Author: LINUS FERNANDES
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Alan Kay: Change in perspective
“A change in perspective is worth 80 IQ points.” —Alan Kay, computer scientist (b. 17 May 1940).
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Art de Vany: Ensemble of stochastic life paths
“Each of us has what I call an ensemble of stochastic life paths–the choices we make. You make each choice in life based on your understanding of the possibility that it will take you where you want to be. But you don’t determine the outcome, only the probabilities. Each path leads to more choices: a…
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Nassim Taleb: Change
“Change for the sake of change, as we see in architecture, food, and lifestyle, is frequently the opposite of progress. As I have explained in Antifragile, too high a rate of mutation prevents locking in the benefits of previous changes: evolution (and progress) requires some, but not too frequent, variation.” —Nassim Taleb, Skin in the…
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Simon Sinek: Trustworthy
“Being right doesn’t make us trustworthy. Being honest makes us trustworthy.” —Simon Sinek.
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Alan Kay: Really serious
“People who are really serious about software should make their own hardware.” —Alan Kay.
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Wiles of War: Make a false move
“Make a false move, not to pass it for a genuine one but to transform it into a genuine one after the enemy has been convinced of its falsity.” — The Wiles Of War: 36 Military Strategies From Ancient China.
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C S Lewis: Mental pain
‘Mental pain is less dramatic than physical pain, but it is more common and also more hard to bear. The frequent attempt to conceal mental pain increases the burden: it is easier to say “My tooth is aching” than to say “My heart is broken.”‘ —C S Lewis.
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William H Seward: Policies they pursue
“I have learned, by some experience, that virtue and patriotism, vice and selfishness, are found in all parties, and that they differ less in their motives than in the policies they pursue.” —William H. Seward, US Secretary of State, governor, senator (16 May 1801-1872).
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Warren Buffett: Some very useful religions
“I’ve said in investing…that there’s more than one way to get to heaven. And there isn’t a true religion in this, but there’s some very useful religions.” –Warren Buffett.
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Warren Buffett: Haystacks, not needles
“The speed of information really doesn’t make any difference to us. It’s the processing and finally coming to some judgment that actually has some utility…it’s a judgment about the price of a business or a part of a business, a security, versus what it’s essentially worth. And none of that involves anything to do, really,…
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Pierce Brosnan: Humiliation
“Oh, humiliation is poisonous. It’s one of the deepest pains of being human.” —Pierce Brosnan.
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Simon Sinek: Failure
“Failure is not tied to money; it is a mindset. Failure is when we accept the lot we are given.” —Simon Sinek.
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Arthur Schopenhauer: Men and animals
“Men are the devils of the earth and the animals are its tormented souls.” —Arthur Schopenhauer, philosopher (22 Feb 1788-1860).
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Warren Buffett: No degree of difficulty factor
“One of the interesting things about investment is that there’s no degree of difficulty factor. I mean, if you’re going to go diving in the Olympics and try to win a gold medal, you get paid more, in effect, for certain kinds of dives than others because they’re more difficult. And they properly adjust for…
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Alison Jackson: Art and advertising
“Art work is inconclusive. It opens your mind up. At least, that’s what I hope it does. And advertising, using exactly the same photograph, closes things down. It makes it conclusive. It sells a product, and that is its primary function.” —Alison Jackson.
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George Washington: Character of an honest man
“I hope I shall always possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider the most enviable of all titles, the character of an honest man.” —George Washington.
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Washington Irving: Truest friend
“A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials heavy and sudden, fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine desert us; when trouble thickens around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate…
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Simon Sinek: Disappoint with the truth
“It’s better to disappoint with the truth than appease with a lie.” —Simon Sinek.
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Marguerite de Valois: Cut the matter short
“The woman who does not choose to love should cut the matter short at once, by holding out no hopes to her suitor.” —Marguerite de Valois.
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Constantin Brancusi: Inhabited sculpture
“Architecture is inhabited sculpture.” —Constantin Brancusi, sculptor (19 Feb 1876-1957).
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Jojo Moyes: Because
“Because even if the whole world was throwing rocks at you, if you had your mother at your back, you’d be okay.” —Jojo Moyes.
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Robert Pattinson: Persona
“Having a persona people recognize, it’s the thing that probably gets you paid the most – but it’s also the thing that virtually every actor in the world doesn’t want. ‘Cause, like, no one would believe me if I wanted to play something ultra-realistic, like a gangster or something.” —Robert Pattinson.
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Van Wyck Brooks: Best in a cellar
“As against having beautiful workshops, studios, etc., one writes best in a cellar on a rainy day.” —Van Wyck Brooks.
