Posts tagged Inspire

The Sagan Series

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You can only become truly accomplished at something you love. Don’t make money your goal. Instead, pursue the things you love doing and then do them so well that people can’t take their eyes off you.
Maya Angelou

silent-musings

“I want to put a ding in the universe.” “Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes… the ones who see things differently — they’re not fond of rules… You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can’t do is ignore them because they change things… they push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do.” “Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them. That’s because they were able to connect experiences they’ve had and synthesize new things. And the reason they were able to do that was that they’ve had more experiences or they have thought more about their experiences than other people.Unfortunately, that’s too rare a commodity. A lot of people in our industry haven’t had very diverse experiences. So they don’t have enough dots to connect, and they end up with very linear solutions without a broad perspective on the problem. The broader one’s understanding of the human experience, the better design we will have” “Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is expected.” “Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.” “In most people’s vocabularies, design means veneer. It’s interior decorating. It’s the fabric of the curtains of the sofa. But to me, nothing could be further from the meaning of design. Design is the fundamental soul of a human-made creation that ends up expressing itself in successive outer layers of the product or service.” “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.” “I was worth over $1,000,000 when I was 23, and over $10,000,000 when I was 24, and over $100,000,000 when I was 25, and it wasn’t that important because I never did it for the money.” “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” “It comes from saying no to 1,000 things to make sure we don’t get on the wrong track or try to do too much.” “Quality is more important than quantity. One home run is much better than two doubles.” “The only problem with Microsoft is they just have no taste. They have absolutely no taste. And I don’t mean that in a small way, I mean that in a big way, in the sense that they don’t think of original ideas, and they don’t bring much culture into their products.” “The products suck! There’s no sex in them!” (Windows) “When I hire somebody really senior, competence is the ante. They have to be really smart. But the real issue for me is, Are they going to fall in love with Apple? Because if they fall in love with Apple, everything else will take care of itself. They’ll want to do what’s best for Apple, not what’s best for them, what’s best for Steve, or anybody else. (this actually reiterates my oft-repeated mantra of “ubiquitous evangelism” in companies)” “I would trade all of my technology for an afternoon with Socrates.”  “Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me … Going to bed at night saying we’ve done something wonderful… that’s what matters to me.”“I’m a big believer in boredom. Boredom allows one to indulge in curiosity, and out of curiosity comes everything.”

“I want to put a ding in the universe.”

“Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes… the ones who see things differently — they’re not fond of rules… You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can’t do is ignore them because they change things… they push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do.”

“Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them. That’s because they were able to connect experiences they’ve had and synthesize new things. And the reason they were able to do that was that they’ve had more experiences or they have thought more about their experiences than other people.
Unfortunately, that’s too rare a commodity. A lot of people in our industry haven’t had very diverse experiences. So they don’t have enough dots to connect, and they end up with very linear solutions without a broad perspective on the problem. The broader one’s understanding of the human experience, the better design we will have”

“Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is expected.”

“Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.”

“In most people’s vocabularies, design means veneer. It’s interior decorating. It’s the fabric of the curtains of the sofa. But to me, nothing could be further from the meaning of design. Design is the fundamental soul of a human-made creation that ends up expressing itself in successive outer layers of the product or service.”

“Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.”

“I was worth over $1,000,000 when I was 23, and over $10,000,000 when I was 24, and over $100,000,000 when I was 25, and it wasn’t that important because I never did it for the money.”

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

“It comes from saying no to 1,000 things to make sure we don’t get on the wrong track or try to do too much.”

“Quality is more important than quantity. One home run is much better than two doubles.”

“The only problem with Microsoft is they just have no taste. They have absolutely no taste. And I don’t mean that in a small way, I mean that in a big way, in the sense that they don’t think of original ideas, and they don’t bring much culture into their products.”

“The products suck! There’s no sex in them!” (Windows)

“When I hire somebody really senior, competence is the ante. They have to be really smart. But the real issue for me is, Are they going to fall in love with Apple? Because if they fall in love with Apple, everything else will take care of itself. They’ll want to do what’s best for Apple, not what’s best for them, what’s best for Steve, or anybody else. (this actually reiterates my oft-repeated mantra of “ubiquitous evangelism” in companies)”

“I would trade all of my technology for an afternoon with Socrates.” 

“Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me … Going to bed at night saying we’ve done something wonderful… that’s what matters to me.”

“I’m a big believer in boredom. Boredom allows one to indulge in curiosity, and out of curiosity comes everything.”

We Miss You, a moving film about humanity’s disconnect with nature

“Humans — who enslave, castrate, experiment on, and fillet other animals — have had an understandable penchant for pretending animals do not feel pain. A sharp distinction between humans and ‘animals’ is essential if we are to bend them to our will, make them work for us, wear them, eat them — without any disquieting tinges of guilt or regret. It is unseemly of us, who often behave so unfeelingly toward other animals, to contend that only humans can suffer. The behavior of other animals renders such pretensions specious. They are just too much like us.”

