Quotes from Seth Godin

Everyone will think it's stupid! Everyone says it's impossible. Guess what? Everyone works in the balloon factory and everyone is wrong.

As soon as we associate reading with a test, we've missed the point.

When you set down the path to create art, whatever sort of art it is, understand that the path is neither short not easy. That means you must determine if the route is worth the effort. If it's not, dream bigger.

The opportunity of a lifetime is to pick yourself. Quit waiting to get picked; quit waiting for someone to give you permission; quit waiting for someone to say you are officially qualified and pick yourself. It doesn't mean you have to be an entrepreneur or a freelancer, but it does mean you stand up and say, 'I have something to say. I know how to do something. I'm doing it. If you want me to do it with you, raise your hand.

We do not need to teach students to embrace the status quo.

believe that giving up is the same thing as being realistic.

You cannot create a piece of art merely for money. Doing it as part of commerce so denudes art of wonder that it ceases to be art.

It's okay. Let your ego push you to be the initiator. But tell your ego that the best way to get something shipped is to let other people take the credit. The real win for you (and your ego) is seeing something get shipped, not in getting the credit when it does.

What is school for? If you're not asking that, you're wasting time and money.

We need students who can learn how to learn, who can discover how to push themselves and are generous enough and honest enough to engage with the outside world to make those dreams happen.

The best way to be missed when you're gone, Is to stand for something when you're here

The people who skip the hard questions are in the majority, but they are not in demand.

A brilliant author or businesswoman or senator or software engineer is brilliant only in tiny bursts. The rest of the time, they're doing work that most any trained person could do.

Persistent, consistent, and frequent stories, delivered to an aligned audience, will earn attention, trust, and action.

Anatomy of a Movement Senator Bill Bradley defines a movement as having three elements: (1) A narrative that tells a story about who we are and the future we're trying to build. (2) A connection between and among the leader and the tribe. (3) Something to do - the fewer limits the better. Too often organizations fail to do anything but the third.

We drink the can, not the beverage.

We believe what we want to believe, and once we believe something, it becomes a self-fulfilling truth.

In your career, even more than for a brand, being safe is risky. The path to lifetime job security is to be remarkable.

You have everything you need to build something far bigger than yourself.

If you can't be remarkable, perhaps you should consider doing nothing until you can.

Heretics must believe. More than anyone else in an organization, it's the person who's challenging the status quo, the one who is daring to be great, who is truly present and not just punching a clock who must have confidence in her beliefs. Can you imagine Steve Jobs showing up for the paycheck? It's nice to get paid. It's essential to believe.

Stick with the Dips that are likely to pan out, and quit the Cul-de-Sacs to focus your resources

Marketing is our quest to make change on behalf of those we serve, and we do it by understanding the irrational forces that drive each of us.

Rich is my word for someone who can afford to make choices, who has enough resources to do more than merely survive.