The Lessons of History
Will & Ariel Durant
Summary
Reasonably short read that talks about the lessons learned throughout history. ‘History repeats itself’ so it’s a good refresher that the world we live in today is really not that bad
Rating: 4/5
Notes
The present is the past rolled up for action, and the past is the present rolled up for understanding
Competition is not only the life of trade, it is the trade of life
Hereditary inequalities breed social and artificial inequalities
Freedom and equality are ever lasting enemies and when one permits, the other dies
Nature has 3 agents for restoring the balance of the food supply: famine, pestilence and war
It is not the race that makes the civilization, it is the civilization that makes the people
Positive human elements:
Action, fight, acquisition, association, mating, prenatal care
Negative human elements:
Sleep, fight, avoidance, privacy, refusal, Filial independence
It is good that the old should resist the young and the young prod the old as out of this tension comes a creative tensile strength, a stimulated development, a secret and basic unity and movement as a whole
Our generation has not rivalled the popularity of homosexualism in ancient Greece or Rome or Renaissance Italy
Disposition has been perennial and universal
Men and women have gambled at every age in history
There is no significant example in history, before our time, of a society successfully maintaining moral life without the aid of religion
Men who can manage men manage the men who can only manage things, and the men who can manage money manage all
War or competition is the father of all things, the potent source of ideas, inventions, institutions and states
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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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