Quotes from Timothy Ferriss

Reading, after a certain age, diverts the mind too much from its creative pursuits. Any man who reads too much and uses his own brain too little falls into lazy habits of thinking. —ALBERT EINSTEIN

I always advise young people to become good public speakers (top 25%). Anyone can do it with practice. If you add that talent to any other, suddenly you're the boss of the people who have only one skill.

For all their bitching about what's holding them back, most people have a lot of trouble coming up with the defined dreams they're being held from.

Ours is a culture where we wear our ability to get by on very little sleep as a kind of badge of honor that symbolizes work ethic, or toughness, or some other virtue—but really, it's a total profound failure of priorities and of self-respect.

The superheroes you have in your mind (idols, icons, titans, billionaires, etc.) are nearly all walking flaws who've maximized 1 or 2 strengths.

People are fond of using the its not what you know, its who you know adage as an excuse for inaction, as if all successful people are born with powerful friends. Nonsense.

Give vulnerability a shot. Give discomfort its due. Because I think he or she who is willing to be the most uncomfortable is not only the bravest, but rises the fastest.

The golden years become lower-middle-class life revisited. That's a bittersweet ending.

If you let pride stop you, you will hate life

To "fix" someone's problem, you very often just need to empathically listen to them. Even

Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.' You won't believe what you can accomplish by attempting the impossible with the courage to repeatedly fail better.

Routine, in an intelligent man, is a sign of ambition." —W.H. Auden

When you try to do something big its hard to fail completely.

If this is the only thing I accomplish today, will I be satisfied with my day?

If you want an average, successful life, it doesn't take much planning. Just stay out of trouble, go to school, and apply for jobs you might like. But if you want something extraordinary, you have two paths: 1) Become the best at one specific thing. 2) Become very good (top 25%) at two or more things. The

We do not rise to the level of our expectations. We fall to the level of our training." —Archilochus

Being overwhelmed is often as unproductive as doing nothing, and is far more unpleasant. Being selective - doing less - is the path of the productive. Focus on the important few and ignore the rest.

Don't do things that you know are morally wrong. Not because someone is watching, but because you are. Self-esteem is just the reputation that you have with yourself. You'll always know.

My goal is to learn things once and use them forever.

It's a short reminder that success can usually be measured by the number of uncomfortable conversations we are willing to have, and by the number of uncomfortable actions we are willing to take. The most fulfilled and effective people I know—world-famous creatives, billionaires, thought leaders, and more—look at their life's journey as perhaps 25 percent finding themselves and 75 percent creating themselves.

Using people to leverage a refined process multiplies production; using people as a solution to a poor process multiplies problems.

every day, it's something to reflect on and think about 'How do I become less competitive in order that I can become more successful?

Make your peace with the fact that saying 'no' often requires trading popularity for respect." —Greg McKeown, Essentialism

Everyone is fighting a battle you know nothing about. The heroes in this book are no different. Everyone struggles. Take solace in that.