Founders: #261 Autobiography of a Restless Mind Volume One and Two
David Senra 8/4/22 - Episode Page
What I learned from rereading Autobiography of a Restless Mind: Reflections on the Human Condition Volume 1 and Autobiography of a Restless Mind: Reflections on the Human Condition Volume 2 by Dee Hock.
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[4:39] Quotes: Abraham Lincoln | Pythagoras | Mark Twain | Socrates | Napoleon | Leonardo da Vinci
[6:15] One should not read like a dog obeying its master, but like an eagle hunting its prey.
[6:48] Humility and generosity have no enemies.
[7:12] Powerful writing should take one side and stick to it tenaciously, ignoring the other even though it may have merit. Objective writing is impotent.
[8:02] The essential reward of anything well done is to have done it.
[8:07] What becomes known is worthless until it is shared.
[9:25] No dream is so great as the person you might become by remaining true to it.
[11:04] The wise make great use of adversity. The foolish whine about it.
[12:02] Impatience is a perpetual barrier between desire and realization.
[12:46] There are two ways to look at opposition: I want to do it and they will not let me or they want to prevent me and I won’t let them.
[13:54] When we fully attend to management of self, excellent management of all else is unavoidable.
[14:43] A meaningful life cannot be made from denial. It must be made from affirmation.
[15:16] We are each the author of our own life. Whatever we write, masterpiece or trash, it will be published and widely read throughout our life and for decades thereafter.
[16:21] The wise do not feel demeaned by asking for advice or diminished by following it.
[16:37] A wise man goes forth to meet difficulty on rather than agonizing at its approach.
[21:27] Superb design and sluggish effort can never compete with modest design and diligent effort.
[21:45] It is both foolish and weak to defer confronting what cannot be avoided.
[22:04] I have done many great things perfectly—the ones I imagined but never attempted.
[22:09] Delaying what we must do eventually does nothing but lengthen the time and distance we must carry the burden.
[22:30] The most interesting people are always the most interested people.
[22:54] Complaining about life is like hurling sand against the wind.
[23:31] Beginning of Volume 2
[27:29] Certainty is not a property of the universe. It is a construct of the mind.
[28:09] Any idiot can impose and exercise control. It takes genius to ensure freedom and release creativity.
[29:18] Two centuries ago it took a year to send a message around the globe. Now it takes a fraction of a second. We have no idea what this means or what the consequences may be.
[30:04] “Use your head, but follow your heart.” is my advice to all my grandchildren. Come to think of it. It's not bad advice for adults as well.
[30:54] Man is at war with his own nature.
[31:12] There is nothing at all wrong with discipline providing it is self-induced rather than imposed.
[31:26] Books are seductive things. All are worth a look and a touch, some a kiss, others an affair, the best marriage and lifelong devotion.
[32:41] Genius merely articulates what your heart already knows.
[32:45] The young hurl themselves into vast problems that have troubled the world's best thinkers, believing that they can find a solution. It is well that they should for, from time to time, one of them does.
[33:20] Great accomplishment often consists of doing little things well.
[33:35] The superior man is concerned when his deeds are not better than his words.
[34:16] Books are not dead things. They preserve some thing of the intellect and spirit that writes, and are instrumental in forming the intellect and spirit that reads.
[34:42] Ignorant commentaries corrupt brilliant thoughts. That may well prove to be the curse of the internet.
[35:44] Conduct is a silent sermon powerfully preached without cessation.
[36:02] Every organization has one or two heroes who gives it birth, direction, and purpose.
[36:20] Minnows of thought dart about in shallow minds with great agitation. Great whales of thought majestically move through oceanic minds without commotion.
[38:00] The new and novel should be viewed with suspicion. For it is improbable that one generation can be wiser than all ancestors combined.
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