whats worth doing

there is thrill in striving. Purpose in striving. Even those who have put in decades of work are overcome by a sense of melancholy when they finally achieve their aim.

Who was it who convinced us that being comfortable and familiar was so great? Only foreigners can truly understand the way things work.

I find it liberating to remind myself that it is perfectly ok to not know who I am or where I am going. Knowing yourself is not a prerequisite for a good life. I just need to take one step in the most promising direction, and then another—submitting to the jealous and possessive god of my life.

Hans Castorp raised his arms and made a face that said that a great many things were written, on both sides of the question, and that it was difficult to decide what was right and abide by it.

For what matters in life is not whether we receive a round of applause; what matters is whether we have the courage to venture forth despite the uncertainty of acclaim.”

Anil and Sunil Varanasi at Meter fit this archetype, too. For my Deep Dive on Meter, I asked Anil what made building the company fun for him: The word he used was “ expansiveness .”

But it does have to be big enough to remain endlessly fascinating and continue to expand for the decades it takes to build something truly important.

You have the right to work only but never to its fruits.

Let not the fruits of action be your motive, nor let your attachment be to inaction.