A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor

Text in black are quotes; text in green are my notes. I sometimes write in Spanish.

• I thought about how maybe the constancy of our surroundings makes us believe in a constancy of reality and of self. #

• I know that doesn’t seem super important right now, but no mission gets done without people, and no people survive without taking bathroom breaks. #

• A lot of the reason we look to friends is because they’re a source of meaning. If you’re getting meaning in other ways, it’s easy to let your friendships wither. That’s one reason success can be isolating. I learned that from an expert. #

• “I can smell that kind of ambition. It’s not about making the world better, it’s about using marvelous potential and intelligence to . . .” She paused to think. “To feel like they matter. I won’t work with people like that, because if they don’t think they matter despite being some of the most successful, important, influential people on earth, what must they think of the rest of us?” #

• I don’t so much want to be in the room where it happens, but I do really want to help other people choose the right rooms, and help them realize that they really are a part of things that matter. Because when we feel like none of the rooms we are in matter, that’s when we’re really lost. #

• “The solution isn’t going back to the one clear path. The solution is, everywhere and always, the decentralization and redistribution of all forms of power.” #

• “I guess we’re at the point in history where being a person has become a liability. Better to just be a disembodied jumble of ideas.” #

• What I wanted was the part where people were asked to get together once a week to talk about how to be a good person and, like, hang out with their neighbors. It’s pretty amazing that apparently the only way to get people to do that is to invent an all-seeing, kindhearted sky dad who will be super disappointed/burn you for eternity if you don’t show up. #

• The phrase “thought leader” made my eyes roll so far back into my head I could see my brain, but that didn’t mean that there was anything in the world I wanted more than to be a thought leader. #

• “That obsession with impact is an infection and it’s getting worse. #

• I think that tragedy either brings people together or drives them apart. You can find either comfort or a constant reminder. #

• You want stories that make sense, and this might not make sense to you. We build narratives of genius and exceptionality among the people who have power, and they are often exceptional, but no more exceptional than hundreds of thousands of others. #

• Every human conversation is more elegant and complex than the entire solar system that contains it. #

• We’ve got two competing ideas inside of our heads: first, that all people have the same value because otherwise we’re immoral monsters, and then second, that some people are more valuable because they have access to more money or skills or knowledge. I’m not saying this is good; I’m just saying it’s a thing. #

• An open market rewards people who work hard and think critically at first, but once real value is at stake, the market rapidly transforms to reward those with access to capital. #

• “I mean, use what you’ve got, Andy. If you want in, get in. Nothing’s fair.” #

• One of the most powerful traits of your system is how ardently you believe in your individuality while simultaneously operating almost entirely as a collective.” #

• We let people buy the ability to influence us and we don’t notice. #

• Move fast and break things is great for a business, but not for society. Or the human mind. #

• April was definitely right that you can only pretend to be something for so long before you become it. #

• Our reality isn’t about what’s real, it’s about what we pay attention to.” #

• “Power is just a lack of constraint.” #

• think that happiness is very important. But I will also say that the most effective people I know are not the happiest, and there is something to be said for effectiveness. #

• You will always struggle with not feeling productive until you accept that your own joy can be something you produce. It is not the only thing you will make, nor should it be, but it is something valuable and beautiful. #

• But we are empathy machines, and one of the most lasting and true ways of finding meaning is to actually be of service. #

• The most impactful thing you can do with power is almost always to give it away. #