"Take one simple thing — almost anything — but take it extremely seriously, as if it was the only thing in the world, or maybe the entire world is in it — and by taking it seriously you'll light up the sky."
"Even a foolish person can still be right about most things. Most conventional wisdom is true."
"Rule of 3 in conversation. To get to the real reason, ask a person to go deeper than what they just said. Then again, and once more. The third time's answer is close to the truth."
"A worthy goal for a year is to learn enough about a subject so that you can't believe how ignorant you were a year earlier."
"The wise man develops himself, the fool waits to die."
"If you are not willing to learn, no one can help you. If you are determined to learn, no one can stop you."
"Knowing others is wisdom, knowing yourself is enlightenment."
"I have never met a person I admired who did not read more books than I did."
"We are what our thoughts have made us; so take care about what you think. Words are secondary. Thoughts live; they travel far."
"I don't know what's the matter with people: they don't learn by understanding, they learn by some other way—by rote or something. Their knowledge is so fragile!"
"The worst evils in history have always been committed by those who truly believed they were combating evil. Beware of combating evil."
"If you have any doubt at all about being able to carry a load in one trip, do yourself a huge favor and make two trips."
"Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers."
"Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration."
"Knowledge is of no value unless you put it into practice."
"Most people end up being conformists; they adapt to prison life. A few become reformers; they fight for better lighting, better ventilation. Hardly anyone becomes a rebel, a revolutionary who breaks down the prison walls. You can only be a revolutionary when you see the prison walls in the first place."
"Being enthusiastic is worth 25 IQ points."
"Trust me: There is no 'them'."
"By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is the noblest; Second, by imitation, which is the easiest; Third by experience, which is the bitterest."
"When someone tells you something is wrong, they're usually right. When someone tells you how to fix it, they're usually wrong."
"Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor. It's the voice of the enemy. And if you listen to it, it keeps you crazy for your entire life because we all fall short."
"When you get an invitation to do something in the future, ask yourself: would you accept this if it was scheduled for tomorrow? Not too many promises will pass that immediacy filter."
"It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see."
"Being wise means having more questions than answers."
"Being able to listen well is a superpower. While listening to someone you love keep asking them 'Is there more?', until there is no more."
"When an object is lost, 95% of the time it is hiding within arm's reach of where it was last seen. Search in all possible locations in that radius and you'll find it."
"Finite games are played to win or lose. Infinite games are played to keep the game going. Seek out infinite games because they yield infinite rewards."
"Spend more time searching for better information sources. A body filled with junk food struggles to move well. A mind filled with junk thoughts struggles to think well."
"I was born not knowing and have had only a little time to change that here and there."
"Don't be the smartest person in the room. Hangout with, and learn from, people smarter than yourself. Even better, find smart people who will disagree with you."
"You are only as young as the last time you changed your mind."
"To myself I am only a child playing on the beach, while vast oceans of truth lie undiscovered before me."
"Be a good ancestor. Do something a future generation will thank you for. A simple thing is to plant a tree."
"You should take the approach that you're wrong. Your goal is to be less wrong."
"Don't trust all-purpose glue."
"Extraordinary claims should require extraordinary evidence to be believed."
"You are what you do. Not what you say, not what you believe, not how you vote, but what you spend your time on."
"Don't be afraid to ask a question that may sound stupid because 99% of the time everyone else is thinking of the same question and is too embarrassed to ask it."
"Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social environment. Most people are even incapable of forming such opinions."
"I'm positive that in 100 years much of what I take to be true today will be proved to be wrong, maybe even embarrassingly wrong, and I try really hard to identify what it is that I am wrong about today."
"Talent hits a target no one else can hit; genius hits a target no one else can see."