SelbstHilfe   (^_^)

Zitatsammlung 2023

Pick up the phone! Jake Muise in tf interview

If you need a reason to be happy, how about this: You're not dead. You're still in the game. So just resolve to make the most of it, now. Sam Harris

You have one job and it consists of two parts. Be a good person, and pay attention. I believe the key to living a good life is really that simple. Sam Harris

Ricky Gervais: If we took any holy book and destroyed it, in a thousand year’s time that wouldn’t come back just as it was. Whereas if we took every science book and destroyed them all, in a thousand years time, they’d all be back.

Truth can be hijacked, but it’s difficult to kill — a reason it’s so enduring.

The trolls demanding that real scientists debate RFK Jr. miss a couple key points. That debate has already happened, in labs, trials, and billions of injections. And, yes, the dissenter’s voice is important. In the case of vaccines, that voice was the control group … and it was nullified — billions of times.

Better > more > new Alex Hormozi

At the simplest level, it gets attention. If you are a semifamous computer engineer who aspires to be more famous, nothing beats telling every reporter in earshot: "I’ve invented something that could destroy the world." Partisans complain about the media’s left or right bias, but the real bias is toward spectacle. If it bleeds it leads, and nothing bleeds like the end of the world with a tortured genius at the center of the plot. Scott Galloway

The longer I live, the more beautiful life becomes."

In the past, people needed a specific source of energy for every type of use. That’s inconvenient. So technologies to transform energy from one form to another were very useful. Domesticated animals were an early way to do that, converting energy from plants into flexible power, food, and transportation. Ovens allowed us to transform heat into industrial processes.  The combustion engine allowed us to transform the chemical energy stored into fossil fuels into transportation energy. The biggest breakthrough was arguably the steam engine: it allowed us to transform heat into many types of transportation and power uses. You could use it to power trains, steamboats, or any type of machine. This is also one of the core reasons why electricity is so valuable. It’s not a source or a use of power. It’s an intermediary. But it’s extremely versatile: you can convert nearly any source of energy into electricity, and then you can use electricity for nearly all use cases. Tomas Pueyo

Few will have the greatness to bend history itself, but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation."

What's my legitimacy? What are the expectations I set for my customers? What promises am I making? Can I deliver on them? So: here's why you should trust me (without lying or exaggerating) and here's the expectation you should have (without lying or exaggerating). Then you are alright and not a scam. -Alex Hormozi

If the wealthy are doing it, that is typically the right move 9/10 times. BTB

Source: Jason Crawford Really, any transportation technology—roads, sails, ships…—can be seen as an energy technology, in that they reduced the energy cost required to transport things, and hence increased trade and kingdom sizes.

A core value is something that you stick to even though it costs you money. Michael Maugill

Power follows the blame Finger. Alex Hormozi

Parents tell themselves a story that kids are blocks of clay we mold. Pro tip: They come to you not fully formed but in roughly their own shape. We’re not engineers, but shepherds. In our limited time as their shepherd, we can arm them with skills that increase their prospects for success. Learning math, going to college, landing a job — all powerful tools. But the weapon of mass attraction is the ability to communicate. I wish I’d figured this out earlier: Money, mates, and meaning are all moths to the flame of storytelling. Scott Galloway

There’s a lot wrong with America, and we have reason to be upset about it. The question is: What do we do about it? For too many, the answer is quit: Instead of fixing the Fed, start a different currency. Instead of healing our divides, split the nation in two. Instead of making this planet more habitable, colonize other planets or put a headset on that takes you to a meta (better) universe. But here’s the thing: We’re stuck here, and with each other. We need reformers, not quitters. Scott Galloway

Luck/randomness, choices/strategy and habits/behaviors are the factors influencing our lives. We can only control two and hope that it makes luck more probable.

You don't rise to the level of your goals, you fall to the level of your systems.

Every action you take is a vote for the type of person that you wish to become. One push-up doesn't make you fit, but after some time the habit becomes part of your personality. Habits provide evidence for the person you are. Let's start with the undeniable evidence. So instead of training to running a marathon, you become a runner. Your habits shape your identity over time, by providing evidence.

