Letters from a Stoic
Seneca
Summary
Timeless lessons from one of the greatest philosophers in his letters to his friend
Rating: 4/5
Notes
Wealth is the wise man’s servant and the fool’s master
There is nothing neither good or bad but thinking makes it so
To be everywhere is to be nowhere
Don’t follow those who crave attention
One thing to avoid in particular - mass crowds
I am writing this not for the eyes of many but for you alone; for each of us is audience enough for the other
What fortune has made yours is not your own
If you wish to be loved, love
Any man who does not think that what he has is more than ample is an unhappy man, even if he is a master of the world
Why be concerned about others when you’ve out done yourself
If you shape your life according to nature, you will never be poor. If according to other people’s opinions, you will never be rich - Epicurus
Rehearse death
A sound mind cannot be bought or borrowed. Yet unsound ones are being purchased every day
It is one thing to remember, it’s another to know. Create your own wisdom.
The men who pioneered old rates are leaders, not our masters. Truth lies open to everyone.
Treat your inferiors (slaves) in the way you’d like to be treated by your superiors
‘Each man has a character of his own choosing; it is chance or fate that decides his job’
Death precedes and succeeds us. What does it matter whether you cease to be or never begin, when the result of either is that you don’t exist?
Life itself is slavery if the courage to die be absent
Comforting thoughts contribute to a person’s cure when ill
‘In a single day lies open to men of learning more than there even does to the unenlightened in the largest of lifetimes’
Misfortune has a way of choosing some unprecedented means or other of impressing its power on those that said to have forgotten it
Nothing is durable whether for an individual or society
Let us face up to circumstances and be aware whatever happens is never as serious as we make it out to be
To make a better man of you, you must spend time in study and in the writings of wise men, to learn truths that have emerged from their research and carry on the search for ourselves for the answers that have not yet been discovered
The things you’re running from are there with you all the time
See to it that nothing takes you by surprise through central reflection
‘The greedy man does no one any good but harms no person more than his own self’
Life’s finest days for us poor human beings fly first
People’s speech matches their lives
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Make Something Wonderful
Steve Jobs
Summary
The life of Steve Jobs in his own words
Rating: 5/5
Notes
Make something wonderful and put it out there
‘You appear, have a chance to blaze in the sky, then you disappear’
When you’re a stranger in a place, you notice thing you don’t otherwise (Jobs after India trip)
Whenever you start with nothing, always shoot for the moon. You have nothing to lose.
You never achieve what you want without falling on your face a few times
Never be afraid to fail. You never achieve what you want without falling flat on your face a few times
We are never taught to listen to our intuitions, to develop and nurture them. But if you do pay attention to these subtle insights, you can make them come true
Creativity equals connecting previously unrelated experiences and insights others don’t see
Believe that some of what you follow with your heart will come back and make your life richer. And it will. And you will gain even firmer trust on your instincts and intuitions
Make your avocation your vocation. Make what you love your work.
The journey is the reward. The reward isn’t in the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, it’s in crossing the rainbow
To find A+ talent, if experienced, look at their track record and results
The world we know is a human creation and we can push it forward
The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do (read whole ad ‘here’s to the crazy ones)
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act but a habit - Aristotle
Hire people better than you are
You can’t plan to meet the people who will change your life
It’s impossible to connect the dots looking forward, but they make sense looking backwards so you have to trust the dots will somehow connect in your future
Everything around you that you call life was made up by people no smarter than you
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