“The possibilities that exist between two people, or among a group of people, are a kind of alchemy. They are the most interesting thing in life.”
– Adrienne Rich
Adrienne Rich on Lying, What “Truth” Really Means, and the Alchemy of Human Possibility
“I’d like for us to learn to have a more generous and kind understanding of what it means to have a successful life, one that is not about individual accumulation of goodies, but actually about the transformation of communities. It’s bathed in humility. And it’s practical.”
– Omid Safi
(via Libby)
“The most powerful weapon on earth is a soul on fire.”
– Ferdinand Foch
“… Data paves the road to the bottom. It is the lazy way to figure out what to do next. It’s obsessed with the short-term.
Data gets us the Kardashians.”
Actually, more data might not be what you’re hoping for, Seth Godin
“It is not simply the brightest who have the best ideas; it is those who are best at harvesting ideas from others. It is not only the most determined who drive change; it is those who most fully engage with like-minded people. And it is not wealth or prestige that best motivates people; it is respect and help from peers.”
“Conversation enriches the understanding, but solitude is the school of genius.”
– Edward Gibbon
(via Quietrev.com)
“…Because I know that somewhere, out there, there is a mom who feels guilty every time she goes to “work” (whether it’s a job, a business, a personal creative project, or any vocation that feels meaningful to her). Somewhere, I know there’s a mom who feels guilty about writing her novel, running her blog, or pursuing her dream job, because she feels like throwing herself into that type of endeavor might “steal” time away from her kids and her family. Because it might make her a “bad mom.”…”
A letter to my mom, by Alexandra Franzen.
“Ask yourself if you would do it if nobody would ever see it, you would never be compensated for it and nobody wanted it.”
– Ernst Haas
(via Oliver Jeffers)
“I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, It’s a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope. Which is what I do, and that enables you to laugh at life’s realities.”
— Dr. Seuss
(via)
“Having small touches of colour makes it more colourful than having the whole thing in colour.”
— Dieter Rams
“I know that I’m not the easiest person to live with. The challenge I put on myself is so great that the person I live with feels himself challenged. I bring a lot to bear, and I don’t know how not to.”
– Maya Angelou
“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.” — Mahatma Gandhi
Tell Me What You Did Today, And I’ll Tell You Who You Are, by Benjamin P. Hardy
(via Jocelyn)
“Our capacity for what psychoanalyst Adam Phillips has termed “fertile solitude” is absolutely essential not only for our creativity but for the basic fabric of our happiness — without time and space unburdened from external input and social strain, we’d be unable to fully inhabit our interior life, which is the raw material of all art.”
Artist Louise Bourgeois on How Solitude Enriches Creative Work
“Even when change is elective, it will disorient you. You may go through anxiety. You will miss aspects of your former life. It doesn’t matter. The trick is to know in advance of making any big change that you’re going to be thrown off your feet by it. So you prepare for this inevitable disorientation and steady yourself to get through it. Then you take the challenge, make the change, and achieve your dream.”
– Harvey Mackay
(I have posted this quote before, years ago. Always coming back to this one when I go through phases of massive change. Deep breaths.)
“Traits like humility, courage, and empathy are easily overlooked – but it’s immensely important to find them in your closest relationships.”
– Laura Linney
“What about fear? Originals feel fear, too. They’re afraid of failing, but what sets them apart from the rest of us is that they’re even more afraid of failing to try. They know you can fail by starting a business that goes bankrupt or by failing to start a business at all. They know that in the long run, our biggest regrets are not our actions but our inactions. The things we wish we could redo, if you look at the science, are the chances not taken.”
– Adam Grant
“Being a giver is not good for a 100-yard dash, but it’s valuable in a marathon.”
― Adam Grant
“I think the currency of leadership is transparency. You’ve got to be truthful. I don’t think you should be vulnerable every day, but there are moments where you’ve got to share your soul and conscience with people and show them who you are, and not be afraid of it.”
– Howard Schultz
“… By all means, get it right. Get it right the first time. Successful makers of change embrace the hierarchy of importance, though, and refuse to engage with a fight about right when it’s vitally important to focus on important instead.”
Big questions before little ones, Seth Godin
“By middle age you might begin to see, retrospectively, the dominant motifs that have been running through your various decisions. You might begin to see how all your different commitments can be integrated into one meaning and purpose. You might see the social problem your past has made you uniquely equipped to tackle. You might have enough clarity by now to orient your life around a true north on some ultimate horizon.”
The Middle-Age Surge, by David Brooks
“To seek honor before profit is the surest means of finding profit with honor.”
– Félix Nadar
Photographer Félix Nadar on the Single Most Important Factor in Becoming a Commercially Successful Artist
“If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or objects.”
– Albert Einstein
“It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.”
– Henry David Thoreau