Habits are the compound interest of self improvement. If you have good habits, time becomes your ally. All you have to have is patience. If you have bad habits, you dig your hole deeper over time. So be the architect of your habits.

Your habits set your floor, your goals set your ceiling.

To make a new habit, make it obvious, attractive, easy and satisfying. To break a bad habit, make it invisible, unattractive, frictious and unsatisfying.

James clear in atomic habits

Markets are forecasts of the future economy. Michael Mauboussin

Greatness is not measured by what a man or woman accomplishes, but by the opposition, he or she has overcome to reach his [or her] goals."

It’s the rough side of the mountain that’s the easiest to climb; the smooth side doesn’t have anything for you to hang on to."

The unprepared mind cannot see the outstretched hand of opportunity." Alexander Fleming

Learned at a Montessori school and always followed whatever seems fun. Parents never forced learning. But also encouraged her to not quit. She did stand-up comedy and won a competition. I have the opposite of imposter syndrome: I think it’s cooler to be resourceful and uncredentialed. She does everything in her head working solo, so she can work 8x faster than a team would, since they have to communicate and document everything. Chandhana Sathisch Kumar

Look for the helpers."

When there is no enemy within, the enemies outside cannot hurt you. Winston Churchill

Health, love and your mission, in that order. Nothing else matters. Naval Ravikant

Explorers are bad leaders. Explorers are hard to follow. It’s better to let them wander alone, then hear their tales. Explorers occasionally find a great place that would make a better home for many people. So that makes a job for a leader. Leaders are easy to follow. Leaders say, “Here’s where we’re going. Here’s why this will improve your life. Here’s how we’re going to get there. Let’s go.” Derek Sivers

They will try their best to destroy you and call it love. Alok Vaid Menon

Government is legitimate only when the people willingly agree to subject themselves to it.

Primary qualities, which include size (‘extension’), shape (‘figure’), quantity (‘number’) and motion, are objective because they really exist in the objects.
Secondary qualities, which include colour, smell, taste and sound, are subjective, because they exist only in our minds.
If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound? No!
A falling tree creates a disturbance in the air (a primary quality) that becomes a sound (a secondary quality) only for those who have ears.
The same goes for taste and smell.
These secondary qualities are mental interpretations of primary qualities.

If there were no rational minds, there would be no time or space.

Kant calls the physical world as it would be without the human concepts of time and space the noumenal realm, from the Greek word for ‘thought’.
The noumenal realm consists of things-in-themselves, and transcends human experience.
Kant calls the physical world as perceived through the human concepts of time and space the phenomenal realm, from the Greek word for ‘appearance’.
The phenomenal realm consists of things-as-they-appear-to-us.

All our duties can be captured in a single categorical imperative:
“Act only on that maxim whereby thou canst at the same time will that it should become a universal law.”

Categorical imperative is not motivated by a concern about the possible consequences of the proposed action.
That would render it a hypothetical imperative, such as: ‘If you don’t want to live in a world full of liars, then don’t lie.’
These hypothetical imperatives enable you to escape your duty to be honest.
All you have to do is decide you don’t care about living with liars or running risks – then you are free to lie as much as you like.
- David Deutsch

Law of Triviality (Bikeshedding): The amount of noise generated by a change is inversely proportional to the complexity of the change.

It's not the will to win that matters—everyone has that. It's the will to prepare to win that matters."

"I do what I like with people I like. And I get to dance to work every day." Warren Buffett

Action is the antidote to despair. Joan Baez

When you work for an entire year and struggle to save a 5% move to your net-worth… de-motivation sets in. You ever wonder why your boss or your boss’s boss has decided to “chill”. Now you know Your boss is actually making the logical decision. If he knows he will make between $400,000 and $500,000 (no matter how he performs) and already has $2,000,000 to his name… why would he work hard? $50,000-60,000 extra after tax would only be 2.5% to his total earnings. He’s better off just investing in stocks for the long-term and enjoying his personal life. BTB

You are perfectly cast in your life. I can’t imagine anyone but you in the role. Go play." - Lin-Manuel Miranda

To be seen in this life, truly observed without judgment, is what it feels like to be loved."

