Eric Peng

“If we take eternity to mean not infinite temporal duration but timelessness, then eternal life belongs to those who live in the present. Our life has no end in the way in which our visual field has no limits.” ― Ludwig Wittgenstein, Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus

To criticize another's courage is to cripple your own. "Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves." — Carl Jung When you encourage others, you encourage yourself.

“Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson, Emerson in His Journals

“Water is fluid, soft, and yielding. But water will wear away rock, which is rigid and cannot yield. As a rule, whatever is fluid, soft, and yielding will overcome whatever is rigid and hard. This is another paradox: what is soft is strong.” ― Lao Tzu

"Research suggests that when people think about money, they become motivated to work more and socialize less. But when people are prompted to think about time, the reverse happens; people become motivated to work less and socialize more." — Matthew D. Lieberman, Social

True freedom implies full responsibility. Most people don't want true freedom. "Freedom aggravates at least as much as it alleviates frustration. Freedom of choice places the whole blame of failure on the shoulders of the individual." — Eric Hoffer, The True Believer

"If you are patient in one moment of anger, you will escape a hundred days of sorrow." — Chinese Proverb

Mutual emotional transparency and vulnerability builds deep relationships. Those who wonder why you are so emotional and vulnerable have likely never experienced a deep relationship. Instead of feeling judged or judging them, may we show ourselves and them empathy and kindness.

"Words shape thought, stir feeling, and beget action; they kill and revive, corrupt and cure. The 'men of words'—priests, prophets, intellectuals—have played a more decisive role in history than military leaders, statesmen, and businessmen." — Eric Hoffer, The Ordeal of Change

"The day the child realizes that all adults are imperfect, he becomes an adolescent; the day he forgives them, he becomes an adult; the day he forgives himself, he becomes wise." ― Alden Nowlan

"The more things a man is interested in, the more opportunities of happiness he has and the less he is at the mercy of fate, since if he loses one thing he can fall back upon another." — Bertrand Russell, The Conquest of Happiness

"When parents pull away in hurt, disappointment, or passive rage, they are sending this message to their youngster: You’re lovable when you behave. You aren’t lovable when you don’t behave." — Henry Cloud & John Townsend, Boundaries

"We do not really exist until there is someone there to see us existing; that we cannot properly speak until there is someone there who can understand what we are saying; that, in essence, we are not wholly alive until we are loved." — Alain de Botton, On Love

"Eventually you will see that the real cause of problems is not life itself. It’s the commotion the mind makes about life that really causes problems." — Michael A. Singer, The Untethered Soul

"A system that ignores feedback will eventually be shaken to pieces by repeated violent contact with the environment it is trying to ignore." — John Gall, The Systems Bible

Research shows that generalists consistently outperform specialists. Specialization has diminishing returns. Generalization has compounding returns. Specialization is fragile. Generalization is antifragile.

"Restorative daytime naps, insight-generating long walks, vigorous exercise, and lengthy vacations aren’t unproductive interruptions; they help creative people do their work." — Alex Pang, Rest

The healer is healed by healing. The giver receives by giving. When we light the way for others, others light the way for us.

Reluctant leaders are least likely to serve when there is peace and most likely to serve when there is war. And so there is usually a cycle of corruption that arises in peace and healing that arises in war.

"It is better to do your own duty badly, than to perfectly do another’s; you are safe from harm when you do what you should be doing." — Bhagavad Gita, translated by Stephen Mitchell