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Rod Sterling: Tools of conquest
“The tools of conquest do not necessarily come with bombs, and explosions, and fallout. There are weapons that are simply thoughts, attitudes, prejudices, to be found only in the minds of men. For the record, prejudices can kill and suspicion can destroy; and a thoughtless, frightened search for a scapegoat has a fallout all of…
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Donald Knuth: Premature optimization
“Premature optimization is the root ofall evil.” —Donald Knuth.
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John Morley: Laws of heat
“Where it is a duty to worship the sun, it is pretty sure to be a crime to examine the laws of heat.” —John Morley.
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Nelson Elhage: Fast tools
“Fast tools don’t just allow users to accomplish tasks faster; they allowusers to accomplish entirely new types of tasks, in entirely new ways.” —Nelson Elhage.
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Juan Ramon Jimenez: Write the other way
“If they give you ruled paper, write the other way.” —Juan Ramon Jimenez.
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Marc Andreessen: Massively inefficient
“Software today is massively inefficient; it’s become prime time againfor software programmers to get really good at optimization.” —Marc Andreessen.
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Tobi Lutke: Killer feature
“Not all fast software is world-class, but all world-class software is fast.Performance is the killer feature.” —Tobi Lutke.
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Seneca: Disoriented and disturbed lives
“The greatest portion of peace of mind is doing nothing wrong. Those who lack self-control live disoriented and disturbed lives.” —Seneca.
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Zeno: Man conquers the world
“Man conquers the world by conquering himself.” —Zeno.
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Phil Ochs: True protest is beauty
“You must protest / It is your diamond duty / Ah but in such an ugly time / The true protest is beauty.” —Phil Ochs.
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Benjamin Graham: Unusual qualities of character
“The genuine investor in common stocks does not need a great equipment of brains and knowledge, but he does need some unusual qualities of character.” —Benjamin Graham.
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Paul Klee: Art, a holiday
“Art should be like a holiday: something to give a man the opportunity to see things differently and to change his point of view.” —Paul Klee.
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Warren Buffett: Realism and discipline
“The most important thing in investments is not having a high IQ, thank God. I mean, the important thing is realism and discipline. And you don’t need to be extraordinarily bright to do well in investments, if you are realistic and disciplined.” —Warren Buffett.
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Chelsea Manning: Patriotism
“Patriotism is often the cry extolled when morally questionable acts are advocated by those in power.” —Chelsea Manning.
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J Paul Getty: Always a battle
“Crises, setbacks, obstacles—these will certainly be met by any executive in the course of his career. The measure of a person in such circumstances is not only how they cope with adversity, but also how they turns it to their advantage. Business is always a battle—for sales, improvements, efficiency —and an executive must lead very…
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Zakir Hussain: Education and politics
“Education is the master and politics is its servant. It is necessary to combine power with morality as well as with science and technology.” —Zakir Hussain.
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George Santayana: Historical accident
“What religion a man shall have is a historical accident, quite as much as what language he shall speak.” —George Santayana.
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Charles F Kettering: Theorizing
“Theorizing is not nearly as effective as trying.” —Charles F Kettering.
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Joseph Heller: Destiny
“Destiny is a good thing to accept when it’s going your way. When it isn’t, don’t call it destiny; call it injustice, treachery, or simple bad luck.” —Joseph Heller, God Knows.
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Jean-Paul Sartre: Freedom
“Freedom is what you do with what’s been done to you.” —Jean-Paul Sartre.
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George Polya: Pedantry and mastery
“Pedantry and mastery are opposite attitudes toward rules. To apply a rule to the letter, rigidly, unquestioningly, in cases where it fits and in cases where it does not fit, is pedantry … To apply a rule with natural ease, with judgment, noticing the cases where it fits, and without ever letting the words of…
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William Lloyd Garrison: All mankind
“Our country is the world — our countrymen are all mankind.” —William Lloyd Garrison.
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Alexandr Wang: Extraordinary results
“I have never seen ordinary effort lead to extraordinary results.” —Alexandr Wang.
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Warren Buffett: Key to investing
“We think you should study things like Mrs. B out at the Nebraska Furniture Mart, who takes $500 and turns it, over time, into the largest home furnishing store in the world. There has to be some lessons in things like that. What gives you that kind of a result and that kind of competitive…
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Emily Dickinson: Emergency
‘”Faith” is a fine invention / For gentlemen who see — / But microscopes are prudent / In an emergency. “ —Emily Dickinson.
