Building something new would be “a worldmaking project, aimed at building and rebuilding actual structures of social connection and movement, rather than the mere critique of ones we already have.” In other words, we can’t just rearrange the furniture inside rooms we don’t like the shape of; we have to build entirely new rooms in better shapes.

We can't build a sustainable business by chasing every opportunity.

A sustainable business is strategically constrained. Its leaders know what the business is and, more importantly, what it's not.

sensuality is actually not what we can see. It's always about feeling, whether it's music, whether it's touch. And to increase our sort of consumption of sex, sensuality, we often close our eyes. But pornography is purely visual. And that's why pornography is not at all sensuous. That actually really disrupts our thinking about sex.

The trouble with the internet, Mr. Williams says, is that it rewards extremes. Say you’re driving down the road and see a car crash. Of course you look. Everyone looks. The internet interprets behavior like this to mean everyone is asking for car crashes, so it tries to supply them.

Instead of pursuing a grand life purpose, optimize for wanting to wake up in the morning. Live a life of curiosity and connection. Trust that success will be a byproduct of the meaning you find in daily experiences.

We no longer look to religious authorities for cutting edge knowledge, and this is a good thing. But we still need elements of magic and spiritualism in our lives. For most of human history, perfume was a way to distinguish oneself as special, and this specialness took many different forms. It was about being pleasing, but it was also about being p... See more

Be micro-ambitious. Put your head down and work with pride on whatever is in front of you. You never know where you might end up. Just be aware that the next worthy pursuit will probably appear in your periphery which is why you should be careful of long-term dreams. If you focus too far in front of you, you won’t see the shiny thing out of the cor... See more

What is the goal? To get subscribers? If we have a lot of subscribers, does that mean people are reading? So is that the goal, to have people read our work? And then what? I mean that sincerely. Then what? To change hearts and minds? To start conversations? To make yourself known? Why to strangers? Why not to your family or friends or people in you... See more