Commonplace
Quotes
- [2025-12-29] “The only way to do great work is to love what you do.” - Steve Jobs source
Additional Details
This quote is from Steve Jobs’ 2005 Stanford commencement speech.
- [2025-12-28] “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” - Lao Tzu source
Additional Details
A famous quote from the Tao Te Ching.
- [2025-12-27] “That which does not kill us makes us stronger.” - Friedrich Nietzsche source
Additional Details
From Nietzsche’s “Twilight of the Idols”.
- [2025-08-13] “…because sophistication is either your first language or you always have an accent in it.” - Brodesser-Akner, Taffy. (2019). Fleishman is in trouble.
Additional Details
From Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s novel “Fleishman Is in Trouble”, this quote explores themes of class, sophistication, and belonging in modern American society, suggesting that true cultural fluency is either innate or forever marked by one’s origins.
- [2025-08-04] “A Bet is a Tax on Bullshit” - Tabarrok, A. (2012, November 2). A bet is a tax on bullshit.
Additional Details
This concept is referenced in Nate Silver’s book “On the Edge”, highlighting how making bets forces people to commit to their beliefs with real stakes, serving as a mechanism to expose unfounded claims and encourage intellectual honesty.
- [2025-07-01] “It’s a good reminder that what’s lacking in life is not time. It’s focus. If you’re working on what matters, you can advance leaps and bounds in 8 hours. And if you’re just clearing the slog, you can spend a lifetime staying in the same place.” - (2024, December 12). Notes on China. Dwarkesh Patel.
Additional Details
From Dwarkesh Patel’s “Notes on China”, this observation emphasizes that productivity and progress are fundamentally about prioritization and concentrated effort rather than the quantity of time available.