The problem with taking offense is that it's really hard to figure out what to do with it after you're done using it. Better to just leave it on the table and walk away. Umbrage untaken quietly disappears.
Seth GodinRead
What if getting bigger isn't the point? What if you merely got better?
Interpretation
The quote suggests that personal growth and improvement are more important than merely increasing in size or status.
Seth Godin's quote challenges the conventional notion of success, posing the idea that true achievement lies not in outward expansion or accumulation but in the enhancement of one's skills and abilities. It invites individuals to reconsider their goals, emphasizing that personal development and mastery can be more fulfilling and meaningful than just striving for more. This perspective encourages a focus on quality and internal growth rather than external metrics of achievement.
In practice
In a motivational speech about pursuing passions and personal goals.
The problem with taking offense is that it's really hard to figure out what to do with it after you're done using it. Better to just leave it on the table and walk away. Umbrage untaken quietly disappears.
Not adding value is the same as taking it away.
Excellence isn’t about meeting the spec, it’s about setting the spec. It defines what the consumer sees as quality right this minute, and tomorrow, if you’re good, you’ll reset that expectation again
Living with doubt ... is almost always more profitable than living with certainty. _x000D_ People don't like doubt, so they pay money and give up opportunities to avoid it. _x000D_ Entrepreneurshi p is largely about living with doubt. If you need reassurance, you're giving up quite a bit to get it. On the other hand, if you can get in the habit of seeking out uncertainty, you'll have developed a great instinct.
The danger of the Web is that you can go from idea to public announcement in under ten minutes.
Art isn't only a painting. Art is anything that is creative, passionate and personal. Art is the unique work of a human being created to touch another. Art is created to have an impact, to change someone else.
Winning isn't always championships.
When I go out and race, I'm not trying to beat opponents, I'm trying to beat what I have done ... to beat myself, basically. People find that hard to believe because we've had such a bias to always strive to win things. If you win something and you haven't put everything into it, you haven't actually achieved anything at all. When you've had to work hard for something and you've got the best you can out of yourself on that given day, that's where you get satisfaction from.
When I'm done skating, I guarantee you that I will not look back and remember standing on the podium. I'm going to remember these days - being with the team. Training alone, in my basement. Training when everybody else is sleeping. Doing things that nobody else is doing. Digging down. Seeing what kind of character I truly have. I love that stuff.
I've been fortunate over my career to make a little history on the 16th hole at Augusta National.
Statues to great men are made of the stones thrown at them in their lifetime.
I never heard Jack Nicklaus say, 'I'm a great player,' or Tiger Woods, as a matter of fact. They just get out and do it. And I think that's far more appealing... than talking about how good you are.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.