Six Quotes to Live By
...and bonus wisdom from an emerging young podcast star...
You know when you’re looking for something, and stumble on some scrap of your past that makes you freeze, and snaps you back in time?
I this week found a note entitled ‘Quotes to Live By’, marked as ‘last modified’ in the week of my 40th birthday, eight years ago.
Thought to share…
But first, consider a question: what is the blend of how you are a inspired by or intimidated by the hard truths in such philosophical riddles of wisdom?
Do you love them, or maybe even loathe them (vague, impractical…)?
If you love them, what is speaking to you?
And where you loathe them, how so?
“If you can see your path all the way through to the end, you’re following someone else’s path.”
- Joseph Campbell
“Our achievements of today are but the sum total of our thoughts of yesterday. We are today where the thoughts of yesterday have brought us and we will be tomorrow where the thoughts of today take us.”
- Blaise Pascal
“Reasonable men adapt themselves to the world. Unreasonable men adapt the world to themselves. That's why all progress depends on unreasonable men.”
- George Bernard Shaw
“A master in the art of living draws no sharp distinction between his work and his play; his labor and his leisure; his mind and his body; his education and his recreation.
He hardly knows which is which.
He simply pursues his vision of excellence through whatever he is doing, and leaves others to determine whether he is working or playing.
To himself, he always appears to be doing both.”
- Francois Auguste De Chateaubriand
“There is a life force within your soul, seek that life.
There is a gem in the mountain of your body, seek that mine.
Oh, traveler, if you are in search of that, don’t look outside, look inside yourself and seek that.”
- Rumi
And perhaps most simply, when we need to then get down and do the work…
“I don't count my sit ups.
I only start counting when it starts hurting. When I feel pain, that's when I start counting, because that's when it really counts.”
- Muhammad Ali
And now the bonus material, from a 20-something young podcast host, an emerging star on the business podcast scene, Ed Elson, co-host to NYU Stern Professor Scott Galloway (on the ‘ProfG’ podcast).
In a reader Q&A, Ed was asked about his career ambitions as a podcast co-host. Ed a few years ago was a young Yale graduate who just couldn’t join the posse of peers heading to Wall Street, Big Tech or Management Consulting, and sought an intro to Scott Galloway instead.
He commented, with extraordinary early career wisdom:
“In your career, figure out a way to express yourself fully…To me this is the number one thing you need to do in life, and I think it’s surprisingly difficult to do…
I haven’t been around that long but the times I have been the least happy were the moments where for whatever reason, I felt unable to express myself fully.
The times I’ve been most happy were when I felt most motivated and confident to express myself.
And it’s difficult to do because there are so many little things in life that can get in the way in that.
The ability to express yourself is a luxury that you have to work hard to achieve.”
-Ed Elson
Where in our lives can we express ourselves, our essence more?
Onwards,
Kevin
Those are really good quotes. But speaking of wise souls and heavy hitters, that quote by Ali is my favorite. Although the Elson quote is the most provocative and one I'll definitely be re-sharing with the Honestly Human community.
Adding some bonus material, courtesy of Mahatma Ghandhi: "Your beliefs become your thoughts; your thoughts become your words, your words become your habits, your habits become your values, your values become your destiny."