“Modern marketing culture is designed to amplify our desires. To turn faint wants into desperate needs. As a result, we’re intimately familiar with what we want. And we strive to get it. The problem with getting what you want is that now you have a hole, because you don’t want that thing anymore, you have it. We then are on a cycle, eager to find a new thing to want. Which means that the thing you used to want but now have fades in comparison. There’s a more resilient path: To commit to wanting what you have.”
Seth Godin
“A parent who acknowledges the fragility of life understands that every moment with their child is a gift not to be wasted. A wise parent looks at the world, harsh as it is, and says, ‘I see what you’re capable of, what you might do to my family tomorrow, but today, you’ve spared us. I will not take that for granted.’ That is how we must live—not just with our children, but with our wealth, our health, the peace in our country, the clear skies above.”
Ryan Holiday
“That troublesome client—thank you, it’s helping me develop better boundaries. That traffic jam—thank you, it gave me time to call my wife and have a nice, meandering conversation. That rejection email—thank you, it forced me to reevaluate and improve my work. The political realities of our time–thank you, it’s a chance to test myself, to really stick to what I believe in. That loss—thank you, for reminding me of what truly matters in life.”
Ryan Holiday
“If, like many people, you tend to be vaguely unhappy much of the time, it can be very helpful to manufacture a feeling of gratitude by simply contemplating all the terrible things that have not happened to you, or to think of how many people would consider their prayers answered if they could only live as you are now. The mere fact that you have the leisure to read this book puts you in a very rarefied company. Many people on earth at this moment can’t even imagine the freedom that you currently take for granted.”
Sam Harris, Waking Up (Page 96)
“Feel as grateful to existence as possible—for small things, not only for great things… just for sheer breathing. We don’t have any claim on existence, so whatever is given is a gift.”
Osho, Everyday Osho (Page 6)
“I grow little of the food I eat, and of the little I do grow I did not breed or perfect the seeds. I do not make any of my own clothing. I speak a language I did not invent or refine. I did not discover the mathematics I use. I am protected by freedoms and laws I did not conceive of or legislate, and do not enforce or adjudicate. I am moved by music I did not create myself. When I needed medical attention, I was helpless to help myself survive. I did not invent the transistor, the microprocessor, object oriented programming, or most of the technology I work with. I love and admire my species, living and dead, and am totally dependent on them for my life and well being.”
Steve Jobs
“Whenever you want to cheer yourself, think of the qualities of your fellows—the energy of one, for example, the decency of another, the generosity of a third, some other merit in a fourth. There is nothing so cheering as the stamp of virtues manifest in the character of colleagues—and the greater the collective incidence, the better. So keep them ready to hand.”
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations (Page 125)
