“It's not so important what you [high school students] work on, so long as you're not wasting your time. Work on things that interest you and increase your options, and worry later about which you'll take.”

—  Paul Graham

"What You'll Wish You'd Known", January 2005

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "It's not so important what you [high school students] work on, so long as you're not wasting your time. Work on things …" by Paul Graham?
Paul Graham photo
Paul Graham 43
English programmer, venture capitalist, and essayist 1964

Related quotes

Paul Graham photo

“If I were back in high school and someone asked about my plans, I'd say that my first priority was to learn what the options were. You [high school students] don't need to be in a rush to choose your life's work. What you need to do is discover what you like. You have to work on stuff you like if you want to be good at what you do.”

Paul Graham (1964) English programmer, venture capitalist, and essayist

"What You'll Wish You'd Known", January 2005

Jenny Han photo

“One day soon you'll be in the world, and you'll have so many options you won't know what to do with them. Everyone will fall in love with you, because you're so beautiful and so charming, and you'll look back on high school as such a tiny blip.”

Jenny Han book P.S. I Still Love You

Source: P.S. I Still Love You

Ward Cunningham photo

“To worry about tomorrow is to detract from your work today. Time you spend thinking about tomorrow is time you're not spending thinking about what to do today.”

Ward Cunningham (1949) American computer programmer who developed the first wiki

A Conversation with Ward Cunningham (2003), To Plan or Not To Plan
Context: To worry about tomorrow is to detract from your work today. Time you spend thinking about tomorrow is time you're not spending thinking about what to do today. The place you leave in the code because you think you'll need it tomorrow, is actually a waste of time today — and a liability tomorrow. It does more harm than good.

Eminem photo

“My song can make you cry, take you by surprise. At the same time, can make your dry your eyes with the same rhyme. See what you're seeing is a genius at work, which to me isn't work, so it's easy to misinterpret it at first.”

Eminem (1972) American rapper and actor

"My Dad's Gone Crazy"
2000s, The Eminem Show (2002)

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry photo

“It is the time you have wasted for your rose that makes your rose so important.”

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry book The Little Prince

Source: The Little Prince, Chapter 21

“This is going to be a really long couple of months if we worry about ever little twinge."

"You just tried to throw up your liver."

"I did not."

So you were working on your pancreas?”

Jessica Bird (1969) U.S. novelist

Source: The King

Lewis Black photo

“People go to Vegas, and they don't know what to do; here's what you do. You go to the casino in your hotel. On your arrival, you get $100 in quarters. Take that $100 back to your hotel room and stare at it for a long, long time. Why? Because you're never going to see them again. Then you take those quarters to the bathroom and you flush them, one by one by one. And the nice thing about that is that every so often the toilet will back up, and you'll feel like a WINNER!”

Lewis Black (1948) American stand-up comedian, author, playwright, social critic and actor

The White Album (2000)

Terry Pratchett photo

“If you trust in yourself… and believe in your dreams… and follow your star… you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”

Terry Pratchett book The Wee Free Men

Variant: Now... if you trust in yourself... and believe in your dreams... and follow your star... you'll still get beaten by people who spenttime working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy. Goodbye.
Source: The Wee Free Men

“When you increase your focus, you decrease your options. Good things are not necessarily God things.”

Craig Groeschel (1967) American priest

It – How Churches and Leaders Can Get It and Keep It (2008, Zondervan)

Norman Vincent Peale photo

“Tell yourself every morning as you go to work that you love your job. Think of it as interesting, even fascinating. By so doing you will ultimately get enthusiastic about your work — and you will undoubtedly do a better job.”

Norman Vincent Peale (1898–1993) American writer

Power Of The Plus Factor (1987)

Related topics