Category: Bookshelf

“The great ones show you what you can get away with. The shitty ones remind you what never to bother with.” – pg. 18

“Any true creative endeavor demands constant evolution, growth, experimentation, and challenge.” – pg. 24

“Movies, to him and the majority of the planet, are an enhancement to a life. The way a glass of wine complements a dinner. I’m the other way around. I’m the kind of person who eats a few bites of food so that my stomach can handle the full bottle of wine I’m about to drink.” – pg. 122

“And it hits me, sitting there with my friends, that for all of our bluster and detailed, exotic knowledge about film, we aren’t contributing anything to film.” – pg. 161

“For whatever it’s worth, it’s never too late – or in my case too early – to be whoever you want to be. There’s no time limit. Start whenever you want. You can change or stay the same: there are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it. I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you’ve never felt before. I hope you meet people with a different point of view. I hope you live a life you’re proud of. And if you find that you’re not, I hope you have the strength to start all over again.”

Link to video here.

“My advice to stuck writers who are on their own is to get unstuck by proving how bad you are. Stop trying to prove that you’re a good writer to yourself. That’s what’s probably got you stuck. Because no matter how good you get, you’re always going to think that you should be better than you are… because you want to be a good writer. And you will be by thinking that, but it’s not going to get you writing right now, and the only thing that’s going to make you get better is practicing. And the only thing you’re gonna be able to write right now is something worse than what you think you should be writing. So you have to stop thinking about the thing that you’re eventually gonna be able to do, and you have to start thinking about the thing that you’re terrified you will do – because that will go by very quickly.” – Dan Harmon

Another book that I didn’t find any good pull quotes in, but that I’m happy to have read.

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

“The President is always a controversial choice, always an infuriating but fascinating character. His job is not to wield power but to draw attention away from it.” – pg. 28

“If human beings don’t keep exercising their lips, he thought, their mouths probably seize up. After a few months’ consideration and observation he abandoned this theory in favor of a new one. If they don’t keep on exercising their lips, he thought, their brains start working.” – pg. 35

“The main reason he had such a wild and successful life was that he never really understood the significance of anything he did.” – pg. 62

“I don’t know what I’m looking for. […] I think it might be because if I knew I wouldn’t be able to look for them.” – pg. 97

The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

“I don’t know what this great thing I’m meant to be doing is, and it looks to me as if I was supposed not to know.” – pg. 164

“Every major Galactic Civilization tends to pass through three distinct and recognizable phases, those of Survival, Inquiry, and Sophistication, otherwise known as the How, Why, and Where phases. For instance, the first phase is characterized by the question, ‘How can we eat?’, the second by the question, ‘Why do we eat?’ and the third by the question, ‘Where shall we have lunch?'” – pg. 245-246

“In an infinite Universe anything can happen. Even survival. Strange but true.” – pg. 275

“How can you have money if none of you actually produces anything?” – pg. 299

“No, I’m very ordinary. But some very strange things have happened to me. You could say I’m more differed from differing.” – pg. 309

Life, the Universe, and Everything

“Time is the worst place, so to speak, to get lost in.” – pg. 315

“There is no point in driving yourself mad trying to stop yourself going mad. You might just as well give in and save your sanity for later.” – pg. 321

So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish

“One effect that lingered, though, was his joy at being back.” – pg. 518

“Life speaks with a voice to you, a voice that brings you answers to the questions you continually ask of it.” – pg. 541

“Put away your worries, the world is a good and perfect place. It is in fact very easy.” – pg. 551

“You can’t sustain a story, you know, when the only news is the continuing absence of whatever it is the story’s about.” – pg. 576

“A scientist must also be absolutely like a child. If he sees a thing, he must say that he sees it, whether it was what he thought he was going to see or not. See first, think later, then test. But always see first. Otherwise you will only see what you were expecting.” – pg. 587

Mostly Harmless

“Everybody has their moment of great opportunity in life. If you happen to miss the one you care about, then everything else in life becomes eerily easy.” – pg. 641

“Anything that thinks logically can be fooled by something else that thinks at least as logically as it does.” – pg. 669

“The quality of any advice anybody has to offer has to be judged against the quality of life they actually lead.” – pg. 699

