Zadie Smith
Novelist and essayist
Protect the time and space in which you write. Keep everybody away from it, even the people who are most important to you.
In the last five years, what have you become better at saying no to?
When I ask myself what I've found life is too short for, the word that pops into my head is “bullshit.” I realize that answer is somewhat tautological. It's almost the definition of bullshit that it's the stuff that life is too short for. And yet bullshit does have a distinctive character. There's something fake about it. It's the junk food of experience. If you ask yourself what you spend your time on that's bullshit, you probably already know the answer. Unnecessary meetings, pointless disputes, bureaucracy, posturing, dealing with other people's mistakes, traffic jams, addictive but unrewarding pastimes.
Graham's own essay site, paulgraham.com, 2016 source ↗
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Adam Peaty
British swimmer; Olympic champion 2016 and 2021
I'm tired, I'm not myself and I'm not enjoying the sport as I have done for the last decade. Some might recognise it as burnout; I just know that over the last few years I haven't had the answers.
Recorded
Public statement announcing his break from swimming, April 2023, The Independent, 1 July 2023
source ↗
Steve Jobs
Co-founder and chief executive of Apple; co-founder of NeXT; chief executive of Pixar
We tend to focus much more. People think focus means saying yes to the thing you've got to focus on. But that's not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are. You have to pick carefully.
Jeanette Winterson
Novelist and essayist
Take no notice of anyone you don’t respect. […] Take no notice of anyone with a gender agenda. A lot of men still think that women lack imagination of the fiery kind.
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