It's good to test yourself and develop your talents and ambitions as fully as you can and achieve greater success; but I think success is the feeling you get from a job well done, and the key thing is to do the work.
Peter ThielRead
A conventional truth can be important - it's essential to learn elementary mathematics, for example - but it won't give you an edge. It's not a secret.
Interpretation
Basic knowledge is necessary but not sufficient for success.
In this quote, Peter Thiel emphasizes the distinction between conventional knowledge and the innovative thinking that sets a person apart. While fundamental skills, like elementary mathematics, are essential for a solid foundation, they do not necessarily confer a competitive advantage in today's complex and dynamic world; true success often requires unique insights and creative approaches beyond established truths.
In practice
In a presentation about entrepreneurship, one could reference this quote to highlight the value of innovative thinking.
It's good to test yourself and develop your talents and ambitions as fully as you can and achieve greater success; but I think success is the feeling you get from a job well done, and the key thing is to do the work.
The first question we would ask if aliens landed on this planet is not, 'What does this mean for the economy or jobs?' It would be, 'Are they friendly or unfriendly?'
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What is it about our society where anyone who does not have Asperger's gets talked out of their heterodox ideas?
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Creating value isn't enough - you also need to capture some of the value you create.
We shouldn't teach great books; we should teach a love of reading. Knowing the contents of a few works of literature is a trivial achievement. Being inclined to go on reading is a great achievement.
It isn’t what the book costs. It’s what it will cost you if you don’t read it.
From their earliest years children live on familiar terms with disrupting emotions, fear and anxiety are an intrinsic part of their everyday lives, they continually cope with frustrations as best they can. And it is through fantasy that children achieve catharsis. It is the best means they have for taming Wild Things.
We're showing kids a world that is very scantily populated with women and female characters. They should see female characters taking up half the planet, which we do.
I do feel, in my dreamings and yearnings, so undiscovered by those who are able to help me.
Dictionaries are like watches, the worst is better than none and the best cannot be expected to go quite true.
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