Sometimes we connect with a place, but usually we connect with people. Yet people connect us to a place. So, learning from my past mistakes, now my main purpose of travel is meeting people. When they offer to take me to the landmarks, I say, “I don’t care what we do. I just came to see you!” Derek Sivers

"A bell is no bell 'til you ring it, a song is no song 'til you sing it. And love in your heart wasn’t put there to stay. Love isn’t love 'til you give it away." - Oscar Hammerstein II from "Sound of Music

For, so long as there are interesting books to read, it seems to me that neither I nor anyone else, for that matter, need be unhappy." - Selma Lagerlöd

The greatest thing that we can do is to help somebody know that they're loved and capable of loving."

Love has nothing to do with what you are expecting to get—only with what you are expecting to give—which is everything."

One important key to success is self-confidence. An important key to self-confidence is preparation."

Develop enough courage so that you can stand up for yourself and then stand up for somebody else."

Intention without attachment. Dalai Lama =rumbo

You cannot be overworked, you can just be underrested.

The 11th century Buddhist monk Atisha wrote the following: the best scholar is one who has realized the meaning of no self, the best monk is the one who has tamed his own mind, the best quality is a great desire to benefit others, the best instruction is always to watch the mind, the best accomplishment is a steady lessening of negative emotions, the best generosity is non-attachment, the best discipline is a peaceful mind, the best wisdom is not to grasp at anything at all.

Thich Nhat Hanh nutzt eine hilfreiche Analogie, um die Weisheit der Nicht-Diskriminierung zu beschreiben: Beide Hände haben unterschiedliche Agilität, fühlen sich dennoch nicht überlegen oder unterlegen gegenüber der anderen. Sie sind unterschiedlich - weder überlegen/unterlegen noch gleich -, und mit diesen Unterschieden geht keine Bewertung einher. Es gibt keine Trennung von rechter Hand und linker Hand, sie bilden eine Entität - sie werden nicht »diskriminiert« (von lateinisch discriminare »trennen«, »absondern«, »unterscheiden«). In einer Hand kann man beide sehen. Er nennt das »Intersein« (interbeing)."

Be a good person and pay attention. The key to a good life is really that simple.

Do not lose heart. We were made for these times. Clarissa Pinkola Estes

Peter Drucker said: invest in your opportunities, not your problems.

The magic that you're looking for is in the work you're avoiding.

Do what others think is hard but is easy for you.

„You can work for anything“ instead of „you can have anything“. That's the difference between ambition and entitlement. Ambition is when you expect yourself to close the gap between what you have and what you want, entitlement is when you expect others to do so. Jimmy Carr & Chris Williamson on Modern Wisdom

Death is the dropping of the flower, that the fruit may swell.

Which brings me back to the worlds simplest advertising framework:

  1. Do shit
  2. Talk about what you did (Not what you might do, or other people should do). The secrets to being legit: Speak in facts and you remain above question.

»Die Apartheid war legal. Der Holocaust war legal. Die Sklaverei war legal. Kolonialismus war legal. Legalität ist eine Frage der Macht, nicht der Gerechtigkeit.« Jose Antonio Vargas

"The day the child realizes that all adults are imperfect, he becomes an adolescent; the day he forgives them, he becomes an adult; the day he forgives himself, he becomes wise." Alden Nowlan

"It's paradoxical that the idea of living a long life appeals to everyone, but the idea of getting old doesn't appeal to anyone." Andy Rooney

"Skate to where the puck is going, not where it has been." ~Wayne Gretzky

The reason you are stressed is that you have decisions to make and you're not making them.

