Paul Graham Quotes

“You can't think well without writing well, and you can't write well without reading well. And I mean that last "well" in both senses. You have to be good at reading, and read good things. People who just want information may find other ways to get it. But people who want to have ideas can't afford to.”
― Paul Graham, Paul Graham: Essays - Volume 1, 1993-2005

“I think it's because humor is related to strength. To have a sense of humor is to be strong: to keep one's sense of humor is to shrug off misfortunes, and to lose one's sense of humor is to be wounded by them. And so the mark- - or at least the prerogative- - of strength is not to take oneself too seriously. The confident will often, like swallows, seem to be making fun of the whole process slightly, as Hitchcock does in his films or Bruegel in his paintings- - or Shakespeare, for that matter.”
― Paul Graham, Paul Graham: Essays - Volume 1, 1993-2005