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Norman Cousins: Early warning system
“History is a vast early warning system.” —Norman Cousins.
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Marlene Dietrich: Intelligent men
“I’ve spent almost all of my life with highly intelligent men. They’re not like other men. Their spirit is great and stimulating. They hate strife; indeed they reject it. Their inventive gifts are boundless. They demand devotion and obedience. And a sense of humor. I happily gave all of this. I was lucky to be…
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David Chapman: Learn from different fields
“Learn from fields very different from your own. They each have ways of thinking that can be useful at surprising times. Just learning to think like an anthropologist, a psychologist, and a philosopher will beneficially stretch your mind.” —David Chapman.
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Charlie Munger: Tiring decisions
“We didn’t know, when we started out, this modern psychological evidence to the effect that you shouldn’t make a lot of important decisions when you’re tired and that making a lot of difficult decisions is tiring…. I cannot remember an important decision that Warren [Buffett] has made when he was tired.” —Charlie Munger.
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Turkish proverb: Wooden axe, woody trees
“The forest was shrinking but the trees kept voting for the axe for the axe was clever and convinced the trees that because his handle was made of wood he was one of them.” —Turkish proverb.
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Dr. B R Ambedkar: Ethics and economics
“History shows that where ethics and economics come in conflict, victory is always with economics. Vested interests have never been known to have willingly divested themselves unless there was sufficient force to compel them.” —Dr. B R Ambedkar.
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Margaret Anderson: Real and romantic love
“In real love you want the other person’s good. In romantic love you want the other person.” —Margaret Anderson.
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Christina Rossetti: Work never begun
“Can anything be sadder than work left unfinished? Yes, work never begun.” —Christina Rossetti.
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Howard Warren Buffett: Living ecosystem
“Soil is a living ecosystem, and is a farmer’s most precious asset. A farmer’s productive capacity is directly related to the health of his or her soil.” —Howard Warren Buffett.
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Vint Cerf: Writing software
“Writing software is a very intense, very personal thing. You have to have time to work your way through it, to understand it. Then debug it.” —Vint Cerf.
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Samuel Butler: Appealing to logic
“No mistake is more common and more fatuous than appealing to logic in cases which are beyond her jurisdiction.” —Samuel Butler.
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Joseph Conrad: Capable of every wickedness
“A belief in a supernatural source of evil is not necessary; men alone are quite capable of every wickedness.” —Joseph Conrad.
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Ann Patchett: Suspended
“There are a few times in life when you leap up and the past that you’d been standing on falls away behind you, and the future you mean to land on is not yet in place, and for a moment you’re suspended knowing nothing and no one, not even yourself.” —Ann Patchett.
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Morgan Housel: Stop moving the goalpost
“The hardest financial skill is getting the goalpost to stop moving. But it’s one of the most important. If expectations rise with results there is no logic in striving for more because you’ll feel the same after putting in extra effort. It gets dangerous when the taste of having more—more money, more power, more prestige—increases…
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William Hazlitt: Words
“Words are the only things that last forever; they are more durable than the eternal hills.” —William Hazlitt.
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Henry Link: We generate fears
“We generate fears while we sit. We overcome them by action.” —Henry Link.
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Adam Karr: Obsessions
“Try to think about your obsessions. You never want to compete with somebody who’s obsessed. Kobe Bryant. He would say, ‘What’s your 4:00 AM?’ He’s at the gym at 4:00 AM shooting baskets. Are you at the gym at 4:00 AM? Because if you’re not, you’re competing against that guy who is. He took up…
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Louisa May Alcott: When the victory is won
“If I can do no more, let my name stand among those who are willing to bear ridicule and reproach for the truth’s sake, and so earn some right to rejoice when the victory is won.” —Louisa May Alcott.
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James Dyson: Quantum leap
“There is no such thing as a quantum leap. There is only dogged persistence — and in the end, you make it look like a quantum leap.” –James Dyson.
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Rita Mae Brown: Average of deviance
“Normal is the average of deviance.” —Rita Mae Brown.
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Vincent Van Gogh: Give me reality
“Fishermen know that the sea is dangerous and the storm fearsome, but they have never found these dangers sufficient reason for remaining ashore. They leave that wisdom to those to whom it appeals. When the storm comes—when night falls—what’s worse: the danger or the fear of danger? Give me reality, the danger itself.” –Vincent Van…
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Jimi Hendrix: Love and power
“When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace.” —Jimi Hendrix.
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Kahlil Gibran: Worth more
“The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the greatest intention.” ―Kahlil Gibran.
