I’m not saying there’s no such thing as genius. But if you’re trying to choose between two theories and one gives you an excuse for being lazy, the other one is probably right.
—Paul Graham
Studying things from unrelated subjects (multidisciplinary learning) is a lot like yoga for brain. You don’t actually get anywhere when you do yoga. You stand in one place and bend yourself in various shapes. But it makes you more flexible, so when you go out and do walk around, you can walk better.
—Paul Graham
There are few sources of energy so powerful as a procrastinating college student.
—Paul Graham
Who thinks they’re not open-minded? Our hypothetical prim miss from the suburbs thinks she’s open-minded. Hasn’t she been taught to be? Ask anyone, and they’ll say the same thing: they’re pretty open-minded, though they draw the line at things that are really wrong.
—Paul Graham
Topics: Rationality
I’ve found that people who are great at something are not so much convinced of their own greatness as mystified at why everyone else seems so incompetent.
—Paul Graham
Topics: Rationality
You only get one life. Why not do something huge?
—Paul Graham
Useful writing tells people something true and important that they didn’t already know, and tells them as unequivocally as possible.
—Paul Graham
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