“Work is only a part of life. But work is life only when done in mindfulness. Otherwise, one becomes like the person “who lives as though dead.” We need to light our own torch in order to carry on. But the life of each one of us is connected with the life of those around…
“No matter what the art, the most important thing is to establish who you really are. That is, move from the ego-centered self to the absolute self.” — Awa Kenzo, Zen Bow, Zen Arrow When I was a teenager I tried my hand at welding in a class. I found it thrilling to take a…
“A talent for following the ways of yesterday is not sufficient to improve the world of today. — King Wuling of Zhao When you habitually surf waves of change as part of your identity, few things really surprise you in the world. But now and then the world throws even the most antifragile person for…
“It occurred to me that there were two sets of virtues, the résumé virtues and the eulogy virtues. The résumé virtues are the skills you bring to the marketplace. The eulogy virtues are the ones that are talked about at your funeral — whether you were kind, brave, honest or faithful. Were you capable of…
“Only those who decline to scramble up the career ladder are interesting as human beings. Nothing is more boring than a man with a career.” — Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago A few days of sailing had the desired effect. The stress accumulated, overflowing and leaking out of my pores, revealed in comments and…
“Mortality makes it impossible to ignore the absurdity of living solely for the future.” ― Oliver Burkeman, Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals “We’ve been granted the mental capacities to make almost infinitely ambitious plans, yet practically no time at all to put them into action.” ― Oliver Burkeman, Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management…
“My number one rule is: Maximize your life experiences. So spend your money while you’re alive—whether it’s on yourself, your loved ones, or charity. And beyond that, find the optimal times to spend money.” — Bill Perkins, Die With Zero The dilemma of how much money is enough is the epitome of a first world…
“A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing.” — George Bernard Shaw “Those were steps for me, and I have climbed up over them: to that end I had to pass over them. Yet they thought that I wanted to retire on them.” —…
“Nothing comes merely by thinking about it.” — John Wanamaker When I was just starting out in my career I began collecting books that purported to show the way. We’re all trying to figure out the way, aren’t we? Bold titles like Unlimited Power, Maximum Achievement, The Magic of Thinking Big and Swim With the…
“Tiger, one day you will come to a fork in the road and you’re going to have to make a decision about which direction you want to go. He raised his hand and pointed. “If you go that way you can be somebody. You will have to make compromises and you will have to turn…