are different processes
- maintain a distinct private and public body of work
- over-planning sucks the life out of the creative process
creative motivation
- God sent me on earth. God sent me to do something, and nobody can stop me. If God wants to stop me, then I stop. Man never can — Bob Marley
- the future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams — Eleanor Roosevelt
- the day you plant the seed is not the day you eat the fruit — Paulo Coelho
- You might know what happens next but you don’t know what happens after that and that’s ok, because you’re a grown up, and you will figure it out — Niel Gaiman
- You don’t have to force yourself to not sleep in. Just always think of sleeping in from the context if the things that are important
- We give up greatness in deference to comfort
- I’m too tired to sleep
survival
survival
- the apocalypse is fun if you have the guns
- keep poverty at arms length
- “follow your passion” is what rich people say after they’ve made their money — Scott Galloway
discipline
- you have no hope of controlling your attention if you do not control your technology
conflict
- the society that separates its scholars from its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards and its fighting by fools — Thucydides
safe driving (7% of all deaths are from cars!)
- Every moment you are driving you are having a conversation with the outside world. Being a good driver is about your ability to keep that conversation going
- driving angry is just as dangerous as driving drunk or tired
business
working together
- no one will ever be more invested in your thing than you. Do not fight to keep people, fight to realize the vision
- a goal that requires course correction from the current path of least resistance in order to succeed requires an degree of sustained effort that is unattainable without an evolving, shared vision
productivity
- catching small things before they snowball into big ones is where real work happens
wealth
- money is a wonderful servant but a terrible master — P.T. Barnum
career success
- hope puts you at the doorway of opportunity, so you can greet it when it comes through — Minori
- if I do what everybody else does, I’m going to get what everybody else gets — Hawa Dremmeh
- people with high levels of trait self-control are good at avoiding temptation, not resisting it
- people don’t want to see the ingredients in the fridge they want to see cake — Minori
- at NASA, everyone aspires to build the engine, but the reality is most of them will work as pieces people — Martin Greytak
- pain is the single biggest barrier in getting people to adopt a product
- people will often equate the value of a product with what you charge for it
- align your side hustle with your day job
- if you want to be rich, go where the rich people are. If you want to be happy, go where the happy people are
- if you know their names and faces they are merely middle management
- ranked benchmarks are one of the best ways to show off high performance to others but one of the worst ways to inspire high performance within yourself
- job security means when you go somewhere things work and when you leave they fall apart
- be patient when you have nothing and be humble when you have everything
- patience is the best negotiator
- fantasizing about a scenario makes the probability of that scenario occurring less real
leadership
- don’t beg anyone to get on the ark, just keep building and let everyone know the rain is coming
- what you do to collaborate and form partnerships is infinitely more important than how you compete against your rivals
- it’s not about saying the right thing, its about saying the same things as your allies
- leaders do not have time or resources to be petty with pathetic people
- if you are leading something worthwhile, it is your job to be on call 24/7
- fearful uncertainty should be met with empowering questions
starting things
- when trying to persuade a person of your idea idea, never assume you know what they want or don’t want.
- when you are in an uncomfortable situation surrounded by unfamiliar people, the best thing you can say is “hello”
humans
getting along
- familiarity breeds contempt
- if you get too loose and too familiar with folks you need to share with, they don’t believe nothing you’re saying —Dr. Bertice Berry
- don’t talk shit about anyone unless it’s directly to them
understanding others
- people stop wanting to do things they are under compulsion to do
- ask yourself about people: What is some person’s idea of freedom?
