We are forever evolving, interconnected
Every portion of me will be reassigned as another portion of the world, and that in turn transformed into another. Ad infinitum.
— Meditations, Marcus Aurelius
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Make peace with the past
Make peace with the past through responsibility, humility, and grace.
Nothing erases the past. There is repentance, there is atonement, and there is forgiveness. That is all, but that is enough.
— Exhalation, Ted Chiang
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Objectivity is allusive
Whether journalist or a historian, storytelling is more a mirror than window.
The witness is like most people - when he talks about something, he’s really just talking about himself.
— Alex, Pierre Lemaitre
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Why are YOU doing that?
To know the world requires knowing yourself, until you do, judge lightly.
Learn to ask of all actions, “Why are they doing that?”. Start with your own.
— Meditations, Marcus Aurelius
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Finite is all
Embrace constraints. Choice is all there is.
Any finite life — even the best one you could possibly imagine — is therefore a matter of ceaselessly waving goodbye to possibility.
— Four Thousand Weeks, Oliver Burkeman
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Declare war with yourself
I can’t. They’re [better, smarter, prettier, stronger, more gifted]. I don’t deserve. Back when I was younger I could…
These silent whispers - listen, then obliterate without mercy.
The greatest battle of all is with yourself — your weaknesses, your emotions, your lack of resolution in seeing things through to the end. You must declare unceasing war on yourself.
— Robert Greene
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We're all imposters
Feeling like an imposter? You should. Underneath the facade, we’re all pretty ridiculous.
It’s lucky no one else knows what our most secret thoughts are. We’d all be seen for the cunning, self-aggrandizing fools we are.
— The Poet, Michael Connelly
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Shadow work
Your inner flaws - your shadow - are part of being human. Acknowledge, accept, overcome - shadow-work.
If an inferiority is conscious, one always has a chance to correct it.
— Carl Jung
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Explore
Explore then exploit, in that order.
As you drop off your child this month, remember that they will have ample time to figure out their career. Before that, encourage them to take risks, and to stretch their brains and themselves. Only by doing that will they begin to discover what will give their life meaning and worth over the next 70 years.
— The Worst Advice Parents Can Give First-Year Students, Ezekiel J. Emanuel
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Ripples
Good storytelling explores the interplay of unintended consequences - second (or higher) order effects.
As in life, it’s these ripple effects — not the direct outcomes of our actions — that create the highest highs, and the lowest lows.