Collected a nice set of quotes in this book. The main theme of the book is to actively practice humility, and helps you put “busy work” and actually working to achieve results into perspective.
I also found the parts where Creativity is criticized interesting as sort of a contrarian perspective. “Our imagination is dangerous when it runs wild”, preaching for a sort of controlled structured form of creativity to not derail yourself too much.
The last thought I wanted to mention was that in ambitious, talented, driven people “ego comes with the territory”. Rather than being a incidental byproduct, it is actually a trait that is hiding in all achievers and is something to be actively reflected and acted upon.
quotes
Ego Is the Enemy
TALK, TALK, TALK
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she did what a lot of us do when we’re scared or overwhelmed by a project: she did everything but focus on it.
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Talking and doing fight for the same resources.
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the greatest work and art comes from wrestling with the void, facing it instead of scrambling to make it go away.
TO BE OR TO DO?
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“A man is worked upon by what he works on,” Frederick Douglass once said.
BECOME A STUDENT
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You will not find the answers if you’re too conceited and self-assured to ask the questions. You cannot get better if you’re convinced you are the best.
DON’T BE PASSIONATE
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Remember, “zealot” is just a nice way to say “crazy person.”
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Passion is form over function. Purpose is function, function, function.
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What is really called for in these circumstances is clarity, deliberateness, and methodological determination.
FOLLOW THE CANVAS STRATEGY
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Clear the path for the people above you and you will eventually create a path for yourself.
RESTRAIN YOURSELF
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When you want to do something—something big and important and meaningful—you will be subjected to treatment ranging from indifference to outright sabotage. Count on it.
GET OUT OF YOUR OWN HEAD
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The more creative we are, the easier it is to lose the thread that guides us.
Links to Creativity
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Our imagination—in many senses an asset—is dangerous when it runs wild.
THE DANGER OF EARLY PRIDE
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Receive feedback, maintain hunger, and chart a proper course in life. Pride dulls these senses.
WORK, WORK, WORK
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The hard thing isn’t setting a big, hairy, audacious goal. The hard thing is laying people off when you miss the big goal…
THE PAINFUL PROLOGUE
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virtue begins with understanding and is fulfilled by courage.
INTRODUCTION
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The ego we see most commonly goes by a more casual definition: an unhealthy belief in our own importance.
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: “If you start believing in your greatness, it is the death of your creativity.
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for people with ambitions, talents, drives, and potential to fulfill, ego comes with the territory.
PART I: ASPIRE
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We will learn that though we think big, we must act and live small in order to accomplish what we seek.
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Among men who rise to fame and leadership two types are recognizable—those who are born with a belief in themselves and those in whom it is a slow growth dependent on actual achievement.