No one wants to hear everything that's in your head. They just want you to live up to what comes out of your mouth.
Adam GrantRead
We all have thoughts and feelings that we believe are fundamental to our lives but that are better left unspoken.
Interpretation
Some thoughts and feelings are so personal that sharing them may not be beneficial.
This quote by Adam Grant highlights the complexity of human emotions and thoughts, suggesting that while we may hold certain beliefs about our inner lives as vital, articulating them may not serve us well. It invites reflection on the importance of discretion and the potential consequences of voicing our deepest feelings and thoughts, acknowledging that silence can sometimes be a healthier choice for our well-being.
In practice
During a team meeting, to emphasize the importance of confidentiality about personal issues.
No one wants to hear everything that's in your head. They just want you to live up to what comes out of your mouth.
In the eyes of many people, giving doesn't count unless it's completely selfless. In reality, though, giving isn't sustainable when it's completely selfless.
When you procrastinate, you're more likely to let your mind wander. That gives you a better chance of stumbling onto the unusual and spotting unexpected patterns.
We have many identities, and we can't be authentic to them all. The best we can do is be sincere in our efforts to earn the values we claim.
You want people who choose to follow because they genuinely believe in ideas, not because they're afraid to be punished if they don't. For startups, there's so much pivoting that's required that if you have a bunch of sheep, you're in bad shape.
Procrastinating is a vice when it comes to productivity, but it can be a virtue for creativity.
Itβs always about, somehow, finding a part of myself that is relevant, and then turning the volume up on that particular part. So, I am all of the characters I've ever played, and I am none of them at the same time.
The court is the bureaucracy of the law. If you bureaucratise popular justice then you give it the form of a court.
Do not struggle. Go with the flow of things, and you will find yourself at one with the mysterious unity of the Universe.
If those in charge of our society - politicians, corporate executives, and owners of press and television - can dominate our ideas, they will be secure in their power. They will not need soldiers patrolling the streets. We will control ourselves.
Where the good and the bad and the worst and the best have gone to their eternal rest.
We benefit, intellectually and personally, from the interplay between different selves, from the balance between long-term contemplation and short-term impulse. We should be wary about tipping the scales too far. The community of selves shouldn't be a democracy, but it shouldn't be a dictatorship, either.
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