How to Live Quotes

“Mastery is the best goal because the rich can't buy it, the impatient can't rush it, the privileged can't inherit it, and nobody can steal it. You can only earn it through hard work.”
― Derek Sivers, How to Live: 27 conflicting answers and one weird conclusion

“Striving makes you happy.
Pursuit is the opposite of depression.
People at the end of their life, who said they were the happiest with their life, were the ones who had spent the most time in the flow of fascinating work.”
― Derek Sivers, How to Live: 27 conflicting answers and one weird conclusion

“Success in business comes from helping people — bringing the most happiness to the most people.”
― Derek Sivers, How to Live: 27 conflicting answers and one weird conclusion

“Go make memories.
Do memorable things.
Experience the unusual.
Pursue novelty.
Replace your routines.
Live in different places.
Change your career every few years.
These unique events will become anchors for your memories.”
― Derek Sivers, How to Live: 27 conflicting answers and one weird conclusion

“Life is determined not by causes, but by randomness and odds.”
― Derek Sivers, How to Live: 27 conflicting answers and one weird conclusion

“Information doesn’t stick without emotion.
You learn better when you’re having fun.”
― Derek Sivers, How to Live: 27 conflicting answers and one weird conclusion

“Things are going to get harder.
The future will test your strength. So far, you’ve lived in a time of prosperity.
You haven’t experienced massive devastation, but you probably will.”
― Derek Sivers, How to Live: 27 conflicting answers and one weird conclusion

“Since you can’t avoid problems, just find good problems.
Happiness isn’t everlasting tranquility.
Happiness is solving good problems.”
― Derek Sivers, How to Live: 27 conflicting answers and one weird conclusion

“You have different sides to your personality, with conflicting needs.
Instead of ignoring one, make sure you balance them.
Balance time with others and time alone.
Balance your need for stability with your need for surprise.
Balance input and output, consumption and creation, stability and adventure, body and spirit.
Your opposing needs become each other’s remedy.”
― Derek Sivers, How to Live: 27 conflicting answers and one weird conclusion

“The biggest obstacle to learning is assuming you already know.
Confidence is usually ignorance.”
― Derek Sivers, How to Live: 27 conflicting answers and one weird conclusion

“Schedule quality time with dear friends.
Schedule preventative health checkups.
Schedule focused time to learn.
Schedule each aspect of your life, ignoring none.
List what makes you happy and fulfilled, then schedule those things into your year.”
― Derek Sivers, How to Live: 27 conflicting answers and one weird conclusion

“All bad things in life come from extremes.
Too much of this.
Too little of that.”
― Derek Sivers, How to Live: 27 conflicting answers and one weird conclusion

“But all progress comes from those who ignore the boundaries, break the rules, or make a whole new game.”
― Derek Sivers, How to Live: 27 conflicting answers and one weird conclusion

“If you go through life without changing anything, what have you done?
Just observed?!
The world doesn’t need more audience.
The world needs changing.
What’s broken needs fixing.
What’s OK needs improving.
What’s harmful needs destroying.”
― Derek Sivers, How to Live: 27 conflicting answers and one weird conclusion

“So try to be wrong.
Try to disprove your beliefs.
Never believe something on faith.
Prove it or disprove it.
While other people have one idea that they think might work, you will have thousands you can prove didn’t work, and one you couldn’t make fail.”
― Derek Sivers, How to Live: 27 conflicting answers and one weird conclusion

“Jump into action without hesitation or worry.
You’ll be faster and do more than everyone else.
What takes them a month will take you an hour, so you can do it ten times a day.”
― Derek Sivers, How to Live: 27 conflicting answers and one weird conclusion

“Making money is proof you’re adding value to people’s lives.
Aiming to get rich is aiming to be useful to the world.
It’s striving to do more for others.
Serving more.
Sharing more.
Contributing more.
The world rewards you for creating value.
Pursue wealth because it’s moral, good, and unlimited. Money is social.
It was invented to transfer value between people.
One job pays way more than another because it has more social value.
To get rich, don’t think about what’s valuable to you.
Think about what’s valuable to others.”
― Derek Sivers, How to Live: 27 conflicting answers and one weird conclusion

“Your biggest obstacle to getting rich is the harmful meaning you’ve attached to it.
Your biggest advantage can be projecting a helpful meaning onto it.”
― Derek Sivers, How to Live: 27 conflicting answers and one weird conclusion

“Ask open-ended questions, asking people’s thoughts.
Ask them to elaborate on whatever they’ve said.
Show that you’re interested.
Allow silence.”
― Derek Sivers, How to Live: 27 conflicting answers and one weird conclusion

“The future is unpredictable and uncontrollable.
Picture all the things that could go wrong.
Prepare for each, so they won’t surprise or hurt you.”
― Derek Sivers, How to Live: 27 conflicting answers and one weird conclusion

“Here’s how to live: Prepare for the worst.”
― Derek Sivers, How to Live: 27 conflicting answers and one weird conclusion

“Communicate knowledge to others to make sure you understand.
Don’t quote.
Put it in your own words without looking up or referencing what others said.
If you can’t explain it yourself, you don’t know it.”
― Derek Sivers, How to Live: 27 conflicting answers and one weird conclusion

“The longer something lasts, the longer it will probably last.
Something that’s been around for a year will probably be around for another year.
Something that’s been around for fifty years will probably be around for another fifty years.”
― Derek Sivers, How to Live: 27 conflicting answers and one weird conclusion

“Here’s how to live: Value only what has endured.”
― Derek Sivers, How to Live: 27 conflicting answers and one weird conclusion

“Avoid Europe and anywhere that lives in the past.
Places that resist change have no vision, only memories.
Yesterday is gone for good.”
― Derek Sivers, How to Live: 27 conflicting answers and one weird conclusion

“Every year, visit Singapore, Jakarta, Addis Ababa, Lagos, Mumbai, Ho Chi Minh City, and Silicon Valley.
Each is creating the future in very different ways.”
― Derek Sivers, How to Live: 27 conflicting answers and one weird conclusion

“So if you want to help humanity while having the most exciting life, then the way to live is to be a famous pioneer.”
― Derek Sivers, How to Live: 27 conflicting answers and one weird conclusion

“A famous pioneer does more for human progress than a billion others who live a normal life.”
― Derek Sivers, How to Live: 27 conflicting answers and one weird conclusion

“The past?
That’s what we call our memories.
The future?
That’s what we call our imagination.
Neither exists outside of your mind.
The only real time is this moment.
So live accordingly.
Whatever benefits you right now is the right choice.”
― Derek Sivers, How to Live: 27 conflicting answers and one weird conclusion

“Socially, try to get rejected.
Learn about “rejection therapy”.
Make audacious requests that you think will be denied.
This removes the pain of rejection.
And you’ll be surprised how often they say yes.”
― Derek Sivers, How to Live: 27 conflicting answers and one weird conclusion