I’m starting to wonder if the process isthe art. What do you mean by that? Maybe the photographing, the writing—maybe the tangible forms of the work are only the receipts of something much more important. What do you mean by that? I’m not exactly sure yet. But I’m paying close attention.

“The old world is dying, and the new world struggles to be born: now is the time of monsters.” The critic and novelist Namwali Serpell told me that the quotation appeals to her in this moment, even though Žižek’s translation is slightly unfaithful to the original. The phrase “now is the time of monsters,” Serpell said, “allows us to think about the... See more

“Nothing is permanent,” she says. “So I’m very careful to be grateful every second that I get to be doing this at this level, because I’ve had it taken away from me before. There is one thing I’ve learned: My response to anything that happens, good or bad, is to keep making things. Keep making art.” She considers. “But I’ve also learned there’s no ... See more

No matter how much wisdom you gain from the pages of your favorite author, if you haven’t experienced the visceral events that led to that wisdom yourself, then it’s just knowledge. Sure, you can leverage the hard-earned wisdom of others to help you, but understanding only happens when you earn that wisdom in the tumultuous arena of real life.

"The greatest predictor of success for leaders is not their charisma, influence, or power. It is not personality, attractiveness, or innovative genius," the pair write. Instead it's a quality called "relational energy." Having it can help your company be up to four times more successful.

All these people you’ve known and loved – “they suffered and struggled so much, and then life is over,” said Scorsese. “You get to the point of saying, ‘Well, what does it all mean?’ It doesn’t matter what it means. You have to live it. And if you choose not to live it, you choose not to live it; that’s up to you. But you are existing and you live ... See more

Leading from good to great does not mean coming up with the answers and then motivating everyone to follow your messianic vision. It means having the humility to grasp the fact that you do not yet understand enough to have the answers and then to ask the questions that will lead to the best possible insights.