“The major difference between a thing that might go wrong and a thing that cannot possibly go wrong is that when a thing that cannot possibly go wrong goes wrong it usually turns out to be impossible to get at or repair.” – pg. 720

“Part of solving any problem […] was realizing that you had it.” – pg. 791

“Taking care of yourself is the single most important connection you can make in your life.” – pg. xv

“Don’t wait for happy to happen.” – pg. xix

“You need to identify your fears so they become concrete, and don’t stay muddled and cloudy in your head.” – pg. 23

“When we harbor the negative, we get the negative. When we build the positive, we attract the positive.” – pg. 63

“If you don’t put your needs, your desires, and your dreams first, then you will not succeed.” – pg. 81

“Having some stress is actually good – it keeps us on our toes and builds our emotional endurance.” – pg. 149

“I rarely get stuck in the phase of ‘I wish I had.’ I am much more comfortable in ‘I’m so lucky I have.’” – pg. 190

“Finding pleasure is enjoying the process and not being attached to the outcome.” – pg. 194

“Being motivated to start something feels easy; staying motivated after the novelty wanes is the hard part.” – pg. 214

“Video games are a great analogy for life. You go through levels, get thrown off by obstacles, and face several enemies. The game will become harder and harder, but it’s okay because you become smarter, faster, and more skilled.” – pg. 4

“Not being able to control people and situations doesn’t make you powerless; it just means you have to exercise your power in a different way. If you can’t control people, then control your reaction to them. If you can’t control a situation, then prepare for it.” – pg. 4

“We’re so often fixated on getting people to behave in accordance with what we want that we forget to focus on ourselves.” – pg. 7

“It’s not about getting the role, it’s about doing the audition.” – pg. 24

“When it comes to getting work done and having the opportunity to learn lessons, don’t let your emotions rob you.” – pg. 31

“Ask questions that align with your priorities and ignore all other noise.” – pg. 35

“Stop going around in circles and instead take advantage of your valuable time and make some tough decisions. Step out of the complicated maze you’ve created and take a one-way street to Clarityville.” – pg. 37

“No mistake is too big or small to apologize for, and no ego should be too big to make that apology. The biggest mistake you can make is thinking that an apology doesn’t matter.” – pg. 42

“If you don’t love yourself, you’re probably not the happiest version of yourself, and thus you’re unable to love someone to the best of your ability.” – pg. 64

“I treat my waking hours like I’m making up for the time I’ve spent asleep. I want to do so much in a day that when my head hits the pillow at night, I’m exhausted and feel I’ve earned the right to catch some z’s.” – pg. 70

“But if you have a career or goal that consumes your entire day, you need to like it to succeed. Enjoying what you do is the only way you can commit so much time and energy to your work.” – pg. 70

“You’ll never truly know if you can accomplish something or be great at something if you don’t commit. […] You need to get down on one knee, propose to your decisions, and commit to them for a lifetime.” – pg. 85

“Temptations to slack off will always be there, and that will never change. What has to change is your ability to deal with temptation.” – pg. 90

“You can’t get what you want in life if you don’t know what you want.” – pg. 103

“Talking about something doesn’t make it true. And action is only meaningful if it’s consistent.” – pg. 121

“If you’re trying to set yourself apart, you need to know what has already been done.” – pg. 125

“The thing about the ladder is that no matter how high a rung you reach, there will always be people above you.” – pg. 133

“One of the best feelings in the world is when you know that luck didn’t play a role in your success. Doing work eliminates the need for luck.” – pg. 139

“Deadlines are always easier to follow when they’re public and you’re held accountable for them.” – pg. 144

“No one thing should make or break you.” – pg. 148

“In most negative situations in life, you can create a positive outcome if you just look hard enough.” – pg. 175

“You don’t feel entitled to success – you feel empowered to earn it.” – pg. 179

“There are 7 billion people on the planet. Thats 14 million socks to knock off.” – pg. 182

“The next time you have an idea, recognize that your idea is your baby and if you parent it well, it will grow up to be a wonderful event, product, or campaign. Your baby can change the world, but first you must make a promise to protect it.” – pg. 194

“We all have a carrot dangling above our heads. […] The best relationships are those that not only allow you to have your own unique carrot but also allow you to help your partner reach their carrot.” – pg. 237

