The Quest of the Simple Life

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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Free E-book download here

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

***

Buy the book here

Free E-book download here

The Quest of the Simple Life

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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

***

Buy the book here

Free E-book download here