Secret of Amazon’s Success
We don’t have one big advantage so we have to weave a rope of many small advantages.
— Jeff Bezos
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Own What Makes You Different
ByHeatherWhen we can celebrate and truly own what it is that makes us different, we are able to find the source of our greatest creative power.
— Aimee MullinsAimee is a double below-the-knee amputee who lost her legs before her first birthday. She is talented and beautiful and doesn’t take “no” for an answer. Learn more about her story on You Tube.
Newspapers vs. Journalism
ByHeatherSociety doesn’t need newspapers. What we need is journalism. For a century, the imperatives to strengthen journalism and to strengthen newspapers have been so tightly wound as to be indistinguishable. That’s been a fine accident to have, but when that accident stops, as it is stopping before our eyes, we’re going to need lots of other ways to strengthen journalism instead.
— Clay Shirky
Flattery is the Cinnabon of Human Interaction
ByHeatherRob Long is a brilliant television writer who offers a weekly five minute commentary on KCRW. He outdid himself this week.
The very best thing about flattery is how incredibly flattering it is. If you’re on the receiving end of a nice blast of “you’re so wonderful” it barely matters – what am I saying, it doesn’t matter in the least! – if it’s true. If you really are wonderful. If the personal telling you how wonderful you are even thinks you are wonderful.
What’s important is that the person delivering the flattering cascade thinks you’re worth the butter. It’s like a kubuki moment: I’m probably lying, you know I’m probably lying, but you’re the kind of person it’s worth lying to.
And if you’re on the other side, if you’re delivering the flattery, it’s amazing how instantly it works, how immediately the recipient begins to glow and swan around. It’s like a sugar rush. It’s cheap, it rots your teeth and makes you fat, but for a few moments, you feel invincible. Flattery, done correctly, is the Cinnabon of human interaction.
There is Nothing Worse Than Nothing
ByHeatherBad things are not the worst things that can happen to us. NOTHING is the worst thing that can happen to us.
— Richard Bach
Life’s a tough proposition…
ByHeatherLife’s a tough proposition, and the first hundred years are the hardest.
Klipstein’s Third Law of General Engineering
ByHeatherDimensions will always be expressed in the least usable term. Velocity, for example, will be expressed in furlongs per fortnight.