"Eleanor was right. She never looked nice. She looked like art, and art wasn't supposed to look nice; it was supposed to make you feel something." Rainbow Rowell

"Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, What! You too? I thought I was the only one." C.S. Lewis

"The first gulp from the glass of natural sciences will turn you into an atheist, but at the bottom of the glass God is waiting for you." Werner Heisenberg

Remember your true nature and your social security number. Ram Das

the lowering of time preference initiates the process of civilization. Hans-Hermann Hoppe

Wisdom says I am nothing. Love says I am everything. Between these two my life flows.

Ogilvy Razor: When making a decision, ask - "What would (best person in my industry) do?"

Being angry is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.

Join children where they live, on their terms. Children don’t say, “I had a hard day at school today; can I talk to you about it?” They say, “Will you play with me?”

When we constantly tell children what they should or shouldn’t do, they have no room to think for themselves and are forced to choose between resentful obedience or defiant rebellion. Playfulness helps them think for themselves, even about serious topics.

The original version: “I hate you!”
The translation: “I haven’t figured out yet how to be mad at somebody I love; it’s confusing.”

Kissing means “I could be biting you, but I am not.”
Caressing means “I could be hitting you, but I am not.”

All the children’s games that are about connection: Chase, tag, follow the leader, and hide-and-seek are obvious examples.

With an eleven-year-old boy who is fearful, I pretend that I am scared of everything. To act incompetent helps them feel more powerful. One child tries to feel powerful at another child’s expense. This is another reason adults need to participate in this kind of play - so that children won’t do it to one another.

When frustrated, make a mock threat that lightens up the situation and turns it into play.
Real threats communicate: I’m mad at you, it’s your fault, and you had better shape up. The predictable result is defensiveness and conflict.
Mock threats mixed with humor can communicate: I’m not happy with how things are going between us and I want us to fix it.
The result this time is a relaxing of the tension and a willingness to meet each other halfway.

For most difficulties between parents and children, the real problem is lack of connection, so the solution is more connection.

Let the child win.
The best end to an episode of wrestling is victory for the child. You say, “You try to pin me down using all your strength - you try to get me on my back with both my shoulders on the floor (or, you try to get past me onto the couch, but you can’t sneak around; you have to use all your strength to go right past me).”

Children learn by using their bodies.

Make up pretend games to deal with fears.
Otherwise, they will just avoid the thing they fear.

If you want your child to be friends with someone, the parents should invite their whole family over.

Children who feel connected also feel inclined to be cooperative and thoughtful. Most punishments involve exerting power over a child, which just increases his or her sense of isolation and powerlessness.

Whenever there is any problem, either a parent or a child can call a meeting on the couch.
The goal is to get reconnected.
Whatever the problem is, disconnection either caused it or made it worse or made it harder to solve.
Once you are both at the couch, anything may happen. You might talk seriously about what has been going on, or you may not even talk about it, just take the chance to reconnect.
You might end up just goofing around and being silly together.
Try to stay on the couch until both of you are ready to go back and do things differently from before.
Meetings on the couch are not just for misbehavior.
You can call a meeting if you notice your child is sad.

If someone is looking for attention that bad, I figure they must need some attention! If we give them enough of the good kind, they won’t be so desperate that they’ll settle for the bad kind.

After they’ve done something wrong, listening to how they feel about it, and telling them calmly how we feel, all do much more to instill good judgment than punishment.

Children develop into thoughtful, considerate, honest, and kind adults because of love and affection, because of high moral standards, and because of a close relationship with someone who models those values.

Promises, threats, rewards, and punishments don’t work.
Use loving and talking as the basis for our discipline.

Children’s behavior is a coded message.
To break the code, translate what they are doing into a sentence that starts with “I need_____” or “I feel_____”
Fill in the blank, and then respond to that need or that feeling, not to their behavior.

Playful Parenting - by Lawrence Cohen

Women bond face to face. Men bond shoulder to shoulder.

