‘I’ve come to believe that one of the most important things is to see people. The person who opens the door for you, the person who pours your coffee. Acknowledge them. Show them respect. The traditional greeting of the Zulu people of South Africa is “Sawubona”. It means “I see you”. I try and do that.’ (Location 163)
Note: See people as people
‘It’s the same lesson I learnt in that cell. What you have to do is live for the day, you have to say, now is life, this very moment. It’s not tomorrow, it’s not yesterday, it’s now, so you have to live it as fully as you can. Invest in every day.’ (Location 252)
Note: Iive for today
‘The secret, darling, is to love everyone you meet. From the moment you meet them. Give everyone the benefit of the doubt. Start from a position that they are lovely and that you will love them. Most people will respond to that and be lovely and love you back and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, and you can then achieve the most wonderful things.’ Then she leant forward and whispered in my ear. ‘But get rid of any of the bastards that let you down.’ (Location 271)
Tags: favorite, love
Note: give others the benefit of the doubt when you first meet them
‘There can be something beautiful about the immediacy of connection that the digital world allows, but on the other hand dating apps where we swipe left or right can leave people feeling disposable, commodified even, and that commodification is hurtful and degrading.’ (Location 327)
Tags: dating
Note: .dating dating apps leave people feeling disposable
‘There will be “Ah ha!” moments in life when a light might go on, when you think to yourself, “I MUST do that” – whatever it is. It’s not because someone says you should do it, but it’s because you feel absolutely compelled to and there would be something wrong with the world if you didn’t. If you find that light – acknowledge it. Find other people who share that passion. Cultivate it. Find that deeper purpose in your life.’ (Location 428)
‘Well, Richard, my dad told me there’s an invisible sign on everyone’s head which says make me feel important. Remember that and you’ll be fine.’ (Location 452)
Note: Make other people feel important
‘My best advice is listen, listen rather than talk. I was never bright in school, but I was a very good listener, and I still am. I have a better life because of it. When I meet people, I’m curious about their story, about how they did what they did. Along the way you meet people smarter than you and they teach you what you don’t already know. So I listen to them, take away my little titbits, and off I go (Location 468)
Tags: listen
Note: .listen
‘If I was passing on anything, I would say, for goodness sake, look for the pluses in life. Being negative completely erodes everything. If something bad happens, I always say cancel and continue and get back on track. There’s no good being negative, I don’t believe in negativity.’ (Location 767)
Tags: positive
Note: .positive
‘At the end of the day I think the most important thing is don’t look back on what has happened. Instead look forward to what you can do. Just crack on.’ (Location 809)
Tags: positive
Note: .positive
‘People talk about work and play as if they are separate things, with one being there to compensate for the other, but all of it is life, all of it is precious. Don’t waste any of it doing something you don’t want to do. And do all of it with the people you love.’ (Location 863)
Note: Meaningful work and meaningful relationships
‘If you go to the deeper level, we are all part of the same human family. We are all part of humankind. And whether we like it or not, we all have to live on the same planet. We are all interdependent. East depends on West. North depends on South. We need to place less emphasis on our secondary differences, our religions, our nation states, and more emphasis on the fact that ultimately we are the same. That is how we can live much more peacefully.’ (Location 1062)
Note: We all have to live on the same planet
‘Life for me is about doing the right thing, on a difficult day, when no one is looking. If you do something or walk by something that you know is not right, then you’re ultimately cheating and undermining your own self. If you do the right thing, no matter what the outcome, your confidence always grows. (Location 1117)
Note: Always do the right thing
‘I’m totally precise and obsessive about detail, I have to be, I couldn’t write the way I do if I was more easy-going.’ And it can be a lonely life. ‘If you were to ask me, which is better, having a companion or living alone? I would say the aloneness furthers the work, but it accumulates the sadness. There is no one to leave a tray outside my door while I write.’ (Location 1234)
Note: Loneliness furthers the work but increases to the sadness
‘No matter how bad it is, no situation is ever greater than you. You always have three options:
You can change the situation,
Accept the situation
Change your mindset on how you see the situation.
