We are our choices. Build yourself a great story.
Jeff BezosRead
If you're not stubborn, you'll give up on experiments too soon. And if you're not flexible, you'll pound your head against the wall and you won't see a different solution to a problem you're trying to solve.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Being persistent and adaptable is key to finding solutions.
This quote emphasizes the importance of balancing perseverance and adaptability in problem-solving. Jeff Bezos suggests that without a stubborn commitment to pursuing experiments, one may abandon efforts prematurely. Conversely, an inflexible mindset can lead to frustration, as it prevents one from considering alternative solutions. Striking the right balance between these traits can facilitate innovation and success.
Themes
PersistenceAdaptabilityProblem-SolvingInnovationExperimentation
In practice
Example use cases
In a business meeting when discussing product development strategies.
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All quotes →Work hard, have fun and make history.
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But there's so much kludge, so much terrible stuff, we are at the 1908 Hurley washing machine stage with the Internet. That's where we are. We don't get our hair caught in it, but that's the level of primitiveness of where we are. We're in 1908.
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Because, you know, resilience - if you think of it in terms of the Gold Rush, then you'd be pretty depressed right now because the last nugget of gold would be gone. But the good thing is, with innovation, there isn't a last nugget. Every new thing creates two new questions and two new opportunities.
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When you are eighty years old, and in a quiet moment of reflection narrating for only yourself the most personal version of your life story, the telling that will be most compact and meaningful will be the series of choices you have made. In the end, we are our choices.
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We've done price elasticity studies, and the answer is always that we should raise prices. We don't do that, because we believe -- and we have to take this as an article of faith -- that by keeping our prices very, very low, we earn trust with customers over time, and that that actually does maximize free cash flow over the long term.
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