"Perhaps going in the direction of what we call truth is, at least, to 'unlie,' not to lie. Our lives are buildings made up of lies. We have to lie to live. But to write we must try to unlie. Something renders going in the direction of truth and dying almost synonymous. We cannot read about it, we cannot bear it, we cannot say it; all we can think

I think “And what else?” is the best coaching question in the world. It does two things: It extends the period of curiosity, and it tames your advice monster.

The information in your news feeds is curated for interest or surprise. As such, the news is not a record of the ordinary but the extraordinary—a reflection not of reality but of precisely that which is uncharacteristic of reality.

-Gurwinder

Kurt Vonnegut, talking about when he tells his wife he’s going out to buy an envelope:

“Oh, she says well, you’re not a poor man. You know, why don’t you go online and buy a hundred envelopes and put them in the closet? And so I pretend not to hear her. And go out to get an envelope because I’m going to have a hell of a good time in the process of b

We’ve gotten so damn good at making products with good physical attributes that the commercial war of the future will be about identity rather than value —Iannaccone

From there, I have a few go-to questions that I have found create reliably engaging discourse:

• What's your connection to [insert current place or event]?

• What are you most excited about currently?

• What's lighting you up outside of work?

• What’s your favorite book you’ve read recently?

Note: Always avoid "What do you do?" as a question. It's