David > David's Quotes

“Clarity about what matters provides clarity about what does not.”
― Cal Newport, Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World

“what we choose to focus on and what we choose to ignore—plays in defining the quality of our life.”
― Cal Newport, Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World

“If you want to win the war for attention, don’t try to say ‘no’ to the trivial distractions you find on the information smorgasbord; try to say ‘yes’ to the subject that arouses a terrifying longing, and let the terrifying longing crowd out everything else.” For”
― Cal Newport, Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World

“Better done than said.”
― Frank Sonnenberg, The Path to a Meaningful Life

“When you blame others for your circumstances, you surrender control of your future.”
― Frank Sonnenberg, The Path to a Meaningful Life

“Excuses proclaim an unwillingness to learn.”
― Frank Sonnenberg, The Path to a Meaningful Life

“At the core of this experimental approach, little bets are concrete actions taken to discover, test, and develop ideas that are achievable and affordable.”
― Peter Sims, Little Bets: How Breakthrough Ideas Emerge from Small Discoveries

“Once a small win has been accomplished, forces are set in motion that favor another small win.”
― Peter Sims, Little Bets: How Breakthrough Ideas Emerge from Small Discoveries

“the value of prototyping: Potential users of ideas are more comfortable sharing their honest reactions when it’s rough,”
― Peter Sims, Little Bets: How Breakthrough Ideas Emerge from Small Discoveries

“If you look at four-year-olds, they are constantly asking questions and wondering how things work,” Gregersen observed generally. “But by the time they are six and a half years old they stop asking questions because they quickly learn that teachers value the right answers more than provocative questions.”
― Peter Sims, Little Bets: How Breakthrough Ideas Emerge from Small Discoveries

“We don’t think about how we want to spend our time, and so we spend massive amounts of time on things—television, Web surfing, housework, errands—that give a slight amount of pleasure or feeling of accomplishment, but do little for our careers, our families, or our personal lives. We spend very little time on things that require more thought or initiative, like nurturing our kids, exercising, or engaging in the limited hours we do work in deliberate practice of our professional crafts. We try to squeeze these high-impact activities around the edges of things that are easy, or that seem inevitable merely because we always do them or because we think others expect us to. And consequently, we feel overworked and underrested, and tend to believe stories that confirm this view.”
― Laura Vanderkam, 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think

“Though you will save many hours by seizing control of your calendar, and clearing away non-core-competency activities, in the long run, the best way to create more time is to actually get better at your professional craft.”
― Laura Vanderkam, 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think

“Asking “Why?” can lead to understanding. Asking “Why not?” can lead to breakthroughs.”
― Daniel H. Pink, A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future