Same as Ever: A Guide to What Never Changes

usually a better question is, “What have you experienced that I haven’t that makes you believe what you do? And would I think about the world like you do if I experienced what you have?”

Long term is harder than most people imagine, which is why it’s more lucrative than many people assume.

An artist is a sort of emotional historian.

The trick in any field—from finance to careers to relationships—is being able to survive the short-run problems so you can stick around long enough to enjoy the long-term growth. Save like a pessimist and invest like an optimist.

you can only be an optimist in the long run if you’re pessimistic enough to survive the short run.

Militaries are engines of innovation because they occasionally deal with problems so important—so urgent, so vital—that money and manpower are removed as obstacles, and those involved collaborate in ways that are hard to emulate during calm times.

Stress, pain, discomfort, shock, and disgust—for all its tragic downsides, it’s also when the magic happens.

An important thing about this topic is that most great things in life—from love to careers to investing—gain their value from two things: patience and scarcity. Patience to let something grow, and scarcity to admire what it grows into.

Robert Greene writes: “The greatest impediment to creativity is your impatience, the almost inevitable desire to hurry up the process, express something, and make a splash.”