Derek Sivers Quotes

Kurt Vonnegut and Joseph Heller were at a party at a billionaire’s extravagant estate. Kurt said, “Wow! Look at this place! This guy has everything!” Joseph said, “Yes, but I have something he’ll never have. . . . Enough.

Here’s how to live: Be independent.

The problem is taking any one person’s advice too seriously. Ideally, asking advice should be like echolocation. Bounce ideas off of all of your surroundings, and listen to all the echoes to get the whole picture.

The word “inspiration” usually means “something that mentally stimulates you.” But “inspiration” also means to breathe in. The meanings poetically combine when you think of yourself breathing in thoughts, filling your body with ideas. But don’t forget to breathe out.

You don’t love someone to shape their future.
You don’t judge your friendships by how successful your friend becomes.
So don’t love and judge your children that way.
Don’t try to change them.
Just give them a great environment where they can thrive.
Give them the safety to experiment, make mistakes, and fail up.

You learn best from your mistakes.
This is true.
So you should deliberately make as many mistakes as possible.

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.

There’s a benefit to being naive about the norms of the world — deciding from scratch what seems like the right thing to do, instead of just doing what others do

In 1790, Benjamin Franklin gifted £2000 to the cities of Philadelphia and Boston by putting it into a 200-year trust, and by 1990 it was worth over $7 million.

If the relationship isn’t going to work, it’s better to know early, instead of hiding your true self and putting up a façade for a long time before finding out.

We’re all cousins.
Everybody on Earth, no matter how far apart, has a surprisingly recent common ancestor.
Go meet your family in the Middle East, in Asia, in Africa, in the Americas, and in Europe.
Understand that there is no “them”.
It’s just “us”.
Feel those connections.

The most valuable real estate in the world is the graveyard.
There lie millions of half-written books, ideas never launched, and talents never developed.
Most people die with everything still inside of them. The way to live is to create.
Die empty.
Get every idea out of your head and into reality.

Someone says life is hard.
The comedian says, “Compared to what?”
Comedians are philosophers.

no matter what you tell the world or yourself your actions reveal your real values. your actions show you what you really want

Never forget why you’re really doing what you’re doing. Are you helping people? Are they happy? Are you happy? Are you profitable? Isn’t that enough? How