“Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure — these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.”

— Steve Jobs

2000s, Address at Stanford University (2005)

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Steve Jobs 150

American entrepreneur and co-founder of Apple Inc. 1955–2011

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“Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life.”

Steve Jobs (1955–2011) American entrepreneur and co-founder of Apple Inc.

2005-09, Address at Stanford University (2005)
Context: Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure — these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

“Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.”

Walter Isaacson book Steve Jobs

Source: Steve Jobs

“All the big things hurt, the things you remember. If it doesn't hurt it's not important.”

Tim Winton book The Turning

Short story, 'Abbreviation' - p.26
Short stories, The Turning (2004)

“The fear of death is born with man, though this is the only thing that he knows is certain to happen to him. Attachment to material things makes man cling to life. When you chant the Name of the Divine, when you are one with the divine, you accept death. While you are attached to life and afraid of death, you die with that fear and that weight clinging to you. If you have attained liberation you are free from death (you accept the inevitable). You die without fear and by remembering the Name of God, your soul leaves the body free of that fear and attachment. If you are reborn, your soul is still free from that fear. If you die in "unity", you are free from rebirth, unless you will it.”

Haidakhan Babaji teacher in northern India

1 December 1982
The Teachings of Babaji. (1983, 1984, 1988). Haidakhan, U.P.: Haidakhandi Samaj.
Source: The Teachings of Babaji, 1 December 1982.

“What I would say is the single most important thing, if you want to avoid all the stupid errors, is knowing where you're competent and where you aren't. And that's very hard to do because the human mind naturally tries to make you think you're way smarter than you are.”

Charlie Munger (1924) American business magnate, lawyer, investor, and philanthropist

[A Conversation with Distinguished Alumnus Charles T. Munger (CERT '44, CAVU), December 17, 2020, Caltech, YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaDU1J91hY8] (quote at 18:20 of 58:41)

“Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

Steve Jobs (1955–2011) American entrepreneur and co-founder of Apple Inc.

2000s, Address at Stanford University (2005)

“…it’s important to remember though that when looking at these situations you
have to be able to see the difficulty anyone faces in a breakup and how hard
that experience is. No one want’s to be alone…but sometimes in life…in order to
be healthy.. it is paramount to your happiness. I truly do appreciate all the
love and support you have all given me over the years in every facet of my life.”

Andrew Biersack (1990) American singer-songwriter

“When dealing with the press the most important thing to remember is that you have the right to remain silent, because everything you say can and will be used against you.”

Jeffrey Montgomery (1953–2016) American LGBT rights activist and public relations executive

[Woodhull Freedom Foundation mourns death of one of its founders, Jeffrey Montgomery, Levy, Ricci J., Woodhull Freedom Foundation, July 19, 2016, 2016-07-20, http://www.woodhullfoundation.org/2016/sex-and-politics/woodhull-freedom-foundation-mourns-death-of-one-of-its-founders-jeffrey-montgomery-a-leader-activist-a-mentor-and-sexual-freedom-movement-hero/]

“I was brought up to look upon falling in love as something natural…something that was pleasant and natural and amusing. I've been in love before, casually, the way young Frenchmen are…but in earnest, too, because a Frenchman can't help surrounding a thing like that with sentiment and romance. He can't help it. If it were just … just something shameful and nasty, he couldn't endure it. They don't have affairs in cold blood the way I've heard men talk about such things since I've come here. It makes a difference, Mrs. Pentland, if you look at things in the light they do. I've learned now, and it is a thing which needs learning, the most important thing in all life. The French are right about it. They make a fine, wonderful thing of love.”

Louis Bromfield (1896–1956) American author and conservationist

Early Autumn : A Story of a Lady (1926)

“"You have everything, Karnus. Wealth. Power. Seven brothers and sisters. How many cousins? Nieces? Nephews? A father and mother who love you, yet… you are here, drinking alone, killing my friends. Setting the purpose of your life to ending me. Why?"
"Because you wronged my family. No one wrongs the Bellona and lives."
"So it's pride."
"It's always pride."
"Pride is just a shout into the wind."
He shakes his head, voice deepening. "I will die. You will die. We will all die and the universe will carry on without care. All that we have is that shout into the wind - how we live. How we go. And how we stand before we fall." He leans forward. "So you see, pride is the only thing."”

Pierce Brown book Golden Son

Source: Golden Son (2015), Ch. 11: Red; Karnus and Darrow

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