Nobody beats Vitas Gerulaitis 17 times in a row. — Vitas Gerulaitis after beating Jimmy Connors following 16 consecutive losses to him Did you miss me? Wait, don’t answer that. My fragile ego couldn’t take the truth unless it were a resounding “yes OH YES I did!” Regardless of your answer (though I’ll imagine it…
A diamond is a chunk of coal that did well under pressure. — Henry Kissinger If there were one brain hack that nearly everyone would pay to learn, it’s this: How to avoid choking under pressure. Whether that’s on the court or in the courtroom, on a test or in a task, when down to the…
When you can do a common thing in an uncommon way, you will command the attention of the world. — George Washington Carver Many writers dislike being asked where they get their creative ideas from, largely, because they have no clue themselves. Creativity seems to strike sporadically and harnessing it can sometimes feel like trying…
An expert is one who knows more and more about less and less. – Nicholas M. Butler Based off of research by Anders Ericsson, Malcolm Gladwell made famous the idea that it takes a person 10,000 hours of practice to become an “expert” at something. Although this claim has been challenged, I think we can all agree that becoming…
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. – Edmund Burke Here is a classic thought experiment: Imagine you’re wearing some new $50 shoes when you spot a young boy floundering in a shallow pond. Knowing he will drown if you don’t do something, will you ruin…
I am rooted, but I flow. — Virginia Woolf Like much of science, it began with an observation and then some curiosity. Mihály Csíkszentmihályi (a social psychologist whose name you probably pronounced Mih… Cszz…) first noticed a strange phenomenon with a painter friend of his: when his friend’s painting was going well, the man would…