Quotes from "Atomic Habits" We all face challenges in life. This injury was one of mine, and the experience taught me a critical lesson: changes that seem small and unimportant at first will compound into remarkable results if you’re willing to stick with them for years. Habits
All aphorisms DanRiley.org Aging: The first thing to go when aging is imagination.Most people say “this is who I am now” around 30, and stop growing.Most meet most of their friends before 25.Conversation: Life is a dinner conversation.For many, people are
All quotes DanRiley.org Decision-making: "The sailor cannot see the north / but knows the needle can.""If you cannot decide, the answer is no.""Is there another way? Resist 'two choices' tendency.""Choose the path that leaves you more equanimous in the long term.""If you
The enduring Rand Ayn Rand is a polarizing figure. Still, I have to give it to her. I first read her book Anthem as a teenager. For anyone who felt out of place, stifled in their upbringing, ambitious, industrious, pining for autonomy, she spoke to you in
Quotes from "Awareness: Conversations with the Masters" Do you think you help people because you are in love with them? Well, I’ve got news for you. You are never in love with anyone. You’re only in love with your prejudiced and hopeful idea of that person. Take a minute
Marijuana tail risks - or, my bout with madness I began smoking a lot of weed in college. Daily, multiple times a day, high-in-class kind of regularity. I experienced periodic paranoia; I also mostly enjoyed it. Around the second semester of my junior year, something started to change. A door in my deep-thinking
Quotes from "Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder" And we can almost always detect antifragility (and fragility) using a simple test of asymmetry: anything that has more upside than downside from random events (or certain shocks) is antifragile; the reverse is fragile. Crucially, if antifragility is the property of all those natural
Our Digital Hallucination There's a mass addiction hiding in plain sight, and your mother has been coopted, too. Our parents, who foreswore cigarettes, are blind to the new juice, blind to what their lives - our lives - have become: a digital hallucination. Mute the audio-visual stimuli
Wealth aphorisms Time is the most valuable thing you can buy.Have a “Mr. Market” view of stocks.What you want is leverage - time and nature working on your side.In investing, the only price that matters is the price on the day that you
Truth aphorisms The trouble isn’t knowing the truth, it’s learning how to deliver it with decency and courage.More informed does not mean better educated.Beware of teachers who complicate; genius is in simplicity.People tend not to skew towards the truth, but to
Society aphorisms To flourish, merge the best of modernity with the best of our ancestral foragers.The modern rebel resists cheap dopamine, relishes silent solitude, and cultivates a long attention span; technology is their slave, not the inverse.Politicians lambast identity politics, then castigate "the Democrats"
Relationship aphorisms For couples, emphasize growth, not fusion.The best friends, lovers, family members bring out and encourage the best in you.Your most important relationship is the one you have with yourself; surround yourself with those who respect that, and don’t ask you to
Philosophy aphorisms Know yourself - the First Amendment of every autonomous person.The ultimate power is the ability to say "no."You want to be known for signal, not noise.Do not confuse the loudest voice for the majority voice.All prescriptions create their own traps
Questions aphorisms Is your “love” just obsession by another name?Do people have ideas, or do ideas have people?Compared to what (when assessing the quality of any system)? Is something deep in you being violated?Does your derision conceal anxiety?What are the lies society
Men and women aphorisms When dating, find someone that falls into your “must-have” attraction zone; then, pick for character and personality.People want to be desired; this, mostly, is what makes a great lover.Men are best appreciated by older women, slightly past their prime.People acclimate to
Lifestyle aphorisms Luxury has diminishing returns; a "world-class" resort, car, or home, is 10x the price and is 10% better.Getting up early casts a vote for the day’s momentum and growth.You want to be a bit of an addict, to the right habits.
Human nature aphorisms The sign of an insecure know-it-all: in small groups, they lecture, rather than converse. A slight tension is in the air.Social climbers are dismissive and harsh towards those beneath them; subservient and fake to those above them.To predict someone’s future behavior,
Health aphorisms Most misery is self-made.For the affluent, the most common addictions are stress, a salary, and a pro-doing compulsion.Depression arrives when growth is hindered.A tip that someone is depressed: they continue to complain, but do nothing to change.The key symptoms of
Friendship aphorisms Friends see your blind spots, and show you.Buying someone a meal never disappoints.Avoid humorless people.For every gathering of 4+ people, over three hours in length, take a picture.Seek friends you admire, but do not envy.
Conversation aphorisms Life is a dinner conversation.For many, people are space-fillers once a phone’s dopamine hit subsides.The best conversationalists never lost childhood's wonder and beginners mind.Amazing what one honest conversation can do.Want better conversations? Prepare for them (e.g. with articles,
All definitions DanRiley.org Words for clarity: Abashed: Embarrassed, disconcerted, or ashamed.Abridge: To curtail a right or privilege; to shorten a piece of writing without losing the sense.Abrogate: To repeal or do away with a law, right, or formal agreement.Abscess: A swollen area
Wealth quotes "People who live far below their means enjoy a freedom that people busy upgrading their lifestyles can't fathom.""If somebody can tell you when to be at work, and what to wear and how to behave, you’re not a free person. You’re
Truth quotes "Individuals search for truth, groups search for consensus.""It’s easier to macro-bullshit than micro-bullshit.""I realized something surprisingly profound: Everybody’s ideas seem obvious to them. I’ll bet even John Coltrane or Richard Feynman felt that everything they were playing or saying
Success quotes "Contra to the prevailing belief, 'success' isn’t being on top of a hierarchy, it is standing outside all hierarchies.""The difference between successful people and really successful people is that really successful people say no to almost everything.""In this lifetime, you don't
Society quotes "A 'bigoteer': someone who seeks to profit from calling other people bigots, whether it be sexist, racist, etc.""Guilt is society programming you so effectively that you are your own warden."“The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. What is called resignation