— Carl Sagan

jasondrakeford

Let there be spaces in your togetherness, And let the winds of the heavens dance between you. Love one another but make not a bond of love: Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls. Fill each other’s cup but drink not from one cup. Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf. Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone, Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music. Give your hearts, but not into each other’s keeping. For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts. And stand together, yet not too near together: For the pillars of the temple stand apart, And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other’s shadow.
Khalil Gibran (The Prophet)
Loneliness vs. Aloneness Loneliness is a negative state of mind. Aloneness is a positive, notwithstanding what the dictionaries say. In dictionaries, loneliness and aloneness are synonymous - in life they are not. Loneliness is a state of mind when you are constantly missing the other. Aloneness is the state of mind when you are constantly delighted in yourself. Loneliness is miserable. Aloneness is blissful. Loneliness is always worried, missing something, hankering for something, desiring something. Aloneness is deep  fulfillment, not going out, tremendously content, happy and celebrating. In loneliness, you are off center. In aloneness, you are centered and rooted. Aloneness is beautiful. It has an elegance about it, a grace, a climate of tremendous satisfaction. Loneliness is beggarly; all around it there is a begging and nothing else. It has no grace about it, in fact it is ugly. Loneliness is a dependence, aloneness is sheer independence. One feels as if one is one’s whole world, one’s whole existence. Now, if you move into a relationship when you are feeling lonely, then you will exploit the other. The other will become a means to satisfy you. You will use the other, and everybody resents being used because nobody is here to become a means for anybody else. Every human being is an end unto himself or herself Nobody is here to be used like a thing, everybody is here to be worshiped like a king. Nobody is here to fulfill anybody else’s expectations, everybody is here just to be himself, to be herself. So whenever you move into any relationship out of loneliness, the relationship is already on the rocks. Even before it has started, it is already on the rocks. Even before the birth, the child is dead. It is going to create more misery for you. And remember, when you move according to your loneliness you will fall into a relationship with somebody who is in the same plight, because nobody who is really living his or her aloneness will be attracted to you. You will be too far below them. They can at the most sympathize, but cannot love you. One who is on the peak of aloneness can only be attracted toward someone who is also alone. So whenever, you act according to your loneliness, you will find a person of the same type; you will find your own reflection somewhere. Two beggers will meet, two miserable people will meet. And remember–when two miserable people meet, it is not a simple addition, it is a multiplication. They create much more misery for each other than they could have created in their loneliness. First, become alone. First start enjoying yourself, frist love yourself. First, become so authentically happy that if nobody comes, it doesn’t matter. You are full, overflowing. If nobody knocks at your door, it is perfectly okay-you are not missing anything. You are not waiting for somebody to come and knock at the door. You are at home-if somebody comes, good, beautiful. If nobody comes, that too is beautiful and good. Then move into a relationship. Now you move like a master, not a beggar. Now you move like an emperor, not a beggar. And the person who has lived in his aloneness will always be attracted to another person who is also living his aloneness beautifully, because like attracts like. When two masters meet–masters of their beings, of their aloneness–happiness is not just added, it is multiplied. It becomes a tremendous phenomenon of celebration. And they don’t exploit, they share. They don’t use each other. On the contrary, they become one and enjoy the existence that surrounds them. Excerpt from JOY : The Happiness That Comes from Within by OSHO

Loneliness vs. Aloneness

Loneliness is a negative state of mind. Aloneness is a positive, notwithstanding what the dictionaries say. In dictionaries, loneliness and aloneness are synonymous - in life they are not. Loneliness is a state of mind when you are constantly missing the other. Aloneness is the state of mind when you are constantly delighted in yourself. Loneliness is miserable. Aloneness is blissful. Loneliness is always worried, missing something, hankering for something, desiring something. Aloneness is deep  fulfillment, not going out, tremendously content, happy and celebrating. In loneliness, you are off center. In aloneness, you are centered and rooted. Aloneness is beautiful. It has an elegance about it, a grace, a climate of tremendous satisfaction. Loneliness is beggarly; all around it there is a begging and nothing else. It has no grace about it, in fact it is ugly. Loneliness is a dependence, aloneness is sheer independence. One feels as if one is one’s whole world, one’s whole existence.

Now, if you move into a relationship when you are feeling lonely, then you will exploit the other. The other will become a means to satisfy you. You will use the other, and everybody resents being used because nobody is here to become a means for anybody else. Every human being is an end unto himself or herself Nobody is here to be used like a thing, everybody is here to be worshiped like a king. Nobody is here to fulfill anybody else’s expectations, everybody is here just to be himself, to be herself. So whenever you move into any relationship out of loneliness, the relationship is already on the rocks. Even before it has started, it is already on the rocks. Even before the birth, the child is dead. It is going to create more misery for you. And remember, when you move according to your loneliness you will fall into a relationship with somebody who is in the same plight, because nobody who is really living his or her aloneness will be attracted to you. You will be too far below them. They can at the most sympathize, but cannot love you. One who is on the peak of aloneness can only be attracted toward someone who is also alone. So whenever, you act according to your loneliness, you will find a person of the same type; you will find your own reflection somewhere. Two beggers will meet, two miserable people will meet. And remember–when two miserable people meet, it is not a simple addition, it is a multiplication. They create much more misery for each other than they could have created in their loneliness.

First, become alone. First start enjoying yourself, frist love yourself. First, become so authentically happy that if nobody comes, it doesn’t matter. You are full, overflowing. If nobody knocks at your door, it is perfectly okay-you are not missing anything. You are not waiting for somebody to come and knock at the door. You are at home-if somebody comes, good, beautiful. If nobody comes, that too is beautiful and good. Then move into a relationship. Now you move like a master, not a beggar. Now you move like an emperor, not a beggar.

And the person who has lived in his aloneness will always be attracted to another person who is also living his aloneness beautifully, because like attracts like. When two masters meet–masters of their beings, of their aloneness–happiness is not just added, it is multiplied. It becomes a tremendous phenomenon of celebration. And they don’t exploit, they share. They don’t use each other. On the contrary, they become one and enjoy the existence that surrounds them.

Excerpt from JOY : The Happiness That Comes from Within by OSHO

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