- the best way to get to know someone is through the music, art, and poetry that speaks to them
- the company of another can be enjoyed in silence if you both observe the same space
conversation
- you ask me a vague question, you deserve a vague answer
good relationships
- truth is everybody is going to hurt you. You just gotta find the ones worth suffering for — Bob Marley
- para-social relationships are toxic to the party within it and empowering to the one outside of it
- your friends don’t know how much you admire and value them unless you tell them
- don’t spend time with people you don’t have admirable things to say about them
- trusting your friends on personal matters is only a good idea when you aren’t in a good state of mind. But even then, they aren’t always right about things
- our best friends are the ones who will challenge your convictions and still accept you either way
loving compassion
- One small positive thought in the morning can change your whole day
- As the sun shines equally on all, let your smile shine equally on all — Senenca
- I realize now that it’s all about love, and love is just making someones life a little bit easier
- When you like a flower you pluck it, but when you love a flower you water it daily — Buddha
- “potential” is what people see when they think what’s in front of them isn’t good enough — Sintara Golden from American Fiction
- men are not conditioned to reject their dark fantasies like women are
- love is when you can fully commit to something you know you will probably lose
- worldly concerns will try to lead you astray from love. The ultimate test of your character comes in your ability to resist them.
- betraying love to satiate worldly concerns, even when you feel they serve a “greater good”, cannot bring any additional consciousness into the lives of anyone, no matter how much you believe doing so may.
- artists, philosophers, and spiritual leaders across cultures and eras have recognized there is an unsurpassed depth of consciousness found through the medium of love
- by resisting worldly concerns that detract from accepting what is most real, severe, and unpleasant, you internalize the gratitude for the good that exists in your life. Internalized gratitude enables you to love unconditionally, because if the love in your relationship is true, you will be able to recognize the good in your partner. This allows you to remain unwavering in your commitment to loving them, regardless of the challenges, fears, personal sacrifices, and uncertainties you may face together.
gender dynamics
- it’s easy to be against the man when there’s a war going on
dating
- women understand what men don’t. Dating is simple: find a consistent place and time where you can be seen as a prize and stick with it, until someone finds a way to connect
maturity
acceptance
- the light enters where the wound is — Rumi
- in history as in a human life, regret does not bring back a lost moment and one thousand years will not bring back something lost in a single hour
- persistence is about getting up after you’ve given up
- there is two types of tired, one where you require sleep, and one where you require peace
- don’t look back on past decisions unless you are only doing so to unpack them in a meaningful way
- its much easier to work with what you got than to fight with what you don’t have
- the fastest way to get to where you want to be is by slowing down and doing it right
- shit sucks sometimes
- fantasizing about what you want during sunny days, just makes the rainy days wetter
- you cannot hide from what is meant for you, you can only run from it until there is nothing left
- if you see the same tree twice in a forest, it means you are lost
committing
- when you choose, choose fully
- addiction to possibility removes you from reality
- you can do anything you want, as long as you can accept that you won’t get everything that you want
- giving yourself to something is the highest virtue (mothers are by default among the most virtuous)
- don’t just commit to decisions that are brave. Make sure they are right too.
- if the commitment you make is true, time will reveal what is already inside of you to the outside world
character
- if you have to tell people who you are you probably aren’t what you tell them — Minori
- the most painful things in life come from looking back on the happiness you weren’t mature enough to value
- people of character are not born. They are regular people who put themselves in line to be challenged
- changing your character is hard. Who you are is as immutable as other beings in nature like birds and the trees. What you nurture is your interpretation of reality. This is the set of values you form in response to your environment, the beings you share it with, and the relationships you have with them. To change your character, you have to embrace insecurity and challenge your outstanding values. It takes courage to do this voluntarily, but also intentionality and selectivity, because the awkwardness of character development does not thrive in the limelight that natural selection rewards
- character building is a balance between meeting external obligations and leaving space for the cocoon that develops your inner world. This process occurs silently and awkwardly, from the perspective of deadlines and bosses. It is often painful. The most natural period for this in most people’s lives is during adolescence, but we are in continual need of readjusting our highest values with the natural default we fall back on
- we are the minesweepers of our own character flaws
time
- we get old when the weight of our memories and regrets starts to exceed that of our dreams
- wasted time is never wasted once you recognize it
- time has it’s own agenda
desire
- the more we let external desires guide our thoughts and decisions, the easier we make it for new desires to displace and deprioritize what we obtain when we finally do get what we want
- you shouldn’t place expectations on outcomes that are dependent on luck. Live in the present and focus intently on the process
reality
- energy is neither created nor destroyed, only redirected
- sometimes it’s better to take 3 lefts than 1 right
- the consequences of all actions are impermanent
- water is the link between the non-living and living world
self-actualization
- You do not need to believe in god if you know god — Jung
- Buddhism is not love and light. It is hard work. If you want love and light, go to the amusement park — Gehlek Rimpoche
- Many go fishing all their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after. —Henry David Thoreau
- There is no such thing as athiesm. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what we worship — David Foster Wallace
- The best way to find a person on the right path, is by asking him about religions other than his own
- if you need the threat of hell to be a good person than you are a bad person on a leash
truth
- action makes life — Shi Heng Yi
- tell people the brutal truth when they ask you for it. Lying makes people trust you less and take you less seriously —they will only ask you questions they know you will lie to them about. In the rare case they believe you completely, you will hurt them by reinforcing their delusion.
