things to ponder

The idea of research as leisure activity has stayed with me because it seems to describe a kind of intellectual inquiry that comes from idiosyncratic passion and interest. It’s not about the formal credentials. It’s fundamentally about play.

Habits need to be revised from time to time. Which habits have become more important and you need to double down on next year? Which habits are no longer serving you and need to be replaced next year?

Poet and novelist Sylvia Plath reminds us that choosing a path means ignoring the rest, but not choosing means squandering them all:

“I saw my life branching out before me like the green fig tree in the story. From the tip of every branch, like a fat purple fig, a wonderful future beckoned and winked. One fig was a husband and a happy home and... See more

"You can't make a comeback if you don't start."

Epictetus believed that one of the products of an education was learning what was your business and what wasn’t, as well as what was up to you and what wasn’t.

Arguing with other people? Trying to change their minds about stuff that didn’t matter? That was a losing game. That was a waste of time. As we said recently, one of the signs of progress in... See more

“Whatever pain you can’t get rid of, make it your creative offering.”