The lifestyle you have now is like driving your old, familiar car. It might rattle a bit, but you can take that into account and maneuver easily.
But if you choose a new lifestyle, it will be hard to see ahead to the future, and life will be filled with anxiety. A more painful and unhappy life might lie ahead.
It’s easier and more secure to stay broken the way you are.
Being “the way I am” with all these shortcomings is, for you, a precious virtue.

All problems are interpersonal relationship problems.
To get rid of your problems, all you can do is live in the universe all alone. But you can’t do that.
We are all suffering in interpersonal relationships. Loneliness is having other people around you, and having a deep sense of being excluded from them. To feel lonely, we need other people.

Think with the perspective of “Whose task is this?” and continually separate your own tasks from other people’s tasks.
Discard other people’s tasks.

All interpersonal relationship troubles are caused by intruding on other people’s tasks, or having your own tasks intruded upon.

Dancing itself is the goal, and no one is concerned with arriving somewhere by doing it.
Naturally, it may happen that one arrives somewhere as a result of having danced.
Since one is dancing, one does not stay in the same place. But there is no destination.

No matter what moments you are living, or if there are people who dislike you, as long as you do not lose sight of the guiding star of “I contribute to others,” you will not lose your way, and you can do whatever you like.

If “I” change, the world will change. This means that the world can be changed only by me and no one else will change it for me.

„Neutrality doesn’t mean portraying both political sides as equally good or equally right. It means portraying them as they are. Sometimes both sides deserve an equal share of praise or blame, in which case neutral media would report on that parallel. But when one side is behaving worse than the other side, neutral coverage portrays exactly that. Depicting both sides as equal when they’re not (aka “bothsidesism”) is not neutral, but is biased toward “presenting the sides as equal.“

If you try something for two weeks and no one says “wow you’re getting good extremely fast”, it is time to switch gears and try something else. Talent is 100% real. The hard part is really figuring out what that talent is.

Swift revealed at the Nashville Songwriter Awards that she sorts her songs into three lyrical genres based on the tool she imagines writing the song with: a quill, a fountain pen or a glitter gel pen. A high score on acoustics is a quintessential quill pen song. In an Apple playlist she curated, she intros, "Quill pen songs are songs with lyrics that make you feel all old fashioned. Like you're a 19th century poet crafting your next sonnet by candlelight."

on fountain pen lyrics, which Taylor describes as “modern, personal stories written like poetry. Those moments you remember all too well where you can see, hear and feel everything in screaming detail."

glitter gel pen. “Frivolous, carefree, bouncy, syncopated perfectly to the beat. Glitter Gel Pen lyrics don’t care if you don’t take them seriously because they don’t take themselves seriously,” says Swift.

Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced."

"The day the child realizes that all adults are imperfect, they become an adolescent; the day they forgive them, they become an adult; the day they forgive theirself, they become wise." Alden Nowlan

Keep good company—that is, go to the Louvre." -  Paul Cézanne

Create what you would consume. George Mack

Don’t judge decisions from the past based on their outcome. This will inevitably lead to frustration and bad thinking habits. Instead, think back at what you knew back then, and see if you could have made a different decision by seeking the right information or thinking better. Don’t try to improve the accuracy of the decision, but rather its quality.

If somebody has been able to do something, you must conclude it’s possible to do, even if your theory says otherwise.

If you’re right 90% of the time playing roulette, but you go all in every time, you are sure to lose all your money. You should try to be right, but also know when you’re sure about something and when you’re not.

The clash of ideas is the sound of freedom."

The more I listen to this - the better my life gets: If they don't have what you want, don't listen to what they say. Alex Hormozi

Not knowing is the basis of connection. Otherwise we all just would give speeches instead of converse with each other. James Low

The philosopher Diogenes was eating bread and lentils for supper. He was seen by the philosopher Aristippus, who lived comfortably by flattering the king. Said Aristippus, "If you would learn to be subservient to the king you would not have to live on lentils." Diogenes replied: " Learn to live on lentils and you will not have to be subservient to the king." - 370 BC

In growth industries politics and prestige have little say in who gets promoted or demoted. In declining industries both become enormous portions of the review component (ta da explained Wall St. in one sentence!). btb

Steven Pressfield. "When you understand that nobody wants to read your shit, your mind becomes powerfully concentrated. 
You begin to understand that writing/reading is, above all, a transaction. 
The reader donates his time and attention, which are supremely valuable commodities. 
In return, you the writer must give him something worthy of his gift to you.”

