Arya Harsono

“In his book Consolations, the essayist and poet David Whyte observed that the ultimate touchstone of friendship “is not improvement, neither of the other nor of the self, the ultimate touchstone is witness, the privilege of having been seen by someone and the equal privilege of being granted the sight of the essence of another, to have walked with them and to have believed in them, sometimes just to have accompanied them for however brief a span, on a journey impossible to accomplish alone.”
― David Brooks, How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen

“When we select leaders, we don’t usually pick the person with the strongest leadership skills. We frequently choose the person who talks the most. It’s called the babble effect. Research shows that groups promote the people who command the most airtime—regardless of their aptitude and expertise. We mistake confidence for competence, certainty for credibility, and quantity for quality. We get stuck following people who dominate the discussion instead of those who elevate it.”
― Adam M. Grant, Hidden Potential: The Science of Achieving Greater Things

“Aldous Huxley captured the core reality: “Experience is not what happens to you, it’s what you do with what happens to you.” —”
― David Brooks, How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen

“The quality of your life depends quite a bit on the quality of attention you project out onto the world.”
― David Brooks, How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen