The 4-Hour Workweek Quotes

“The first is the result of a decision to act—to do something. This type of mistake is made with incomplete information, as it’s impossible to have all the facts beforehand. This is to be encouraged. Fortune favors the bold. The second is the result of a decision of sloth—to not do something—wherein we refuse to change a bad situation out of fear despite having all the facts. This is how learning experiences become terminal punishments, bad relationships become bad marriages, and poor job choices become lifelong prison sentences.”
― Timothy Ferriss, The 4-Hour Workweek

“there has never been a better time for testing the uncommon.”
― Timothy Ferriss, The 4-Hour Workweek

“Adults are always asking kids what they want to be when they grow up because they are looking for ideas. —PAULA POUNDSTONE”
― Timothy Ferriss, The 4-Hour Workweek

“If the recipe sucks, it doesn’t matter how good a cook you are.”
― Timothy Ferriss, The 4-Hour Workweek

“Poisonous people do not deserve your time. To think otherwise is masochistic. The best way to approach a potential break is simple: Confide in them honestly but tactfully and explain your concerns. If they bite back, your conclusions have been confirmed. Drop them like any other bad habit. If they promise to change, first spend at least two weeks apart to develop other positive influences in your life and diminish psychological dependency. The next trial period should have a set duration and consist of pass-or-fail criteria. If this approach is too confrontational for you, just politely refuse to interact with them. Be in the middle of something when the call comes, and have a prior commitment when the invitation to hang out comes. Once you see the benefits of decreased time with these people, it will be easier to stop communication altogether.”
― Timothy Ferriss, The 4-Hour Workweek

“People say that what we are seeking is a meaning for life. I don’t think this is what we’re really seeking. I think what we’re seeking is an experience of being alive. —JOSEPH CAMPBELL, The Power of Myth”
― Timothy Ferriss, The 4-Hour Workweek

“It is fatal to know too much at the outcome: boredom comes as quickly to the traveler who knows his route as to the novelist who is overcertain of his plot. —PAUL THEROUX, To the Ends of the Earth”
― Timothy Ferriss, The 4-Hour Workweek

“No newspapers, magazines, audiobooks, or nonmusic radio. Music is permitted at all times. No news websites whatsoever (cnn.com, drudgereport.com, msn.com,10 etc.). No television at all, except for one hour of pleasure viewing each evening. No reading books, except for this book and one hour of fiction11 pleasure reading prior to bed. No web surfing at the desk unless it is necessary to complete a work task for that day. Necessary means necessary, not nice to have.”
― Timothy Ferriss, The 4-Hour Workweek

“Being overwhelmed is often as unproductive as doing nothing, and is far more unpleasant. Being selective—doing less—is the path of the productive.”
― Timothy Ferriss, The 4-Hour Workweek

“BLAMING IDIOTS FOR interruptions is like blaming clowns for scaring children—they can’t help it. It’s their nature. Then again, I had (who am I kidding—and have), on occasion, been known to create interruptions out of thin air. If you’re anything like me, that makes us both occasional idiots. Learn to recognize and fight the interruption impulse. This is infinitely easier when you have a set of rules, responses, and routines to follow.”
― Timothy Ferriss, The 4-Hour Work Week: Escape the 9-5, Live Anywhere and Join the New Rich

“It is far more lucrative and fun to leverage your strengths instead of attempting to fix all the chinks in your armor. The choice is between multiplication of results using strengths or incremental improvement fixing weaknesses that will, at best, become mediocre. Focus on better use of your best weapons instead of constant repair.”
― Timothy Ferriss, The 4-Hour Work Week: Escape the 9-5, Live Anywhere and Join the New Rich

“We create stress for ourselves because you feel like you have to do it. You have to. I don’t feel that anymore. —OPRAH WINFREY, actress and talk-show host, The Oprah Winfrey Show”
― Timothy Ferriss, The 4-Hour Workweek

“1. Doing something unimportant well does not make it important. 2. Requiring a lot of time does not make a task important.”
― Timothy Ferriss, The 4-Hour Workweek

“Remember: There is a direct correlation between an increased sphere of comfort and getting what you want.”
― Timothy Ferriss, The 4-Hour Workweek

“The worst that could happen wasn’t crashing and burning, it was accepting terminal boredom as a tolerable status quo.”
― Timothy Ferriss, The 4-Hour Workweek

“you are insecure, guess what? The rest of the world is, too. Do not overestimate the competition and underestimate yourself. You are better than you think.”
― Timothy Ferriss, The 4-Hour Workweek

“Life is too short to be small.      —BENJAMIN DISRAELI”
― Timothy Ferriss, The 4-Hour Workweek

“«La visión consiste en entregar la responsabilidad a los trabajadores, darles toda la información sobre lo que ocurre para que puedan hacer más de lo que han hecho hasta el momento.» BILL GATES,”
― Timothy Ferriss, La semana laboral de 4 horas

“Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination.”
― Timothy Ferriss, The 4-Hour Workweek

“To be neither the boss nor the employee, but the owner. To own the trains and have someone else ensure they run on time.”
― Timothy Ferriss, The 4-Hour Workweek

“Excitement is the more practical synonym for happiness, and it is precisely what you should strive to chase. It is the cure-all. When people suggest you follow your “passion” or your “bliss,” I propose that they are, in fact, referring to the same singular concept: excitement. This brings us full circle. The question you should be asking isn’t, “What do I want?” or “What are my goals?” but “What would excite me?”
― Timothy Ferriss, The 4-Hour Work Week: Escape the 9-5, Live Anywhere and Join the New Rich

“When in doubt or overwhelmed, take a break and 80/20 both business and personal activities and relationships.”
― Timothy Ferriss, The 4-Hour Workweek

“Define the worst case, accept it, and do it.”
― Timothy Ferriss, The 4-Hour Workweek

“80% of the consequences flow from 20% of the causes”
― Timothy Ferriss, The 4-Hour Workweek

“stick to what excites you no matter what people say. It’s your life, live it the way you know is right for you.”
― Timothy Ferriss, The 4-Hour Workweek

“Things in Excess Become Their Opposite. It is possible to have too much of a good thing. In excess, most endeavors and possessions take on the characteristics of their opposite. Thus: Pacifists become militants. Freedom fighters become tyrants. Blessings become curses. Help becomes hindrance. More becomes less.4 Too much, too many, and too often of what you want becomes what you don’t want.”
― Timothy Ferriss, The 4-Hour Work Week: Escape the 9-5, Live Anywhere and Join the New Rich

“Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.”
― Timothy Ferriss, The 4-Hour Work Week: Escape the 9-5, Live Anywhere and Join the New Rich

“There is just less competition for bigger goals.”
― Timothy Ferriss, The 4-Hour Workweek

“If only I had more money" is the easiest way to postpone the intense self-examination and decision-making necessary to create a life of enjoyment- now and not later. By using money as the scapegoat and work as our all-consuming routine, we are able to conveniently disallow ourselves the time to do otherwise.”
― Timothy Ferriss, The 4-Hour Workweek

“Emphasize strengths, don't fix weaknesses.”
― Timothy Ferriss, The 4-Hour Workweek