Quotes

Ridiculous →

Published April 15, 2023  ·  All posts on Apr 15  ·  , ,

The moral? That there is no greater homage we could pay Proust than to end up passing the same verdict on him as he passed on Ruskin, namely, that for all its qualities, his work must eventually also prove silly, maniacal, constraining, false and ridiculous to those who spend too long on it.

“To make [reading] into a discipline is to give too large a role to what is only an incitement. Reading is on the threshold of the spiritual life; it can introduce us to it: It does not constitute it.”

Even the finest books deserve to be thrown aside.

~ Alain de Botton

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Outstandingly creative →

Published April 14, 2023  ·  All posts on Apr 14  ·  , ,

What makes the difference between an outstandingly creative person and a less creative one is not any special power, but greater knowledge (in the form of practiced expertise) and the motivation to acquire and use it. This motivation endures for long periods, perhaps shaping and inspiring a whole lifetime.

~ Margaret A. Boden

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Pale facsimilies →

Published April 13, 2023  ·  All posts on Apr 13  ·  ,

We only really know what is new, what suddenly introduces to our sensibility a change of tone which strikes us, that for which habit has not yet substituted its pale facsimiles.

~ Marcel Proust

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The answer →

Published April 12, 2023  ·  All posts on Apr 12  ·  

I think everybody should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of so they can see that it’s not the answer.

~ Jim Carrey

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Think more →

Published April 11, 2023  ·  All posts on Apr 11  ·  , ,

Read less, study less, but think more. Learn, both from your teachers and from the books which you read, only those things which you really need and which you really want to know.

~ Leo Tolstoy

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Silence kept →

Published April 10, 2023  ·  All posts on Apr 10  ·  

For every time you regret that you did not say something, you will regret a hundred times that you did not keep your silence.

~ Leo Tolstoy

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True optimism →

Published April 8, 2023  ·  All posts on Apr 8  ·  , ,

[True optimism involves] seeing the world as it is, yet still believing—and more importantly behaving—in ways that create better outcomes for all of us.

~ Karen Reivich

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Social media →

Published April 6, 2023  ·  All posts on Apr 6  ·  , ,

We cannot make social media good, because it is fundamentally bad… all we can do is hope that it withers away, and play our small part in helping abandon it.

~ Ian Bogost

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Entire vital function →

Published April 4, 2023  ·  All posts on Apr 4  ·  ,

So far as man stands for anything, and is productive or originative at all, his entire vital function may be said to have to deal with maybes. Not a victory is gained, not a deed of faithfulness or courage is done, except upon a maybe; not a service, not a sally of generosity, not a scientific exploration or experiment or textbook, that may not be a mistake. It is only by risking our persons from one hour to another that we live at all.

~ William James

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Rejection →

Published April 1, 2023  ·  All posts on Apr 1  ·  , ,

Creating something that can be turned down takes discipline and courage, so there’s reason to feel pride for each rejection.

~ Rhaina Cohen

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