Adam Smiley Poswolsky > Quotes

“When someone leaves camp and returns to the real world, they might question why the hell they spend every Monday morning walking down the street with their head buried in an iPhone, or why the hell they don't know a single thing about most of their coworkers.”
― Adam Smiley Poswolsky, Friendship in the Age of Loneliness: An Optimist's Guide to Connection

“I asked her why she didn’t pursue her love for writing full-time and how she managed to find time to write her book with her nine-to-five job. “Right now, I’m a better artist when I know how I’m going to pay my rent and buy my bus pass and all that,” Janet told me. “I also know some people who feel like better artists when their income is dependent on their art because it forces them into action, and maybe one day I’ll feel like that. For me, it’s really great right now to not worry about where my income is coming from, because I’ve gotten really stressed about that in the past when I was having trouble supporting myself. Right now, I feel like I have the best of both worlds. I’m learning what I’m supposed to be learning from my paid work, while I also pursue my creative goals on a concurrent track.”
― Adam Smiley Poswolsky, The Quarter-Life Breakthrough: Invent Your Own Path, Find Meaningful Work, and Build a Life That Matters

“I’m hopeful that this time will also serve as a reminder of what matters most: our interconnectedness. That we can’t afford to take our people or our planet for granted. That our existence is not guaranteed. That we won’t survive without looking out for one another. That we will approach our lives less from a place of “Ugh! I have to go to work, school, or a friend’s birthday party,” and more from, “Wow! I get to go to work, school, or a friend’s birthday party.” That we will celebrate our shared humanity and cherish the simple yet profound freedom to congregate in public, to go see live music, to sit inside a restaurant, to visit family, to hug an old friend, to pass countless hours with our people, and realize just how lucky we are to be alive together.”
― Adam Smiley Poswolsky, Friendship in the Age of Loneliness: An Optimist's Guide to Connection