And... Just Like That Quotes

“as I begIn my journey away from the law life, you should know, or already have figured out, that I think the law looms and it consumes, fumes, presumes, entombs; it lurks in the classroom, the conference room, the boardroom, and the courtroom; sometimes it assumes; it is often the legendary professional jealous mistress, hiding within a law firm with a nom de plume that sounds austere and thoughtful and august and distinguished... and sometimes, just sometimes, despite itself, it manages to bloom. It is larger than life. It makes few concessions for dreamers, and perhaps dreamers have no right to expect concessions. It took me a very, very long time to learn this: while there may be better ways to go through life, at the same time, there are many, many worse ways to go through life.”
― Mark Shaiken, And... Just Like That: Essays on a life before, during and after the law

“And do you want to know what else I do a great deal of
the time? I dream. Dreaming always was, and always will be, good, at least for me. There is nothing wrong with adding to the long list of things I will not necessarily be able to do in my life. Dreaming about them makes me feel good. Coming up with new pipe dreams is not such a bad thing at all.”
― Mark Shaiken, And... Just Like That: Essays on a life before, during and after the law

“Like so many attorneys, I careened from crisis to crisis, dream to dream, idea to idea, plan to plan, notion to notion, and never found the dream that led to the exit from the law firm life.”
― Mark Shaiken, And... Just Like That: Essays on a life before, during and after the law

“A period of protracted, repeated, profound, emotional turmoil, beginning sometime in the second or third year of the practice of law, and continuing off and on, mostly on, many times for the rest of the legal career, characterized by a rather significant, continuous, and oftentimes all-consuming, desire to explore alternative possibilities; to explore a change, any change at all, and to effect the change. These periods are typically coupled with a constant search for a new dream to pursue, potentially followed by additional periods of intense regret as dreams are not fulfilled.”
― Mark Shaiken, And... Just Like That: Essays on a life before, during and after the law

“I sometimes confused contemplation with dreaming; they were close cousins, but not quite the same. Contemplation was just the beginning of an idea in black-and-white and it could be done in public. Dreaming was all of the tentacles of a glorious alternative possibility, a full-blown plan in technicolor, and was best done in private.”
― Mark Shaiken, And... Just Like That: Essays on a life before, during and after the law

“There are some important differences between heart people and head people. Heart people dream. Head people implement. I like to dream although I was able to learn to implement as well during my life as an attorney. At this point, I prefer to dream. It is so much more fun and reward- ing and after a life of dreaming with, at best, mixed success, I am better at it now. Head people know the what. Heart people want to know the why. The why is very important to me. A law career is not much of a heart endeavor at all.”
― Mark Shaiken, And... Just Like That: Essays on a life before, during and after the law

“These dream careers that never happen are what happens to almost every kid. They are nothing more than the life-altering realizations of one’s limitations. The dreams are necessary to winnow down the available life choices. I was
– and still am – in love with each of my fantasies, but each one is a matter of the heart and none of them pay the bills.”
― Mark Shaiken, And... Just Like That: Essays on a life before, during and after the law