This is Paul Graham.

Our early training and our self-centeredness combine to make us believe that every judgement of us is about us. In fact most aren't.

One way to discover broken models is to be stricter than other people. Broken models of the world leave a trail of clues where they bash against reality

You need to be good at some kind of technology, you need an idea for what you're going to build, and you need cofounders to start the company with.

The questions depend on inspiration, but the answers can be got by sheer persistence.

One of the biggest things holding people back from doing great work is the fear of making something lame. And this fear is not an irrational one.

The best essay would be on the most important topic you could tell people something surprising about.

So when you look at something like Reddit and think "I wish I could

think of an idea like that," remember: ideas like that are all

around you. But you ignore them because they look wrong

The way to get startup ideas is not to try to think of startup ideas. It's to look for problems, preferably problems you have yourself.