When you only listen to the smartest person in the room, you miss out on discovering what the rest of the room is smart about.

Everyone you meet knows something you don’t—and has wisdom from experiences you haven’t lived.

Every conversation is a chance to learn something new.

The clearest sign of intellectual chemistry isn’t agreeing with someone. It’s enjoying your disagreements with them.

Harmony is not the combination of identical sounds. It’s the pleasing arrangement of different tones, voices, or instruments.

Creative tension makes beautiful music.

It takes curiosity to learn. It takes courage to unlearn.

Learning requires the humility to admit what you don't know today. Unlearning requires the integrity to admit that you were wrong yesterday.

Learning is how you evolve. Unlearning is how you keep up as the world evolves.

We pay too much attention to the most confident voices—and too little attention to the most thoughtful ones.

Certainty is not a sign of credibility. Speaking assertively is not a substitute for thinking deeply.

It's better to learn from complex thinkers than smooth talkers.

Impostor syndrome: “I don't know what I'm doing. It's only a matter of time until everyone finds out."

Growth mindset: "I don't know what I'm doing yet. It's only a matter of time until I figure it out."

The highest form of self-confidence is believing in your ability to learn.

Wisdom doesn’t come from experience. It comes from reflecting on experience.

Between ages 25 and 75, the correlation between age and wisdom is zero.

Insight and perspective are not determined by the number of years you've lived. They’re a function of the number of lessons you've learned.

The best place to relax is near water.

After just 2 minutes of viewing water outdoors, blood pressure and heart rate drop. It's more calming to look at a lake, pool, or stream than trees or grass.

Beaches are popular for a reason. Wider bodies of water bring more tranquility.

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My new favorite word: sonder.

It's the profound awareness that every person you encounter has experienced a lifetime of hopes, fears, loves, and heartaches that you'll never know.

Each moment of sonder is a reminder to appreciate how little we truly grasp about others' lives.

Writing isn't what you do after you have an idea. It's how you develop an inkling into an insight.

Turning thoughts into words sharpens reasoning. What's fuzzy in your head becomes clearer on the page.

"I'm not a writer" shouldn't stop you from writing. Writing is a tool for thinking.

A sign of wisdom is refusing to believe every thought that enters your mind.

A mark of emotional intelligence is choosing not to internalize every feeling that enters your heart.

One of the clearest signs of learning is rethinking your assumptions and revising your opinions.

Personality is how you respond on a typical day. Character is how you show up on a hard day.

It's easy to demonstrate fairness, integrity, and generosity when things are going well.

The real question is whether you stand by those values when the deck is stacked against you.