Gumption: Relighting the Torch of Freedom with America's Gutsiest Troublemakers

by Nick Offerman

Find good work to do, and get to it.

“I resolve to speak ill of no man whatever.”

Coupled with punctuality, the other meritorious quality in this set of bookends is follow-through.

Make your desired vocation known to those around you, then proceed to exhibit the most impressive work ethic in whatever occupation is at hand.

Let him remember, by the way, that the unforgivable crime is soft hitting. Do not hit at all if it can be avoided; but never hit softly.”

“Far and away the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.”

Consider Herbert A. Simon, a right sharp scientific thinker, who did his thinking most frequently at Carnegie Mellon, by which I mean this chap was smart as shit. Check out some of his smart-thinks: “In an information-rich world, the wealth of information means a dearth of something else: a scarcity of whatever it is that information consumes. What information consumes is rather obvious: it consumes the attention of its recipients. Hence a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention and a need to allocate that attention efficiently among the overabundance of information sources that might consume it.” A wealth of information creates a poverty of attention. Slogan-worthy.

“All is chaos, and one’s only option is to construct meaning as best as possible, through work. And not just any kind of work, but rather work that has helping others as its stated goal.”

a surplus of information creates a paucity of attention