Brian Smith

“Because this is a story about loving the place that made you, even if it wasn’t the place you were raised. And whether you’re one-and-done or you’re on a bender doing a wraparound, you always come back to the ones you love.”
― Isaac Fitzgerald, Dirtbag, Massachusetts: A Confessional

“football: it might not be enough to just love your job. You had to want to live in the world the job created. Working with people you like, a tribe with a common goal, would make your professional life far happier than any accolade, salary, or a company’s prestige could. You need to do the work you love, at a place and with people you love. You have to feel—Brady repeatedly returned to this word—“appreciated.”
― Seth Wickersham, It's Better to Be Feared: The New England Patriots Dynasty and the Pursuit of Greatness

“Mike picked up a tip listening to a speech by an executive of BJ’s Wholesale Club that we use—and you should too. Mike thought he knew all the secrets of public speaking, but as he waited to go onstage after the executive from BJ’s, he heard him start and end his speech with these words: “If there’s only one thing you remember from this talk . . .” That’s a great way to signal unmistakably what matters most and what you want people to take away.”
― Jim Vandehei, Smart Brevity: The Power of Saying More with Less

“Their meeting wasn’t some meaningless diplomatic reception. It began with Halifax mistaking Hitler for a footman and almost handing him his coat. And then Hitler was Hitler for five hours: sulking, shouting, digressing, denouncing. He talked about how much he hated the press. He talked about the evils of communism. Halifax listened to the performance with what another British diplomat at the time called a “mixture of astonishment, repugnance, and compassion.”
― Malcolm Gladwell, Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know About the People We Don’t Know