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Graham & Dodd: Two dangers
“The cardinal defect of instability may not be regarded, therefore, as menacing the long-range development of common stocks as a whole. It does indeed exert a powerful temporary effect upon all business through the variations of the economic cycle, and it has permanently adverse effects upon individual enterprises and single industries. But of these two…
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Warren Buffett: Future prospects
“All we want to be in is businesses that we understand, run by people that we like, and priced attractively compared to the future prospects.” —Warren Buffett.
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Stephen Baldwin: Evolution
“Evolution isn’t true, because if we evolved from monkeys, how can they still be here?” —Stephen Baldwin.
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Friedrich Durrenmatt: Only art
“Learn to conquer your fears. That’s the only art we have to learn to master these days.” —Friedrich Durrenmatt.
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Salvador Dali: I am not mad
“The sole difference between myself and a madman is the fact that I am not mad.” —Salvador Dali, painter (11 May 1904-1989).
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Simon Sinek: Challenges and stories
“The challenge of our unknown future is so much more exciting than the stories of our accomplished past.” —Simon Sinek.
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Salvador Dali: Mistakes
“Mistakes are almost always of a sacred nature. Never try to correct them. On the contrary: rationalize them, understand them thoroughly. After that, it will be possible for you to sublimate them.” —Salvador Dali.
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C S Lewis: Something cannot be had in this world
“Most people, if they have really learned to look into their own hearts, would know that they do want, and want acutely, something that cannot be had in this world. There are all sorts of things in this world that offer to give it to you, but they never quite keep their promise.” —C S…
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Paul Black: Keep showing up
“The notion of ‘Keep Showing Up.’ I wish I would have got that earlier, because I think it would have been easier to endure through some very difficult periods of time. I wish I would have learned that early in my business career…. I would have liked to have somebody tell me: ‘Paul, keep showing…
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Bob Chapman: Parenting is leadership
“Everything I learned about parenting is leadership and everything I learned about leadership was wrong.” —Bob Chapman.
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Fred Astaire: Learning good manners
“The hardest job kids face today is learning good manners without seeing any.” —Fred Astaire.
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Thomas Paine: Governing
“The trade of governing has always been monopolized by the most ignorant and the most rascally individuals of mankind.” —Thomas Paine, philosopher and writer (9 Feb 1737-1809).
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Simon Sinek: CEOs and COOs
“Great CEOs look up and out. Great COOs look down and in. It’s the partnership of their perspectives that make great companies.” —Simon Sinek.
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Warren Buffett: Avoid being wrong
“You don’t have to do — we’ve said this before — but you don’t have to do exceptional things to get exceptional results. And some people think that if you jump over a seven-foot bar that the ribbon they pin on you is going to be worth more money than if you step over a…
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Charlie Munger: Appropriate labels
“So many people think if they just hire somebody with the appropriate labels they can do something very difficult. That is one of the most dangerous ideas a human being can have…. You don’t have to hire out your thinking if you keep it simple.” —Charlie Munger (1994 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting).
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Simon Sinek: Good versus bad leaders
“Good leaders are curious to hear ideas from others when solving a problem. Bad leaders care more that others hear their ideas.” —Simon Sinek.
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Glenda Jackson: Acting
“Acting is not about dressing up. Acting is about stripping bare. The whole essence of learning lines is to forget them so you can make them sound like you thought of them that instant.” —Glenda Jackson.
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Louis Nizer: True religion
“True religion is the life we lead, not the creed we profess.” —Louis Nizer, lawyer (6 Feb 1902-1994).
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Simon Sinek: Authorities and leaders
“Authorities act with themselves in mind. Leaders act with others in mind. Authorities take. Leaders give. Authorities die. Leaders live on.” —Simon Sinek.
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Harry S Truman: Dictatorship
“When you have an efficient government, you have a dictatorship.” —Harry S Truman.
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Alexander Pushkin: Obey thy God
Alexander Pushkin as translated by Nabokov: “Obey thy God, and never mind, O Muse, the laurels or the stings: make it thy rule to be unstirred by praise as by abuse, and do not contradict the fool”.
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Charlie Munger: One-legged man in an ass-kicking contest
“If you’re going to live a long time, you have to keep learning. What you formerly knew is never enough. So if you don’t learn to constantly revise your earlier conclusions and get betters ones…you’re like a one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest.” —Charlie Munger.
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Warren Buffett: Any place
“Any place you can find somebody that gives you insights into things you didn’t understand before—and maybe makes you a better person than you would have been before—that’s very lucky and you want to make the most of it.” —Warren Buffett.
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Richard Feynman: Doubt
“It is imperative in science to doubt; it is absolutely necessary, for progress in science, to have uncertainty as a fundamental part of your inner nature. To make progress in understanding, we must remain modest and allow that we do not know.” —Richard Feynman.
