Issue #47: On Things Others Said
Week 47: 26th May 2025 - 01st June 2025
I was really struggling to write an issue this week. I had almost decided to skip it, but I am close to writing 52 weeks in a row without missing a week.
I decided to find some of the quotes I like and compile them into this week.
I think that these are good quotes that you can ponder over at varying depths, like poems. So, even though it’s not the usual newsletter, I hope it’s still interesting.
On Risk and Regret:
A lesson I wish I learned earlier:
Risk ages you, but so does regret.
The difference is that risk leaves the marks of meaningful struggle, while regret leaves the marks of unlived potential.
Choose wisely. (Source)
On Perceived Impossibility
Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing. - Muhammad Ali
On Happiness
Happiness is simply the absence of desire... Happiness is not about the achievement of pleasure (which is joy or satisfaction), but about the lack of desire. It arrives when you have no urge to feel differently. Happiness is the state you enter when you no longer want to change your state. - James Clear
On Creative Output
“If you need 10 of something, make 30. Then pick the best.” - Rick Rubin
On Commitment
“Why do we love committers but act like browsers? I think it’s because of three fears. First, we have a fear of regret: we worry that if we commit to something, we will later regret having not committed to something else. Second, we have a fear of association: we think that if we commit to something, we will be vulnerable to the chaos that that commitment brings to our identity, our reputation, and our sense of control. Third, we have a fear of missing out: we feel that if we commit to something, the responsibilities that come with it will prevent us from being everything, everywhere, to everyone. Because of these fears, the tension sticks around. We act like browsers, we love committers, and we’re too scared to make the jump—so we’re stuck.” - Pete Davis
On Laughing Seriously
"Life does not cease to be funny when people die any more than it ceases to be serious when people laugh." - George Bernard Shaw
From ChatGPT
Of course, this post would be incomplete if I didn’t ask an LLM to generate some insights. So here’s what ChatGPT came up with:
Prompt: Based on your knowledge, come up with 10 quotes that seem true but are generated by you
Quotes:
(My Responses)
"Most people aren’t afraid of failure—they’re afraid of being seen trying."
I don’t agree with this at all. People are afraid of failing because failing means losing the time you put in."Comfort is a slow, quiet thief that rarely takes anything all at once."
This feels like it could’ve been a great quote, but it tried to be too tight."You don’t outgrow your past; you learn how to carry it differently."
Good point!"Loneliness is not the absence of people, but the absence of being understood."
"Every belief we hold was once a question we stopped asking."
Saying the obvious to sound profound."Time doesn’t heal everything—it just teaches us how to walk with the limp."
"You can measure a person by what they choose not to say when they could."
A good usecase of inversion, I guess!"We chase clarity like it’s the destination, but most of life is meant to be lived in the fog."
"Some doors stay closed not because they’re locked, but because we stopped knocking."
"Peace isn’t when nothing is happening—it’s when everything is, and you’re still."
I think it did a pretty good job. Even though it’s not exactly what ChatGPT does, I think it’s an interesting thought experiment, so I will leave you with my question:
If we brute-forced all possible grammatically correct word combinations, would we stumble upon nuggets of wisdom we have missed till now?
[Images]
\Income
\Expense
[Sign Off]
I hope you enjoyed this newsletter. Let me know if you have any feedback.
Next week पुन्हा भेटू!
I like the quote "You can measure a person by what they choose not to say when they could." most.
I hve just browsed through your articles..but most catchy quote is about 'loneliness.'I want to add further..it is two ways.when person feels stuck in life &lonely...it is 'absence of being understood&inability to understand others,situation,pulse of time,need of an hour' everything!There is lot to read &will do it leisurely.