Nathan

“It was all here for me, just as it has all been here for you, the best and the worst of Western Civilization, if you cared to pay attention: music, finance, government, architecture, law and sculpture and painting, history and medicine and athletics and every sort of science, and books, books, books, and teachers and role models.
People so smart you can’t believe it, and people so dumb you can’t believe it. People so nice you can’t believe it, and people so mean you can’t believe it.”
― Kurt Vonnegut, Timequake

“The first step to being creative is to develop expertise in something. The more you know about a subject, the more likely you are to have some fundamental insight into that subject. Einstein didn’t invent the theory of relativity because he was a decent physicist. He developed it because he was an expert physicist who understood the field so well that facts, figures and fundamentals no longer required conscious thought. They became permanent denizens of parts of the brain that store rote knowledge, habits and routine. Freeing the conscious mind to work on refining and extending that knowledge. This is why expert musicians write great songs. And why expert physicians create new surgical techniques. It’s why expert chemists discover new medicines. It’s why technology companies hire great coders and law firms employ expert attorneys. Expertise guarantees results and maximizes the chance of brilliant insights. It's stacking the deck for creativity to occur.”
― James A. Whittaker, Career Superpowers: Succeeding on Purpose

“What matters most: Stay connected and never withdraw your love, even for a moment. The deepest reason kids cooperate is that they love you and want to please you. Above all, safeguard your relationship with your child. That’s your only leverage to have any influence on your child. It’s what your child needs most. And that closeness is what makes all the sacrifices of parenting worth it.”
― Laura Markham, Peaceful Parent, Happy Kids: How to Stop Yelling and Start Connecting

“He had a tremendous wang, incidentally. You never know who'll get one.”
― Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five