- hope clouds observation
virtue
- if something can corrupt you, you’re corrupted already — Bob Marley
- inside every cynical person is a disappointed idealist — George Carlin
- the greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively — Bob Marley
- running counter to the ways of the world is the purpose of our lives. We are here to repair the world, not to help it be the way it has been
- it is a great sin to slander a kindred spirit
- nothing is in vain that increases the net understanding of things that are important
- the worst thing about weakness is that it leads to dishonesty
- shutting your eyes to evil prevents goodness from prevailing
parenting
- kid’s aren’t expensive. Lifestyles are
dhamma
mental health
- emotional stability is a scarce resource
- unhealthy optimism mutates into to manic delusion
- life has a rhythm to it that an obsession can take you out of if you allow it
- the only matrix is believing that there is one you need to escape from
happiness
- when you are depressed, create things
- wealth is the quiet understanding that your worth isn’t tied to productivity, perfection, or performance wealth is being given the freedom to explore who you are, without the weight of who others expect you to be
- follow your dreams just make sure they’re yours
- you don’t have to have it all figured out to be happy
- happiness is the truest value
- fun is enjoyment of the unplanned
- there is only so much you need to do to live well and happily
self worth
- chase mastery, but don’t lose sight of why you started — artfaxing
- all the respect we have for others starts with the respect we have for ourselves
- true power is knowing what you can change and letting be what you cannot
the body
- physical pain makes emotional pain manifest
- when you feel tired before a big event, your body is actually rationing energy for you
the meaning of life
- life on earth is not about humans — Joscha Bach
conventional wisdom
- the squeaky wheel gets the grease
- empty barrels make the most noise
- the naked man fears no pickpocket
- the most colorful place in a store is the candy aisle
- it is the burglar who says the door was unlocked
maliciousness
- there is a limit to how damaging advice can be from stupidity alone
- narcissism has no gender — Minori
religion
- anyone obsessed with their religion isn’t healthy
- tolerance is just deferred hatred
society
- When we allow external systems to dictate meaning to us, we give away the potential to determine life’s purpose — Aperture
- The US is a third-world country with first-world veneers — Hector
- its hard enough to solve our problems without solving our ancestors problems
- the only free nation is your imagination
- We are dying to be human but killing ourselves trying
- The mouse dies in the mousetrap because it doesn’t understand why the cheese is free
- The liberalization of sexual attitudes corresponds with the perpetuation of pedophilia. A conservative, functional attitude towards sexuality is disgusted interfamilial molestation, same-sex intercourse, and child abuse.
- The wise and fearful feed off the brave and innocent
- small towns aren’t damaged by abusive law enforcement the way cities are, which must import police into foreign communities like zookeepers
- there are two forces driving societal decay; masculine hedonism and feminine ignorance
social change
- weak messages create bad situations — David Shrigley