How I use the wise words of others to build on the internet
Words have transformed my life, here are some of my favourites.
âIn three words I can sum up everything Iâve learned about life: it goes on.â â Robert Frost
If there was one quote, to sum up, all quotes, it would be that. So unbelievably, frustratingly, surprisingly true. Everything in life is a moment in time. A flash in the pan.

That meeting youâre worrying about, that conversation where you said too much, your constant desire to be more. Itâs all fleeting. Here today, gone tomorrow. Thatâs life you see. Itâs kind and cruel.
The cold truth of it is, the world doesnât care about your wants, needs desires. It canât care. It doesnât have the capacity to. It just keeps on moving.
Read also: 16 short unwritten rules of life
âEverything you can imagine is real.ââ Pablo Picasso
Iâve thought about life a lot. Iâve always been a thinker. I remember at 12 years old lying on the garden table, staring up at the sky thinking, whatâs going on out there, what does it all mean?
In some ways, Iâve been doing that my whole life.
My conclusion, loosely, is that it means nothing and everything. It doesnât matter so it matters enormously. This life is yours for the taking.
âLife isnât about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.â â George Bernard Shaw
I probably wasted 2 years of my life not understanding this quote. For a long time, I thought passion was found, not created.
I spent 2, maybe 3 years of my life looking for something that could not be found. It still annoys me to write that. What youâve been told about passion and life, is a lie.
You wonât find a passion or yourself, you create it. You are a sculptor, not a detective.
âI do not fear death. I had been dead for billions and billions of years before I was born, and had not suffered the slightest inconvenience from it.â â Mark Twain
Itâs a funny thing death. Not funny âhahaâ, funny as in weird. I think about death almost every day. Iâm not quite sure why. Thoughts can misbehave.
My mind rushes with all the incidents of death Iâve witnessed. Throughout my life, Iâve brushed past death in many corners. The girl at university, the boy at school, the 4 pm call, the lunchtime news.
We brush past death all the time. Even with more exposure, it never feels real.
âFor the great doesnât happen through impulse alone, and is a succession of little things that are brought together.â â Vincent Van Gogh
Somewhere along the way, weâre told that life is a set of milestones. New car, new house, dog, kids, promotion. All of it is about the moments those big things happen. Social media encouraged us to share the moments we think are sharable. And then, in turn, we thought thatâs all we should focus on.
Life is actually all the little moments. Me tapping away. You reading. The pots, the washing, the dog walks, today. Itâs the succession of little things.
âThree things in life â your health, your mission, and the people you love. Thatâs it.â â Naval Ravikant
Itâs funny how disjointed priorities can get. For a long time, I thought my aim in life was to be a director. It became clear to me that that wasnât my path and then I idolised being a New York Times bestseller.
Now Iâm older and a little wiser, I realise itâs none of that. Thatâs just âstuffâ. In many ways, where I am right now will, things will never be better.
âOnly those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.â â Robert F. Kennedy
Mostly I think itâs about daring. And daring comes from stomaching fear. And you do that by realising that this thing youâre scared of, itâs not something to be feared at all.
âBe the flame, not the moth.â â Giacomo Casanova
Moths chase flames. You want to create your own flame. Donât go from fire to fire, be the fire. Create your own light.
Read also: 5 steps to be the best at everything
âThe people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.â â Steve Jobs
Itâs self-belief. You know when it really comes down to it. Itâs self-belief. Itâs the guts to say that actually, you think you can. That you are good enough. That this thing you hold in your mind is worthy. Thatâs all it is.
âIf only. Those must be the two saddest words in the world.â â Mercedes Lackey
When you lack self-belief, you might end up saying the two saddest words in the world.
Every week I break down timeless insights to build and grow in the creator economy. Actionable ideas, systems and frameworks that will save you hundreds of hours so you can build, part-time. Read by 6k+ creators.
Contributed by Eve Arnold
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