Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist. — PABLO PICASSO - Tim Ferriss

If you're gonna write a book, write a fucking book.

If this cannot be your top priority for the next year, don't do a book. There is a glut of mediocrity in the world. Please don't contribute to it.

If you put out a book that's a C-minus, you're gonna have to live with that C-minus for the rest of your life.

So if you're gonna do a book, do a fucking book. Take it seriously.

Recounting advice from Michael Gerber received before writing The 4-Hour Workweek

Different is better when it is more effective or more fun. If

But then I got into Joseph Campbell — The Power of Myth and The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Joseph Campbell was the first person to really open my eyes to [the] compassionate side of life, or of thought. . . . Campbell was the guy who really kind of put it all together for me, and not in a way I could put my finger on. . . . It made you just glad to be alive, [realizing] how vast this world is, and how similar and how different we are.” * Most-gifted or recommended books? “You’re going to think I’m plugging you, but I probably have recommended The Art of Learning [by Josh Waitzkin, page 577] and The 4-Hour Body, I’m not kidding, more than any other books.” What Would You Say in a College Commencement Speech? “Well, I would say that if you are searching for status, and if you are doing things because there’s an audience for it, you’re probably barking up the wrong tree. “I would say, ‘Listen to yourself.’ Follow your bliss, and Joseph Campbell, to bring it back around, said, ‘There is great security in insecurity.’ We are wired and programmed to do what’s safe and what’s sensible. I don’t think that’s the way to go. I think you do things because they are just things you have to do, or because it’s a calling, or because you’re idealistic enough to think that you can make a difference in the world. “I think you should try to slay dragons. I don’t care how big the opponent is. We read about and admire the people who did things that were basically considered to be impossible. That’s what makes the world a better place to live.