Quotes from Seth Godin

most competitors quit long before they've created something that makes it to the top.

Marketing is one of our greatest callings. It's the work of positive change.

Your story is a symphony, not a note.

Sometimes, never let them see you sweat, is truly bad advice. The work of an individual who cares often exposes the grit and determination and effort that it takes to be present. Perfecting your talk, refining your essay and polishing your service until all elements of you disappear might be obvious tactics, but they remove the thing we were looking for: you.

A movement is thrilling. It's the work of many people, all connected, all seeking something better.

The craftsman and the artist say, "Here, I made this." The workingman is asked to follow instructions.

Organize your project, your life, and your organization around the minimum. What's the smallest market you can survive on?

Marketing is the generous act of helping someone solve a problem. Their problem.

The status quo doesn't shift because you're right. It shifts because the culture changes. And the engine of culture is status.

Your tactics can make a difference, but your strategy—your commitment to a way of being and a story to be told and a promise to be made—can change everything.

If you took organic chemistry in college, you've experienced the Dip. Academia doesn't want too many unmotivated people to attempt medical school, so they set up a screen. Organic chemistry is the killer class, the screen that separates the doctors from the psychologists. If you can't handle organic chemistry, well, then, you can't go to med school.

The hard work and big money you used to spend on frequent purchases of print and TV advertising now move to repeated engineering expenses and product failures. If anything, marketing is more time-consuming and expensive than it used to be. You're just spending the money earlier in the process (and repeating the process more often). This is worth highlighting: The Purple Cow is not a cheap shortcut. It is, however, your best (perhaps only) strategy for growth.

Education isn't a problem until it serves as a buffer rom the world and a refuge from the risk of failure.

Being an artist isn't a genetic disposition or a specific talent. It's an attitude we can all adopt. It's a hunger to seize new ground, make connections, and work without a map. If you do those things, you're an artist.

Everyone is lonely. Connect.

As a result, the rewards for being first are enormous. It's not a linear scale. It's not a matter of getting a little more after giving a little more. It's a curve, and a steep one.

Transparency in the traditional school might destroy it.

British anthropologist Robin Dunbar theorized that a typical person can't easily have more than 150 people in his tribe. After 150 friends and fellow citizens, we can't keep track. It's too complicated.

You can keep waiting to get plucked from obscurity, or you can learn how to champion your project one person at a time.

Risk, to some, is a bad thing, because risk brings with it the possibility of failure. It might be only a temporary failure, but that doesn't matter so much if the very thought of it shuts you down. So, for some, risk comes to equal failure (take enough risks and sooner or later, you will fail). Risk is avoided because we've been trained to avoid failure.

the best time to start was last year. The second best time to start is right now.

The time to look for a new job is when you don't need one. The time to switch jobs is before it feels comfortable. Go. Switch. Challenge yourself; get yourself a raise and a promotion. You owe it to your career and your skills.

Do you have enough money in the bank to make it if everything goes wrong? If you do, congratulations. Go run your business with focus and with confidence. Stick with the high road and do the things you need to realize your business plan. If not, don't despair. You need an alternate plan. A plan that allows you to spend a percent- age of your time each week on low-risk revenue sources. A way to bring in freelance income while you build your core business.

The typical factory-centric organization places a premium on not-wrong, and spends no time at all weeding out those who don't start. In the networked economy, the innovation-focused organization has no choice but to obsess about those who don't start. Today, not starting is far, far worse than being wrong. If you start, you've got a shot at evolving and adjusting to turn your wrong into a right. But if you don't start, you never get a chance.