Matthew > Matthew's Quotes

“There is always a point at which the terrorist ceases to manipulate the media gestalt. A point at which the violence may well escalate, but beyond which the terrorist has become symptomatic of the media gestalt itself. Terrorism as we ordinarily understand it is innately media-related. The Panther Moderns differ from other terrorists precisely in their degree of self-consciousness, in their awareness of the extent to which media divorce the act of terrorism from the original sociopolitical intent …”
― William Gibson, Neuromancer

“The tip which worked for me was to focus on input-based process goals (write for five minutes) rather than output-based results goals (write one page), and to keep the required inputs minuscule at first.”
― Nick Winter, The Motivation Hacker

“To precommit is to choose now to limit your options later, preventing yourself from making the wrong choice in the face of temptation. Publicly announcing your goal is a common form of precommitment.”
― Nick Winter, The Motivation Hacker

“Rita Emmett, the author of The Procrastinator’s Handbook, summed this up well in what she labeled Emmett’s law: “The dread of doing a task uses up more time and energy than doing the task itself.”
― Chris Bailey, The Productivity Project: Proven Ways to Become More Awesome

“Busyness is no different from laziness when it doesn’t lead you to accomplish anything.”
― Chris Bailey, The Productivity Project: Proven Ways to Become More Awesome

“We believe what we want to believe.”
― Suki Kim, Without You, There Is No Us: My secret life teaching the sons of North Korea’s elite

“there. Of course, the DPRK purposely infantilized its citizens, making everyone helpless and powerless so that they depended on the state.”
― Suki Kim, Without You, There Is No Us: My secret life teaching the sons of North Korea’s elite

“The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing. —STEPHEN COVEY”
― Caroline Webb, How To Have A Good Day: The Essential Toolkit for a Productive Day at Work and Beyond

“To see this switching cost in action, try this basic exercise: Say “abcdefg,” then immediately after that say “1234567.” Notice how long it takes you to do this. Perhaps even time yourself. Then, interleave the two: say “a1b2c3d4e5f6g7.”
― Caroline Webb, How To Have A Good Day: The Essential Toolkit for a Productive Day at Work and Beyond

“One thing at a time. Most important thing first. Start now.”
― Caroline Webb, How To Have A Good Day: The Essential Toolkit for a Productive Day at Work and Beyond

“recommended gunter reading list. Douglas Adams. Kurt Vonnegut. Neal Stephenson. Richard K. Morgan. Stephen King. Orson Scott Card. Terry Pratchett. Terry Brooks. Bester, Bradbury, Haldeman, Heinlein, Tolkien, Vance, Gibson, Gaiman, Sterling, Moorcock, Scalzi, Zelazny.”
― Ernest Cline, Ready Player One

“Halliday’s favorites, like WarGames, Ghostbusters, Real Genius, Better Off Dead, or Revenge of the Nerds”
― Ernest Cline, Ready Player One

“hikikomori,”
― Ernest Cline, Ready Player One

“The macho values that are found today in many Asian and African countries, these are not Asian values, or African values. They are not Muslim values. They are not Eastern values. They are patriarchal values like those found in Sweden only 60 years ago, and with social and economic progress they will vanish, just as they did in Sweden. They are not unchangeable.”
― Hans Rosling, Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About The World - And Why Things Are Better Than You Think

“The next generation is like the last runner in a very long relay race. The race to end extreme poverty has been a marathon, with the starter gun fired in 1800. This next generation has the unique opportunity to complete the job: to pick up the baton, cross the line, and raise its hands in triumph. The project must be completed. And we should have a big party when we are done.”
― Hans Rosling, Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World – and Why Things Are Better Than You Think

“First, music had a detrimental effect on performance.”
― Ian Tuhovsky, Accelerated Learning: The Most Effective Techniques: How to Learn Fast, Improve Memory, Save Your Time and Be Successful