Hugh MacLeod

Quotes of 2009, Part 2

As I do every year about this time, I’m clearing out the “Favorite Quotations” section from my Facebook profile to make way for the new quotes I will undoubtedly amass in 2010. Here are the second set of quotes from 2009:

“Courage is not the lack of fear. It is acting in spite of it.” – Mark Twain

“The good thing about being young is that we are not experienced enough to know we cannot possibly do the things we are doing.” – Gene Brown

“So often people are working hard at the wrong thing. Working on the right thing is probably more important than working hard.” – Caterina Fake (http://www.caterina.net/archive/001196.html)

“The best way to graduate from beginner is to get in way over your head. Nothing makes you better faster.” – Jason Fried, 37Signals.com (http://37signals.com/svn/posts/1940-the-best-way-to-graduate-from-beginner-is)

“Life is too short not to have an EVIL PLAN. Life is too short not to do something that matters. Life is too short to sleepwalk through it, hoping, dreaming, but never quite waking up. Life is too short not to become the person you were born to be.” – Hugh MacLeod, http://gapingvoid.com/2009/09/22/life-is-too-short-not-to-have-an-evil-plan/

“Vegetarians, and their Hezbollah-like splinter faction, the vegans, are a persistent irritant to any chef worth a damn. To me, life without veal stock, pork fat, sausage, organ meat, demi-glace, or even stinky cheese is a life not worth living. Vegetarians are the enemy of everything good and decent in the human spirit, and an affront to all I stand for, the pure enjoyment of food. The body, these waterheads imagine, is a temple that should not be polluted by animal protein. It’s healthier, they insist, though every vegetarian waiter I’ve worked with is brought down by any rumor of a cold. Oh, I’ll accommodate them, I’ll rummage around for something to feed them, for a ‘vegetarian plate’, if called on to do so. Fourteen dollars for a few slices of grilled eggplant and zucchini suits my food cost fine.” – Anthony Bourdain, Kitchen Confidential

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Quotes of 2009, Part 1

I’m usually able to amass my entire collection of yearly quotes on my Facebook page in one go; However, this year I have seem to run out of space, so I’m having to clear it out early. Thus, you can enjoy my yearly quotes a bit early1. Also try to notice a theme; it’s subtle, but I think there is one (although it’s not present in every quote).

“Women. Can’t live with them…..they will not go out with me.” – Vork/Herman Holden, The Guild S2E102

“Engineers like to solve problems. If there are no problems handily available, they will create their own problems.” – Scott Adams

“But let’s remember who made that rule: Goliath. And let’s remember why Goliath made that rule: when the world has to play on Goliath’s terms, Goliath wins.” – Malcom Gladwell, How David Beats Goliath (http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/05/11/090511fa_fact_gladwell?currentPage=all)

“Attempt such great things for God that without His help, they are destined to fail.” – E.M. Bounds

“I work extremely hard doing what I love, mainly to ensure that I don’t have to work extremely hard doing what I hate.” – Hugh MacLeod, GapingVoid.com (http://twitter.com/gapingvoid/statuses/1521887425)

“Ideas are Almost Worthless. What you should be focusing on instead is Execution and Perseverance. A mediocre idea with fantastic execution and staying power is going to be an awesome success. A fantastic idea with a guy who cant hold a single thought in his head for five minutes and thinks of another great idea is not going to be anything.” – David Heinemeier Hansson

“Be true to your work, your word, and your friends.” –
Henry David Thoreau

“…honesty doesn’t have to look good.” – Becca Arrowsmith, http://beccarrow.blogspot.com/2009/02/back-from-break.html

“The core skill of innovators is error recovery, not failure avoidance.” – Randy Nelson, Dean of Pixar University

“Let your religion be less of a theory and more of a love affair.” – G. K. Chesterton

“I think my biggest problem is that I ask for competence in the people around me.” – Bill Wadman, http://www.ontakingpictures.com/2009/01/frustration.html

“Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends – hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism – these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths.” – Barack Obama

“Don’t undertake a project unless it is manifestly important and nearly impossible.” – Edwin Land, Inventor of Instant Photography

“Talking to girls is lame. It makes my stomach hurt…because I can’t fart.” – Jacob

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  1. Enjoy them early on my blog at least. They’re always available on my Facebook page. ↩

  2. Season 2, Episode 10 ↩