And you have the power in your hands to choose whichever is best for you. (Location 1330)
Tags: challenges
Note: Three choice for tough situations: 1) Change it 2) Accept it 3) Change your mindset on how you see it
‘There’s always going to be someone faster, smarter, taller, more experienced than you, but the rewards in life don’t always go to them, the rewards in life go to the dogged, the determined, those who can keep going and pick themselves back up and never say die and just hang in there, sometimes quietly and undramatically.’ (Location 1348)
Note: There will always be someone bigger,better and stronger but the rewards go to the most determined
‘IT IS NOT THE MOST MASCULINE, MACHO, OR THE ONES WITH THE BIGGEST MUSCLES WHO WIN. IT’S THOSE WHO LOOK AFTER EACH OTHER, WHO REMAIN CHEERFUL IN ADVERSITY, WHO ARE KIND AND PERSISTENT AND POSITIVE. THESE ARE THE CHARACTERISTICS THAT HELP YOU, NOT JUST TO SURVIVE LIFE BUT TO ENJOY IT. AND THEY’RE NOTHING TO DO WITH GENDER. THE PEOPLE WHO ARE SUCCESSFUL ARE THE ORDINARY ONES THAT JUST GO THAT LITTLE BIT FURTHER, WHO GIVE A LITTLE MORE THAN THEY ARE ASKED TO, WHO LIVE WITHIN THAT EXTRA FIVE PER CENT.’ – Bear Grylls (Location 1375)
Tags: determination
Note: .determined
‘If you are going to be late, enjoy being late.’ (Location 1563)
don’t believe in the so-called declining years. Every day is a full twenty-four hours, with sixty minutes in each hour, and it is the same amount of time whether you are twelve, twenty, forty or eighty. You’re getting as much daylight as anyone else and the same amount you’ve ever got. It’s up to you what you do with it.’ (Location 1574)
Tags: ageing
Note: .ageing
“To be free it is not sufficient to cast off your chains, you must so live that you respect and enhance the freedom of others.” (Location 1662)
‘Make always the best from what you have, no matter how little it is.’ (Location 1694)
Tags: optimism
Note: .optimism
‘People tend not to be accidentally successful. If you see anyone very, very good at something, they tend to be very driven by what they do and they work really hard at it. So find the thing that makes you passionate and do that. And if you can find something you’re passionate about that also makes a difference to others, it will be a greatly fulfilling quality in your life. In the end, the things that give the most fulfilment are the things you do for others.’ (Location 2022)
Tags: success
Note: Successful people are driven and have goals
JUST DO ONE THING. AND AIM TO BECOME BEST IN THE WORLD AT IT.’ (Location 2103)
Tags: focus
‘If you’re ever lucky enough to be successful in what you choose to do, don’t ever believe your own hype, and remember it could all stop tomorrow. Do whatever you do to the best of your ability. Take the job seriously, but not yourself. And most of all, be nice to work with.’ (Location 2216)
Tags: ego, success
Note: Dont believe your own hype
you can use death to help, albeit indirectly. ‘One doesn’t want to frighten people but, obviously, life is extremely short and reminding ourselves of that should invigorate us and shake us from a kind of lethargy when we are searching.’ (Location 2364)
Tags: mortality
Note: .mortality
Bill Gates says something. Says something so surprising . . . and so personally gratifying . . . and so unexpected . . . that I have to fight the urge to kiss him. ‘If there’s just one piece of advice I could give, then I would urge people to foster a love of reading. It’s our core skill as human beings. It’s the gateway to everything else. It gets you involved. It allows your curiosity to follow its course. It connects us across time and space. Books and reading are the most important things. Yes, I would say above all else, I would urge people to foster a love of reading. Start as early as you can and keep on reading.’ (Location 2752)
Tags: reading
Note: .reading
‘Stay keenly aware of the vastness of our ignorance.There is so much we don’t know, so really put the effort into scraping at the edges of our knowledge. And remember, the most interesting, rewarding and fascinating thing is to be wrong, to discover, “oh, I thought I was right, but now I am seeing something that I hadn’t seen before.” So be prepared to listen to that voice inside that says “I really know very little about what’s happening here.” That humility will help you learn.’ (Location 2876)
Tags: ignorance
Note: .ignorance be aware of your ignorance, and enjoy learning when you are wrong