Life Is Short And So Is This Book

by Peter Atkins

The trick is people who are most productive tend to say no to things that are unimportant to them and focus on what they believe matters.

Focusing on what matters means saying no to things that don’t matter. Otherwise, your life becomes cluttered with distractions.

Albert Einstein said: It's not that I'm so smart, it's just that I stay with problems longer.

So to make the most of your life, say no to things that don’t matter, work hard at what you love, and occasionally take time away from your core focus to rest so that your mind can be quiet for great insights to come.

If you can't sleep, then get up and do something instead of lying there worrying. It's the worry that gets you, not the lack of sleep. -Dale Carnegie

The lesson to me is that you can focus on something going well, or something beautiful, or something interesting -- even amidst terrible times.

As Winston Churchill said: Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.

Do what you think is right. Don't follow other people blindly. Be honest and keep your word. Admit your mistakes.

Lack of activity destroys the good condition of every human being, while movement and methodical physical exercise save it and preserve it. - Plato

I’ve found you can choose to let all the things that go wrong in life depress you. Or, you can accept that things will go wrong, try to laugh, and then look at what you can do. There’s a Japanese proverb that gets right to the point: We’re fools whether we dance or not -- so we might as well dance.

The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.