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The days are long but the decades are short (2015)
- rokhayakebe 7y agoThe day is slow, Friend, but the Decade will be fast Spend less time adrift Be kind when it matters Be kinder when it does not matter Time > Money, Spend it well Everything will pass, just stay your course Always Do or Learn new things Forgive, Forget, or at least Let Go Say "Thank You" thrice The day is slow, Friend, but the decade will be fast
- dang 7y agoDiscussed at the time: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9454440 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9454440
- rzzzt 7y ago"Life is short. And life is long. But not in that order": https://youtu.be/SNgyEmYyQF4 https://youtu.be/SNgyEmYyQF4
- diego 7y ago"how to succeed: pick the right thing to do." How do you know it was the right thing? Because you succeeded.
- xmprt 7y agoThe criteria for me is if I regretted doing it. Which usually isn't often.
- mirimir 7y agoOK, gotta quote a band whose name isn't mentionable in polite company. (Actually, a name that couldn't be said on the radio, but whatever.) > It's better to regret what you have done, than what you haven't done.
- m463 7y ago"Every man has two lives... the second one starts when he realizes he only has one." - Confuscious
- 52-6F-62 7y agoI’d never heard that aphorism. It’s good. I’ve also always liked: ”Life is long if you know how to use it” - Seneca
- yig 7y agoThis strikes me as a misattributed quote. Source?
- sieabahlpark 7y agoWouldn't that be your job? He gave what he thought the source was.
- tasogare 7y agoNo, he didn’t give the source. Confucius have books attributed to him, a source would include the book and a precise location. It’s seems indeed misattributed. For example: « The people may be made to follow a path of action, but they may not be made to understand it. » Analects, VIII, 9. [1] Also Confucius didn’t speak nor write English, which didn’t exist at the the time, so it’s better to give the translator name when there is various interpretations. (James Legge in this case). [1] https://ctext.org/dictionary.pl?if=en&id=1297 https://ctext.org/dictionary.pl?if=en&id=1297
- avindroth 7y agoYeah, this is true. Without this kind of attribution, you can make up anything. “Frogs are made of soup juice.” -Confucius ...doesn’t count.
- sangd 7y agoI think you should categorize them into: 1. Most important 2. Important 3. Not important It's a long list, they're mostly meaningful. I feel some are subjective to personal opinions.
- mhb 7y agoMaybe, if it took more than a couple of minutes to read the whole thing.
- jdance 7y agoThere is something about these lists that just doesnt work. They absolutely dont help for me. I have thought they do at many times in my life but reading one again I’m like, ”what?”. This isnt even remotely actionable for me, its just some mad random philosophical collection. It LOOKS good but it lacks something very fundamental. I wish I could see exactly what it is thats missing. I have kind of found what that is now in my own life, if just barely, but I’m not clear enough about it to verbalise it even for myself. Maybe when I can completely see it I can write a blog post of my own :) I would say this list would not have helped the author at all in accomplishing whatever it is that he has. I may be wrong but I have really tried to believe it :)
- ju-st 7y ago> Making money is often more fun than spending it
- taneq 7y agoMaking money often involves doing something useful. Being useful is fun.
- vecplane 7y ago32) Be a doer, not a talker. I try to be a doer, and I'm often frustrated at work by talkers, but the feeling is tempered by this: 26) Don’t screw people and don’t burn bridges. Pick your battles carefully.
- scotty79 7y agoOne of my teachers in college said: "life is not an optimisation problem" Just live it. Doesn't stress if it's optimal.
- seieste 7y agoThat's something you hear from people who have already achieved some success. But when you're trying to make enough money to live comfortable and also want to have a social life, it IS an optimization problem.
- inimino 7y agoIt's a satisficing problem to make enough money to support your life. But that problem itself is just one part of life, and life is life, not an optimization problem, or indeed any kind of problem to be solved.
- k__ 7y agoAnd another person younger and more successful than me. But well, the article is from 2015, so maybe I got a few months to make it big :D
- Cactus2018 7y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_flies_like_an_arrow;_fruit_flies_like_a_banana https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_flies_like_an_arrow;_frui...
- elevenbits 7y agoThis is better than most of these "tips for a good life" lists, but I feel like it too misses a certain level of overarching consistency. Almost every item has a situation in which the "correct" thing to do is exactly the opposite of what is recommended. How do you make that decision? As with all of these lists, I always wonder whether this is what the author thinks now, after attaining success, or if these principles are what they relied on during the process? Or perhaps even what they wish they did now that they have more time to think about it? A commenter below mentions "life is not an optimization problem" -- but isn't it? You're fundamentally making decisions every day that balance your constraints against your goals, interests, and passions. If you just let your life go by without making some real decisions, won't you just regret what you didn't do later? The reason you have to optimize like this is because a lot of these principles, should you attempt to leverage them to make a decision, provide contradictory advice. Part of this is due to the subjective terms (ie, definitions of extreme vary), but if you're going to use this list as a template or an inspiration, eventually you have to resolve what these things mean to you. I certainly haven't figured that all out and don't expect I ever will; I don't see how anyone could without having experienced all possible things. All that being said, there are definitely some items that are clearly beneficial and don't put you in decision making paralysis, such as 18 or 24. But there are others that leave me more confused, such as "Don't waste time" or "Don't worry so much". How am I to know if an activity is time wasted until after I do it or if worrying is excessive or warning me about a real issue? Finally, if you don't identify as neurotypical, what items apply, don't apply, or apply differently? How do you live your life if what everyone else says to do doesn't (seem to) work for you? Not trashing Sam's thoughts here for sure, but I've read dozens of these things and never came away without having more questions then when I started.
- hkmurakami 7y agoProtect your basic security. But if you have basic security (this depends on your stated in life), follow your heart. (Follow your heart =follow your intuition = your intuition is your mind drawing from all your knowledge and experience to guide you)
- snowmaker 7y agoThis is still one of my favorite pieces of writing. I try to re-read it at least once a year.
- closeparen 7y agoArticles like this seem almost calculated to be maximally devastating to lonely people.
- hkmurakami 7y agoIn my experience, different elements of the same content jumps out at different people depending on our respective experiences and circumstances. If you're lonely right now (I've been there many times and they were always the worst periods of my life. it sucks), I hope you find a way out of it. Cheers.
- mikelyons 7y agoThe reticular activation system in your brain hones in on what you're focusing on in your life, this is how the law of attraction works.
- closeparen 7y agoI tend to think the brain hones in on item #1 of a list.
- mikelyons 7y agoyeah but you know when you want to buy a car and you start seeing them everywhere? it's probably not #1 but your reticular activation system is honed for it by your desire for the car.