Quotes
“The most important step a man can take. It's not the first one, is it? It's the next one. Always the next step, Dalinar.”
— Brandon Sanderson, Oathbringer · found around 2018My note
Honestly probably one of the most long-running quotes that run in my head in life. I think it's a beautiful thought. It doesn't matter what happened, what you did, or what was done to you. The next step is the most important one. (I'm sure this idea exists in a hundred older places — this is just where I met it first.)
“I can't be sure I'm getting anywhere when I'm working hard, but I can be sure I'm getting nowhere when I'm not, and it feels awful.”
— Paul Graham, How to Work Hard · found 9 Jun 2026My note
This quote really unlocked something in my brain, far later in life than I would've liked unfortunately. It made me realise that when you're consuming things, definitely nothing will happen. By at least doing and making things, something may happen.
However, I don't like the "it feels awful" at the end. I don't think you should live life solely running away from things because they feel awful, but should also run towards things you love. In this case, I both love the feeling of making something happen, and hate the feeling of nothing happening.
I always saw people with tireless energy to build, and I wondered to myself "how?", turns out, this is how.
“Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives... you are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side here in this country of ours... You, the mothers who sent their sons from far away countries, wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land, they have become our sons as well.”
— attributed to Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, 1934 · found in high school, understood in 2022My note
This quote, whilst I understand that it may be misattributed, or an invention, is beautiful. The words are so filled with kindness, empathy, reassurance, and understanding — everything I think we should all strive to be.
Imagine the heartbreak of every mother, father, sister, brother, and friend who lost someone. This quote must've helped in some small way at least.
“...look at the unhappy people around you. The surest way to win their praise is to adopt and live in accordance with their values. It will then be easy for them to praise you, because by doing so, they are indirectly praising themselves. The snag, of course, is that by sharing their values you will likely end up sharing their misery.”
— William B. Irvine, The Stoic Challenge · found Feb 2026My note
I originally mis-read this quote, and it's phrased a lot softer than I read it. However, here is how I took it, and I believe it has helped me immensely whilst also accidentally being in line with Stoicism.
When you take on someone's judgement, either their praise or their criticism, you are adopting their value system. If you adopt their value system, you will at least be unhappy in the ways they are unhappy, if not in more ways as it is not true to yourself. You're giving up the reins of your mind and, according to Epictetus, ruining your life.
So only let through the judgement from a small set of people, whose values you respect, and filter ruthlessly.
“My curiosity got the better of my judgment, and I mounted a horse and rode to the front to see what was going on. I had been there but a short time when an order to charge was given, and lacking the moral courage to return to camp — where I had been ordered to stay — I charged with the regiment.”
— Ulysses S. Grant, Personal Memoirs · found late May 2026My note
Honestly I love how critical of himself Grant is in this way. He isn't critical of himself through the lens of what society wants, what other people want. He's critical of himself through his own lens of his own motives, and acknowledges that he buckled under either the peer pressure or glory-seeking of the moment. Although perhaps it is simple humility, I read it this way.
Perhaps we all should learn this. We should not do things out of fear. We should do scary things because we want something else, and, hopefully, we want that something else for the right reasons.
“We few, we happy few, we band of brothers.”
— William Shakespeare, Henry V — the St. Crispin's Day speech · found sometime in 2011My note
I've come across this quote a few times, in a few places. Most prominently for me, it was in the HBO series Band of Brothers. This was an incredibly formative show. What I admired about the show, even as a child, was how these men could deal with such miserable conditions, whilst still working towards their goal. It is stoicism in a way.
Additionally, Admiral Nelson constantly called his group of confidants his Band of Brothers — borrowing this very line. Nelson did not hold himself above his men. He kept them in the fold, equal to himself. This is the strongest way, I believe, to be.
I think it is a sad consequence of modernity that this environment does not arise very often. The many options afforded to people mean they are kept apart. Perhaps you need inescapable circumstance to forge something like this.
“You have the right to work only but never to its fruits. Let not the fruits of action be your motive, nor let your attachment be to inaction.”
— Bhagavad Gita, 2.47 · found 9 Jul 2026My note
I came across this when reading this article. This quote so concisely portrays how I felt when I was working on ClaimKit. Millions of dollars potential. Possibly zero. If it may be worth nothing, was doing the work worth it? The answer I consistently came to was no, not this work, not on this subject, and not in this way.
This idea is perhaps a better-phrased cousin of "love the process." You must do what you enjoy — otherwise, if the fruits never arrive, you have wasted your time. And the fruits may never arrive, and should not be expected to. The process is your life, not the outcome at the end.
“The Company as a Machine for Doing Stuff”
— Packy McCormick, Not Boring · found 9 Jul 2026My note
Really encapsulates a lot of what I believe about companies, from my experience at ClaimKit. This, for me, is what I want starting companies to be all about. I ended up writing an essay about it.