Quotes

Genius vs. Talent

The latest issue of Scientific American Mind, which I read during a vacation last week (yes, I’m an exciting guy), takes on the subject of genius. “Genius” is one of those freighted words, something we consider exceedingly rare and overwhelming innate. But after reading SciAm’s package of articles, one of my takeaways is that genius […]


The 3 quotations I keep on my office wall

Some of you asked. Here’s the answer: “Live as if you were living already for the second time and as if you had acted the first time as wrongly as you are about to act now.” — Viktor Frankl “Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the […]


Poetry (and a life lesson!) from the pitcher’s mound

Sports week continues here at the Pink Blog . . . Last night, two of the Pinklettes and I were sitting in the stands as the Washington Nationals found themselves down 5-1 with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning. Then, over the next 10 minutes, the Nats made an astonishing comeback, won […]


Interview exchange of the day

From Deborah Solomon’s New York Times Magazine interview with superstar physicist Brian Greene . . . SOLOMON: Do you think SAT scores define intelligence? GREENE: No. They define the capacity to answer questions on an SAT test.


Quotes of the day: These may or may not relate to yesterday’s election

Maybe I’m having my own extended moment of Zen, but I keep thinking about these two quotations, which I encountered earlier this week. “There are years that ask questions and years that answer them.” — Zora Neale Hurston (quoted in The Week) “People can foresee the future only when it coincides with their own wishes, […]


Quote of the day: Have your skills become commodities?

“[The programming language] C++ is now an international language. If that’s all you know, then you’re competing with people in India or China who will do the work for less.” – Catherine L. Mann, Brandeis University economist, in this NYT story about slow hiring in the tech sector


Factoid of the day: Ah, this explains the crash

“In 2007, 47 percent of Harvard grads went into finance or consulting.” (Source: David Brooks, “The Power Elite,” NY Times, 02.18.10) BONUS! Quote of the day from the same column: “The meritocracy is based on an overly narrow definition of talent. Our system rewards those who can amass technical knowledge. But this skill is only […]


Quote of the Day: No limit for better

This weekend’s Parade magazine features an interesting interview with mega-star Harrison Ford. To my surprise, Ford spends little time talking about mega-ness or stardom. Instead, the carpenter-turned-actor offers some very keen insights on human motivation, especially the elusive and frustrating nature of mastery. “When I was a carpenter, I once worked with this Russian lady […]


Quote of the day: The chance to do it

“The really good people want autonomy — you let me do it, and I’ll do it. . . . That’s all they want. They want a chance to do it.” — Gordon Bethune, former CEO of Continental in today’s NY Times


Quote of the Day: Right and wrong

Management theorist Russell Ackoff passed away late last month, leaving behind a lifetime of memorable insights. Here’s one of my favorite, reprised in a good WSJ story about Ackoff’s life and legacy. “All of our social problems arise out of doing the wrong thing righter. The more efficient you are at doing the wrong thing, the wronger you become. […]

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