Language is fossil poetry.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer and philosopher (1803-1882)
...can sometimes count
You can sometimes count every orange on a tree but never all the trees in a single orange.
-A.K. Ramanujan, poet (1929-1993)
-A.K. Ramanujan, poet (1929-1993)
25,000 of my favorite
On stage, I make love to 25,000 different people, then I go home alone.
-Janis Joplin, singer-songwriter (1943-1970)
...transplanted into another mind
Many ideas grow better when transplanted into another mind than in the one where they sprang up.
-Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., US Supreme Court Justice (1841-1935)
-Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., US Supreme Court Justice (1841-1935)
do it in a way....
Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.
-Ruth Bader Ginsburg, US Supreme Court justice (1933-2020)
-Ruth Bader Ginsburg, US Supreme Court justice (1933-2020)
...endangered spices
We are not an endangered species ourselves yet, but this is not for lack of trying.
-Douglas Adams, author (1952-2001)
-Douglas Adams, author (1952-2001)
...been reading all my life
Don't ask me who's influenced me. A lion is made up of the lambs he's digested, and I've been reading all my life.
-Giorgos Seferis, writer, diplomat, Nobel laureate (1900-1971)
-Giorgos Seferis, writer, diplomat, Nobel laureate (1900-1971)
How to be a good writer?
Anyone who wishes to become a good writer should endeavour, before he allows himself to be tempted by the more showy qualities, to be direct, simple, brief, vigorous, and lucid.
-H.W. Fowler, lexicographer (1858-1933)
-H.W. Fowler, lexicographer (1858-1933)
...best time
"The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now."
~ Chinese Proverb
...of superfluities
Beauty is the purgation of superfluities.
-Michelangelo Buonarroti, sculptor, painter, architect, and poet (1475-1564)
...heaven is close by
Sometimes they seem like living shapes,
The people of the sky,
Guests in white raiment coming down
From heaven, which is close by.
The people of the sky,
Guests in white raiment coming down
From heaven, which is close by.
-Lucy Larcom, teacher and author (1824-1893)
...a pearl
A raindrop, dripping from a cloud,
Was ashamed when it saw the sea.
"Who am I where there is a sea?" it said.
When it saw itself with the eye of humility,
A shell nurtured it in its embrace.
-Saadi of Shiraz (c. 1200 AD)
"Who am I where there is a sea?" it said.
When it saw itself with the eye of humility,
A shell nurtured it in its embrace.
-Saadi of Shiraz (c. 1200 AD)
....by bitter experience
The theory of democratic government is not that the will of the people is always right, but rather that normal human beings of average intelligence will, if given a chance, learn the right and best course by bitter experience.
-W.E.B. Du Bois, educator, civil rights activist, and writer (1868-1963)
-W.E.B. Du Bois, educator, civil rights activist, and writer (1868-1963)
....the work at hand
Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work at hand. The sun's rays do not burn until brought to a focus.
-Alexander Graham Bell, inventor (1847-1922)
Creativity -- like human life itself -- begins in darkness. We need to acknowledge this. All too often, we think only in terms of light: "And then the lightbulb went on and I got it!" It is true that insights may come to us as flashes. It is true that some of these flashes may be blinding. It is, however, also true that such bright ideas are preceded by a gestation period that is interior, murky, and completely necessary.
-Julia Cameron, artist, author, teacher, filmmaker, composer, and journalist (b. 4 Mar 1948)
-Julia Cameron, artist, author, teacher, filmmaker, composer, and journalist (b. 4 Mar 1948)
...cares a whole awful lot
Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not.
-Dr. Seuss, author and illustrator (1904-1991)
-Dr. Seuss, author and illustrator (1904-1991)
Opposite of two?
What is the opposite of two?
A lonely me, a lonely you.
-Richard Wilbur, poet and translator (1921-2017)
-Richard Wilbur, poet and translator (1921-2017)
Rhythm instead of chaos
The Amazing Day Blueprint:
- a no-phone first hour protocol
- create a schedule that deletes hustle
- use notebooks to become happier
- build a world-class work architecture
- use the recovery rituals of famous athletes
- use the focus elimination tools of top designers
If you want rhythm instead of chaos each day and to feel far more optimistic, then be focused, grounded and happy.
- Robin Sharma
Lack of daily design
Plateaus don't happen from lack of ambition. They happen from lack of daily design.
Most driven, high-energy producers:
• wake up reactive
• rush through their mornings
• overcheck their phones
• overwork and push too hard
• neglect mental and physical recovery
• end their days depleted and stressed
That cycle quietly limits growth. And over time, erodes a human's assets of genius.
- Robin Sharma
...lot of scum
Society is like a stew. If you don't keep it stirred up you get a lot of scum on the top.
-Edward Abbey, naturalist and author (1927-1989)
...of a free people
Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.
-Franklin D. Roosevelt, 32nd US President (1882-1945)
...a little madness
A man needs a little madness, or else he never dares cut the rope and be free.
-Nikos Kazantzakis, poet and novelist (1883-1957)