This is Paul Graham.

The best protection is always to be working on hard problems.

Writing novels is hard. Reading novels isn't.

Hard means worry: if you're not worrying that

something you're making will come out badly, or that you won't be

able to understand something you're studying, then it isn't hard

enough

Going

into business is like a hang-glider launch: you'd better do it

wholeheartedly, or not at all.

Work on hard problems, driven mainly by curiosity, but have a second self watching over your shoulder, taking note of gaps and anomalies.

The way to figure out what to work on is by working. If you're not sure what to work on, guess. But pick something and get going

What should you do if you're young and ambitious but don't know what to work on? What you should not do is drift along passively, assuming the problem will solve itself. You need to take action. But there is no systematic procedure you can follow. When you read biographies of people who've done great work, it's remarkable how much luck is involved.... See more

There are some kinds of work that you can't do well without thinking differently from your peers.

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.

the most important of the new principles business has to learn is that people work a lot harder on stuff they like