Elon Reeve Musk (b.1971) is an American entrepreneur and business executive. He is one of the world’s foremost visionaries—few other entrepreneurs of his generation have exhibited as towering an aspiration, grit, and persistence to change the world as Musk has.
Born in Pretoria, South Africa, to an American mother and South African father, Musk holds South African, Canadian, and American citizenship. He co-founded Zip2 and PayPal and has since used the proceeds from the sales of his businesses to launch audacious ventures.
Musk is the product visionary and the chief executive of the spacecraft company SpaceX (to ultimately colonize Mars,) the automobile manufacturer Tesla, the transportation system startup Hyperloop (aiming to connect major U.S. cities at hypersonic speed,) and other companies.
Journalist Ashlee Vance wrote the riveting biography Elon Musk (2015.)
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Elon Musk
You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to surf.
—Elon Musk
Topics: Learning
It is important to view knowledge as sort of a semantic tree—make sure you understand the fundamental principles, i.e. the trunk and big branches, before you get into the leaves/details or there is nothing for them to hang on to.
—Elon Musk
I’ve made several hiring decisions in the past where I valued intellect over heart. I think that was a mistake… I have tried to adjust accordingly. It actually matters if somebody is a good person, beyond goodness itself.
—Elon Musk
Generosity is another quality which, like patience, letting go, non-judging, and trust, provides a solid foundation for mindfulness practice. You might experiment with using the cultivation of generosity as a vehicle for deep self-observation and inquiry as well as an exercise in giving. A good place to start is with yourself. See if you can give yourself gifts that may be true blessings, such as self-acceptance, or some time each day with no purpose. Practice feeling deserving enough to accept these gifts without obligation-to simply receive from yourself, and from the universe.
—Elon Musk
Topics: Generosity
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