George Mack: The most useful razors and rules I've found:

  1. Bragging Razor - If someone brags about their success or happiness, assume it’s half what they claim If someone downplays their success or happiness, assume it’s double what they claim
  2. High Agency Razor - If unsure who to work with, pick the person that has the best chances of breaking you out of a 3rd world prison.
  3. The Early-Late Razor - If it's a talking point on Reddit, you might be early. If it's a talking point on LinkedIn, you're definitely late.
  4. Luck Razor - If stuck with 2 equal options, pick the one that feels like it will produce the most luck later down the line. I used this razor to go for drinks with a stranger rather than watch Netflix. In hindsight, it was the highest ROI decision I've ever made.
  5. Buffett's Law - "The value of every business is 100% subject to government interest rates" - Warren Buffett
  6. The 7-Figure Razor - If someone brags about "7 figures" -- assume it's closer to $1 million than $9 million.
  7. Mack's Rule - Break down the investments your parents made in you: Time, Love, Energy, and Money. If they are still alive, aim to hit a positive ROI (or at least break even.)
  8. Instagram Razor - When you see a photo of an influencer looking attractive on Instagram -- assume there are 99 worse variations of that photo you haven't seen. They just picked the best one.
  9. Narcissism Razor - If worried about people's opinions, remember they are too busy worrying about other people's opinions of them. 99% of the time you're an extra in someone else's movie
  10. Everyday Razor - If you go from doing a task weekly to daily, you achieve 7 years of output in 1 year. If you apply a 1% compound interest each time, you achieve 54 years of output in 1 year.
  11. Bezos Razor - If unsure what action to pick, let your 90-year-old self on death bed choose it.
  12. Creativity Razor - If struggling to think creatively about a subject, transform it: • Turn a thought into a written idea. • A written idea into a drawing. • A drawing into an equation. • An equation into a conversation. In the process of transforming it, you begin to spot new creative connections.
  13. The Roman Empire Razor - Historians now recognize the Roman Empire fell in 476 - but it wasn't acknowledged by Roman society until many generations later. If you wait for the media to inform you, you'll either be wrong or too late.
  14. Physics Razor - If it doesn't deny the law of physics, then assume it's possible. Do not confuse society's current lack of knowledge -- with this knowledge being impossible to attain. E.g. The smartphone seems impossible to someone from the 1800s -- but it was possible, they just had a lack of knowledge.
  15. Skinner's Law - If procrastinating, you have 2 ways to solve it: • Make the pain of inaction > Pain of action • Make the pleasure of action > Pleasure of inaction
  16. Network Razor - If you have 2 quality people that would benefit from an intro to one another, always do it. Networks don't divide as you share them, they multiply.
  17. Gell-Mann Razor - Assume every media article contains a % of false information. Sandbox the article from your worldview until you've: • Seen primary sources • Spoken to 3 domain experts
  18. Taleb's Surgeon - If presented with two equal candidates for a role, pick the one with the least amount of charisma. The uncharismatic one has got there despite their lack of charisma. The charismatic one has got there with the aid of their charisma.

Upstream Razor: If somebody tells you something that goes against their incentives and identity – pay attention. E.g. If someone tells you the worst part about living in their city or the worst part of their job – it’s usually signal rather than noise. Why? They’ve had to go against their identity to say it. They’ve had to swim upstream.


We think of the past like it’s a physical fact - like it’s real. But the past is what we call our memory and stories about it. Imperfect memories, and stories built on one interpretation of incomplete information. That’s “the past”. History is not true. You can change history. The actual factual events are such a small part of the story. Everything else is interpretation. It’s never too late to change a story. Derek Sivers (in Useful, not true)