Derek Sivers Quotes

Here’s how to live: Make memories.

Avoid Europe and anywhere that lives in the past.
Places that resist change have no vision, only memories.
Yesterday is gone for good.

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.

Don’t be consistent with your past self.
Only idiots never change their mind.

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.

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.

Those who shout, “my country is the best!” are those who have never left.
In Icelandic, the word for “idiot” means “one who has never left home to journey abroad”.
Only idiots think they’re always right.

any business that’s in business to sell you a cure is motivated not to focus on prevention.)

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.

Pain’s power relies on surprise.
If you expect it, it’s weaker.
If you choose it, it’s gone.

To appreciate something fully, picture losing it.
Imagine losing your freedom, reputation, money, and home.
Imagine losing your ability to see, hear, walk, or talk.
Imagine the people you love dying tomorrow.
Never take them for granted.

We’re clearly bad judges of our own creations. We should just put them out there and let the world decide.

Starting small puts 100 percent of your energy into actually solving real problems for real people.

Because we grew up surrounded by big dramatic story arcs in books and movies, we think our lives are supposed to be filled with huge ups and downs! That's why we act like everything that happens to us is such a big deal. We're trying to make our life into a fairy tale.

do what you’d do if you were the only person on Earth.