“The internet has resulted in the biggest explosion of creativity in history.”
— Andy Baio
Watch Andy’s CreativeMornings talk.
Explosion of Creativity
Loyalty
“Too often a sense of loyalty depends on admiration, and if we can’t admire, it is difficult to be loyal.”
- Aimee Buchanan
Hope
“I find hope in the darkest of days, and focus in the brightest. I do not judge the universe.”
- Dalai Lama
Passion / Desire
“It’s not about passion. Passion is something that we tend to overemphasize, that we certainly place too much importance on. Passion ebbs and flows. To me, it’s about desire. If you have constant, unwavering desire to be a cook, then you’ll be a great cook. If it’s only about passion, sometimes you’ll be good and sometimes you won’t. You’ve got to come in every day with a strong desire. With passion, if you see the first asparagus of the springtime and you become passionate about it, so much the better, but three weeks later, when you’ve seen that asparagus every day now, passions have subsided. What’s going to make you treat the asparagus the same? It’s the desire.”
- Thomas Keller
(via Kottke)
Meaning
“Life is without meaning. You bring meaning to it. The meaning of life is whatever you ascribe it to be. Being alive is the meaning.”
- Joseph Campbell
(Thanks Jane)
Purpose
“Because a true sense of purpose is deeply emotional, it serves as a compass to guide us to act in a way completely consistent with our values and beliefs. Purpose does not need to involve calculations or numbers. Purpose is about the quality of life. Purpose is human, not economic.”
- Simon Sinek
Purpose can not be rationalized, by Simon Sinek.
Most Interesting
“The thing that doesn’t fit is the thing that is most interesting.”
- Richard Feynman
(via Brain Pickings)
An acquisition is always a failure
“An entrepreneur is someone who, almost artistically, designs a living entity which embodies the values, beliefs, and ambitions of the creator. It’s impossible for a larger entity to swallow a smaller one without completely reshaping it. When this process begins, a wild visionary – the entrepreneur type – is the most toxic, indigestible actor imaginable. And this is why I roll my eyes when a new acquisition is announced: Because I don’t see it as a triumphant graduation but a sacrifice to an industry that is afraid to dream big.”
- Jake Lodwick
An acquisition is always a failure, by Jake Lodwick
(via Michael)
The Helping Foundation
“Why don’t we decide to look at the choices we make in our lives not as sources of anxiety, but as enormous opportunities for inspiration, both to and from our children? That connection, that authentic reflection of one another, the flow between the mother and the child, each inspiring the other to lead a beautiful, full life — that’s where our focus should be. It’s a gift like none other.”
Kathryn Tucker, CEO and founder of RedRover wrote this beautiful personal story about her personal struggle of starting a company and at the same being a great mom. Moving and encouraging at the same time.
(Thank you Michael)
True Enthusiasm
“There is an eloquence in true enthusiasm that is not to be doubted.”
- Washington Irving, born 4-3-1783
(thank you Nate)
The Only Way To Grow
“I believe that every designer has to have personal projects—it’s the only way to grow and find a unique voice. At any given point in time, I’m working on an independent project in the studio and that’s very important to me—it’s what defines me as a designer.”
- Louise Fili
Wonderful quote from a recent The Great Discontent interview with Louise Fili.
Business
“I’m not a businessman, I’m a business, man!”
― Jay-Z
Leadership
“The challenge of leadership is to be strong, but not rude; be kind, but not weak; be bold, but not bully; be thoughtful, but not lazy; be humble, but not timid; be proud, but not arrogant; have humor, but without folly.”
— Jim Rohn
Doing Something for No Return
“I started the Do Lectures, which I don’t get paid by, but it helps me meet lots of amazing people, which is brilliant. It is good to do something for no return sometimes. It has given back to me many, many times.”
- David Hieatt
Quote by David Hieatt, Do Lectures co-founder, taken from the book Mash-up!: How to Use Your Multiple Skills to Give You an Edge, Make Money and Be Happier
Working Hard
“Working hard is a skill you have to nurture!”
- Chris Shiflett
My studiomate Chris just dropped this nugget here at the studio.
Children Should Be Allowed to Get Bored
“When children have nothing to do now, they immediately switch on the TV, the computer, the phone or some kind of screen. The time they spend on these things has increased.
But children need to have stand-and-stare time, time imagining and pursuing their own thinking processes or assimilating their experiences through play or just observing the world around them.”
(via Kottke)
Details
“An exceptional company is the one that gets all the little details right.”
- Richard Branson
Business Lessons by Richard Branson
Free works
“When a free option is available in a market of paid alternatives, far more people will choose the free product, often by an order of magnitude or more. Asking people to pay unnecessarily is asking them to behave irrationally and against their own immediate best interests, even if it’s probably worse long-term.”
- Marco Arment
Free Works, by Marco Arment
(thank you Nate)
Yes:
“If you spend your life doing what you love, the speed at which the world goes on and changes around you is irrelevant.”
- Milton Glaser
From conversation between Cool Hunting and the iconic Milton Glaser
Learning to See
“Learning to design is, first of all, learning to see. Designers see more, and more precisely. This is a blessing and a curse — once we have learned to see design, both good and bad, we cannot un-see. The downside is that the more you learn to see, the more you lose your ‘common’ eye, the eye you design for. This can be frustrating for us designers when we work for a customer with a bad eye and strong opinions. But this is no justification for designer arrogance or eye-rolling. Part of our job is to make the invisible visible, to clearly express what we see, feel and do. You can‘t expect to sell what you can’t explain.”
Learning to See, by Oliver Reichenstein
Ode to the Semicolon
“We danced all night; it was divine.” describes one case in point. The first and second halves of which each other do anoint. “We danced all night. It was divine.” How choppy and how stilted! Without the semicolon how the narrative gets wilted!
Ode to the Semicolon, by Tony Noland
(via Chris)
You are boring.
“The Big Bore lurks inside us all. It’s dying to be set loose to lecture on Quentin Tarantino or what makes good ice cream. Fight it! Fight the urge to speak without listening, to tell a bad story, to stay inside your comfortable nest of back-patting pals. As you move away from boring, you will never be bored.”
- Scott Simpson
You are Boring, by Scott Simpson
(via Kevin)
Women + Career
“Every woman I know who feels like she “has it all”—and there are many—has done it in a unique way.”
- Sarah Lacy
Fantastic (and passionate) article by Sarah Lacy over on Pandodaily: In this corner there’s Sheryl Sandberg. In this corner there’s Anne-Marie Slaughter. And then there’s reality
(Thanks Jen)
