Manifesto
Rules to create in the digital age.
When you write an essay you continually return to the thesis to remind yourself what you’re aiming for. This is my thesis:
Do more things poorly.
Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good
The most important adjective you can be described as is prolific
Woody Allen has released 50 movies and 5 of them are masterpieces. When he dies nobody is going to be talking about “Cafe Society.”
Embarrassment is the entry fee to success.
Live desperately and create desperately.
Quantity IS quality
The audience is the curator. Let them decide.
If 0.01% of people like what you do, that's 800,000 people.
With enough stuff out there the internet will make you rich. Every moment where the algorithm isn’t working for you is a wasted moment. Passive income makes millionaires.
Someone once told me about quitting smoking; “I realized one day I’m going to have to quit no matter what. The pain is unavoidable. It’s just about whether you want the benefits now.”
[I remember saying to my mum, I didn't want to study Medicine because I'd be 29 when I finish. She was like "You're going to be 29 anyway, you might as well be a doctor too"] - a tweet
Everything I’ve done that I’m proud of, I wish I’d done sooner.
I’ve never been glad I waited for anything.
The people who are most impressed with standup are men in their 40s who’ve always fantasized about it and have never pulled the trigger. One hour of work could fulfill a lifelong dream of theirs. And yet, they don’t.
“Most men live lives of quiet desperation.”
John Kennedy Toole never knew that he made it.
You can’t take it with you: There are no Pulitzer prizes in heaven.
Kanye’s favorite album of his own is his 10th best selling.
We don’t get to choose our Magnum Opus.
“Art is never finished, only abandoned.”
Every adult man was at one point terrified of asking a girl out.
If George RR Martin had released Winds of Winter ten years ago to terrible reviews, he would be infinitely happier than he is now.
The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is today.
We suffer more in imagination than in reality.
