The more you grow, the better you know which flaws are acceptable.

Be a good ancestor.

well as aspirational result—and

When we think of geniuses as people with extraordinary abilities, we neglect the importance of life circumstances in shaping them.

As he described it to me, “When you throw yourself into something and don’t see results, it’s discouraging.”

The effect of opportunity is more than just a correlation, and it goes beyond wealth—it lies in geography too.

The goal of measuring degree of difficulty at the individual level isn’t to advantage people who face adversity. It’s to make sure we don’t disadvantage people for navigating adversity.

Seek discomfort.

The bad news is that a perfect map won’t exist. The exact route hasn’t been plotted for us—there may not even be a road. We might have to pave our own way, figuring out the route as we go, one turn at a time.