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13 Life-Learnings from 13 Years of Brain Pickings
Seek out what magnifies your spirit. Patti Smith, in discussing William Blake and her creative influences, talks about writers and artists who magnified her spirit — it’s a beautiful phrase and a beautiful notion.
Maria Popova • 13 Life-Learnings from 13 Years of Brain Pickings
- When people tell you who they are, Maya Angelou famously advised, believe them. Just as important, however, when people try to tell you who you are, don’t believe them. You are the only custodian of your own integrity, and the assumptions made by those that misunderstand who you are and what you stand for reveal a great deal a
Maria Popova • 13 Life-Learnings from 13 Years of Brain Pickings
Allow yourself the uncomfortable luxury of changing your mind.
Maria Popova • 13 Life-Learnings from 13 Years of Brain Pickings
Be generous. Be generous with your time and your resources and with giving credit and, especially, with your words. It’s so much easier to be a critic than a celebrator. Always remember there is a human being on the other end of every exchange and behind every cultural artifact being critiqued. To understand and be understood, those are among... See more
Maria Popova • 13 Life-Learnings from 13 Years of Brain Pickings
“Expect anything worthwhile to take a long time.” This is borrowed from the wise and wonderful Debbie Millman, for it’s hard to better capture something so fundamental yet so impatiently overlooked in our culture of immediacy. The myth of the overnight success is just that — a myth — as well as a reminder that our present definition of success need... See more
Maria Popova • 13 Life-Learnings from 13 Years of Brain Pickings
Do nothing for prestige or status or money or approval alone. As Paul Graham observed , “prestige is like a powerful magnet that warps even your beliefs about what you enjoy.
Maria Popova • 13 Life-Learnings from 13 Years of Brain Pickings
Question your maps and models of the universe, both inner and outer, and continually test them against the raw input of reality.
Maria Popova • 13 Life-Learnings from 13 Years of Brain Pickings
Don’t just resist cynicism — fight it actively. Fight it in yourself, for this ungainly beast lays dormant in each of us, and counter it in those you love and engage with, by modeling its opposite
Maria Popova • 13 Life-Learnings from 13 Years of Brain Pickings
To understand and be understood, those are among life’s greatest gifts, and every interaction is an opportunity to exchange them.