The Quest of the Simple Life
W. J. Dawson
Summary
A book written at the beginning of the 1900s from a London finance professional who moved to the countryside in search of a simpler life
Rating: 3/5
Notes
The true zest of all pleasures lies in contrast
For rich men, it is the pursuit of wealth rather than the wealth itself that is their pleasure
The anxieties of getting money only begets the more torturing anxiety of how to keep it
Is it worth it to destroy the power of living in attaining the means to live?
The man who can buy anything he wants values nothing that he buys
Satisfaction is the death of progress
Work that is not genuinely loved cannot be done well
Women of the best kind have much more garnish in finance compared to men
The simplest pleasures are the most enduring, the commonest delights are the most invigorating and happiness that is most easily available is the best
Nature respects no man and laughs in the face of an egotist
The first business of life is not to get good but to do good
More lives have been spoiled by competence than poverty
Progress is not a collective movement but the movement of great individuals who drag the race after them
Society never moves forward except when it is pushed by the spirit of individual genius
All questions of doing good are secondary to the question of being good
Money plays a small part in human existence much less important than we suppose
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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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