Agalia Tan

You’re a person, you’re not something that can be moulded into this aesthetic box. It’s really important to know those who came before you and why you like what you like, instead of just being fed information very quickly and saying ‘This is my personality now’. Your personality shouldn’t be built upon trends. You are the person and you can add to ... See more

Everything takes longer than you think it will. It takes approximately 140 hours to establish friendship; 300 hours to make it a close one. The path to success is circuitous and not without detours. But oftentimes, that only makes it sweeter.

Creativity requires connecting the dots, and connecting the dots requires allowing time for my subconscious to consolidate my ideas and make associations. This means that, from time to time, I need to just stare out the window and do nothing.

This doesn’t feel productive, even though it is.

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then differentiation is the sincerest form of insult.

When I host, plan, or participate in intellectual gatherings, my purpose is always this: I want to escape the condemnation of Margo Roth Spiegelman. I want to talk about “anything that matters.”

The problem is not merely homogeneity of topic, but homogeneity of substance. If you have to publish a newsletter every week, you don’t have the room or incentive to take risks.

Here’s what attention lavished on scrolling feels like to me. There’s very little texture, or nap to it—it slides and skids. That brief rise or ping we now know is a jolt of delicious dopamine, feels good and soothing at the outset, but it’s not a sensation that sticks, physiologically or otherwise.

Years may pass before you feel like you’re onto something, and this process will likely involve plugging your ears to the siren song of trends until you realize you actually have the same sensibility you had as a kid, it’s just grown up now. I like the word sensibility, I’ve started using it instead of taste when I’m trying to tap into something de... See more