From 600+ conversations with the world’s leading thinkers.
Electronic systems change not only what we know, but how we know it.
I use the word repugnance to describe transactions that some people would like to engage in, that other people would not like them to; it's often hard to pin-down what harm the transaction does to anyone else.
the knowledge that we must die 'the worm at the core' of the human condition
What failure really means is that you are trying to live life, and the fact that you fail means that you are trying. As soon as you try to avoid failure, you are facing the wrong direction.
The greatest adventure that any of us can take is answering these questions for ourselves. This isn't deep, dark, conversation, it's normal conversation. The wisest, coolest prophets out there… people like the Dalai Lama… they're full of joy.
Excellence means you do the absolute best you can in every situation that you face. It's an aesthetic concept, a performance concept, and helps you create the most perfect balance for success.
We compensate for our failure to exercise actual control over events by creating a generalized, subjective sense of control by undertaking acts the effect of which on the environment is illusory.
One of my Zen mentors, Barry Magid, authored a book entitled 'Ending the Pursuit of Happiness'. In it, he criticises the concept of chasing happiness as a curative fantasy – the mistaken belief that happiness is an attainable, sustainable, and permanent state. The reality is, no one is in a state of perpetual happiness.
Don't make the mistake of confusing net worth and self-worth.
Ultimately, when my time comes, my aspiration is to be greeted by God's approval, hearing Him say, 'Well done, my good and faithful servant.' Stripping away all else, that is the essence of success to me.
Ancient philosophy almost hasn't been bettered as a kind of therapeutic toolbox in 2400 years, and have a certain aesthetic to them which makes you feel part of a long tradition.
The smartest being on planet Earth is life itself. Life creates with abundance, not with scarcity. Life does not want to kill the tigers for the deer to survive. Life basically says more deer, more tigers, more everything.