Too much good news... complacency / despair

"There is too much bad news to justify complacency. There is too much good news to justify despair." - Scientist Donella Meadows, h/t the 3-2-1 newsletter from James Clear.

Leadership is not domination...

 “Leadership is not domination, but the art of persuading people to work toward a common goal.”

Daniel Goleman

Attention

 “Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity.” Simone Weil.

Quoted in The Good Life

Trapped in history

 "People are trapped in history, and history is trapped in them.' 

-James Baldwin, cited in "There There" by Tommy Orange.

Judge each day...

 "Judge each day not by the harvest you reap but by the seeds you plant."

-William Arthur Ward (quoted in The Good Life)

surf

 "You can't stop the waves, but you can learn to surf."

Jon Kabat-Zinn

Habits - James Clear

 "The greatest threat to success is not failure but boredom." -- from Atomic Habits

The point being that consistently putting in the work and making small progress is what leads to success, but we have a desire for novelty that can lead to boredom and habit abandonment. So sticking with things despite boredom, showing up to do the work is key. But also finding ways to make it interesting - by working on small improvements, etc.

Epictetus on happiness

 Happiness and freedom begin with a clear understanding of one principle. Some things are within your control. And some things are not. 

-Epictetus, Discourses

cited in the the Good Life

Giving brings abundance

 "The more you give to others, the greater your abundance."

-Lao Tzu from the Tao Te Ching (referenced in the Waldinger happiness book)