mantras

“The feeling of progress is one of the best feelings of all. This is true even when progress is small.”

3-2-1: On progress, friendship, and how to improve your writing

I understand now that no one else in the world knows what I should do. The experts don’t know, the ministers, the therapists, the magazines, the authors, my parents, my friends, they don’t know. Not even the folks who love me the most. Because no one has ever lived or will ever live this life I am attempting to live, with my gifts and challenges an

Glennon Doyle • Untamed

When stumped by a life choice, choose “enlargement” over happiness. I’m indebted to the Jungian therapist James Hollis for the insight that major personal decisions should be made not by asking, “Will this make me happy?”, but “Will this choice enlarge me or diminish me?” We’re terrible at predicting what will make us happy: the question swiftly ge... See more

oliverburkeman.com • Oliver Burkeman's Last Column: The Eight Secrets to a (Fairly) Fulfilled Life

I like the term generalist, it’s one of the best descriptions of my career(s) and also a good representation of something I see as vital: being able to understand different domains and translate between them.

Patrick Tanguay • Generalists

She ran her hand over her shorn head again, felt a stirring of pride mixed up with the pressure that was tightening in her like a bolt being turned into place. Her hair was a declaration, not an admission. All things should be declarations, not admissions.

Maggie Shipstead • Great Circle: the dazzling, instant New York Times bestseller

Poet Marianne Moore offers a simple life strategy: "I've made it a principle not to be over-influenced by minor disappointments."

similarly - don’t be over-influenced by awkwardness

Generosity is not timidity, empathy or availability

Almost everything that is meaningful, beautiful, life-affirming, empowering, transformational, true—it can’t be reached by shortcuts. But what we can do is make the longcuts walkable, put out footbridges and stairs, and a table where the ocean comes into view.

On Shortcuts and Longcuts