How To Live

An interesting read.
A journey of agreement to disagreement -- with the author waiting until you understand the web he weaved.


Favorite Sections:

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Whoever you blame has power over you, so blame yourself.

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Change yourself and you change the world.

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...when you have unlimited choice, you feel worse...
Your thoughts are divided.
Your power is diluted.
Your time is thinly spread.
Indecision keeps you shallow.

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Rockets use most of their fuel in the first minute of flight...
Same with your habits.
Starting is hard.
The rest is easy.

New habits are what you're trying.
Old habits are what you are.  

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People will appreciate your silence...
Shallow rivers are noisy.
Deep lakes are silent.

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When you have a clear view of the future, you won't mind the small sacrifice.

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To enjoy your past is to live twice...
A story is the remains of an experience...
Make a story for the things you want to remember.
Making memories is how to live.

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Mastery is the best goal because the rich can't buy it,
the impatient can't rush it,
the privileged can't inherit it, and nobody can steal it.
You can only earn it through hard work.
Mastery is the ultimate status.

Concentrating all of your life's force on one thing gives you incredible power.
Sunlight won't catch a stick on fire.
But if you use a magnifying glass to focus the sunlight on one spot, it will.

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These pioneers were valuable because they got famous.
If someone else innovated in obscurity, they didn't make an impact.

A famous pioneer does more for human progress than a billion others who live in a normal life.

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Rules give you freedom from your desires.

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Shallow happy is having a donut.
Deep happy is having a fit body.

Shallow happy is what you want now.
Deep happy is what you want most.

Shallow happy is trying to conquer the world.
Deep happy is conquering yourself.

Shallow happy is pursuing pleasure.
Deep happy is pursuing fulfillment.

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Friends are made, not found.

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The best marketing is being considerate.
The best sales approach is listening.
Serve your clients' needs, not your own.

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Ideas are worth almost nothing.
Execution is everything.

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The timid cling to their achievements.
The wise keep their hands free.

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Collect ideas in a crowd.
Create in silence and solitude.

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The most valuable real estate in the world is the graveyard.
There lie millions of half-written books, ideas never launched,
and talents never deployed.
Most people die with everything still inside them.

The way to live is to create.
Die empty.
Get every idea out of your head and into reality.
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Die empty, so death takes only a corpse.

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