Sterling Proffer

This is the publishing paradox nowadays: opportunities come to you in direct proportion to your ability to operate without them.

Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius — and a lot of courage — to move in the opposite direction.

There is such urgency in the multitude of crises we face, it can make it hard to remember that in fact it is urgency thinking (urgent constant unsustainable growth) that got us to this point, and that our potential success lies in doing deep, slow, intentional work.

If you were to study some of the most admired creative thinkers, writers, and artists to have ever lived, you would find that all shared a passion for their work, an intense desire to succeed, and an almost superhuman capacity to focus. Yet, when you look closely at their daily lives, they only spent a few hours a day doing what we would recognize... See more