“It’s on you to create great opportunities.” – pg. 248

“It’s important to know the difference between supporting people and giving them a free ride.” – pg. 278

“Support those who work hard.” – pg. 281

“Remember who you want to be.” – pg. 287

“You are a part of the human race, and humanity is the biggest and most important team you’ll ever be on.” – pg. 290

“Promoting what you love results in seeing more of what you love in the world.” – pg. 297

“When you really pay attention, there is so much to be grateful for.” – pg. 303

“We all have what it takes to be the best version of ourselves.” – pg. 315

“Everything in life is just getting through bombing. Anything worth having in life, that’s how it works.” – 1/20/20

“If you find your talent in life […] and you also have a passion for it and you work hard consistently, there is a very good chance you will realize your dreams.” – pg. 6

“If you’re focused on that distant goal, you’re missing what’s right in front of you, and that’s what you can control.” – pg. 9

“As Coach Belichick would say, it was not what we were looking for.” – pg. 57

“That willingness to say something, to want something to be better, that’s not necessarily a bad thing.” – Coach Nicolopoulos, pg. 61

“To me, that’s important: being willing to say what you plan to do.” – Larry Owens, pg. 71

“If you hate me, you hate me. But I know you’re going to respect me because I’m gonna lay it on the line and give literally everything I have on the field, even if it’s not what’s best for me or if I should be preserving myself. […] I didn’t just dip my toe in. That’s not how I was brought up. If you’re gonna compete, you’re gonna compete.” – pg. 80

“I don’t know whether I enjoy winning as much as I hate losing. Even when you win, you start looking around for the next thing. There’s satisfaction, but it’s temporary. You don’t even really enjoy it. It’s cool, you hit your pinnacle, but what’s next?” – pg. 83

“You find the things you didn’t do well and work on them and polish the things you did do well.” – pg. 84

“You’re not good at what you do unless you’re competitive.” – Wes Welker, pg. 119

“But no one remembers if you played well when you lose.” – pg. 128

“Sometimes durability is better than ability.” – pg. 132

“As humans, we are all going to make mistakes, that is inevitable. How you handle them and how you proceed from them is what truly matters.” – Matthew Slater, pg. 145

“I had enough to worry about with myself, period. That’s something that took time for me to learn. Control your day. Control you. You earn your role through your own practice and play, not someone else’s.” – pg. 155

“Coach McDaniels likes to say, ‘Champions have championship standards, and championship standards don’t know what time of year it is.’ So, regardless of whether it’s OTA’s, training camp, or the middle of the season, you still have to go out and get better that day. If you’re not getting better, you’re getting worse.” – pg. 169

“It’s like painting a wall. You have holes in the wall? You have to spackle them, sand it, and prime it. The painting is the easiest part. It’s the preparation to get the surface ready to go that’s always the toughest.” – pg. 189

“You let me bother you, you just gave me power.” – pg. 203

“Everyone fucking hates us. Let’s win it all next year.” – Tom Brady, pg. 221

“Once you have a kid yourself, you realize that your mom and dad always wanted the best for you.” – pg. 223

“Banging your head against the locker isn’t going to help anyone play better. Being prepared will.” – pg. 243

“For a short time, there’s nothing else to get ready for. When you go out and achieve a goal, the ultimate goal, and you’ve got the people you love there and enjoying it with you, you’re just happy.” – pg. 251

“[…] Those dreams we’re chasing need to be cultivated, not stepped on.” – pg. 254

“It’s important to take stock of where you are in life. Are you growing as a person? Are you achieving goals? Are you living a life that’s a good example?” – pg. 257

“Take it from me, the only thing perfect in life is death. There are no ‘almosts’ about death. No way to be kind of dead or a runner-up to someone who’s deader than you. Death is a blanket, unending, unblinking perfection. Life is about flailing wildly amidst the imperfections hitting you from every which way. You want perfect, you might as well die.” – Bob Powers, pg. 44

“You are sincere about this, aren’t you? Or do you just want to save the planet as long as it doesn’t inconvenience you?” – Anne Beatts, pg. 86

“There is only one way to cheer up a depressive… and that is to present yourself as more depressed than they are.” – Merrill Markoe, pg. 136