“We tend to overestimate what we can do in a short period, and underestimate what we can do over a long period, provided we work slowly and consistently. Anthony Trollope, the nineteenth-century writer who managed to be a prolific novelist while also revolutionizing the British postal system, observed, “A small daily task, if it be really daily, will beat the labours of a spasmodic Hercules.” Over the long run, the unglamorous habit of frequency fosters both productivity and creativity.” IfsLongRunningCan DoCreativityCenturyHabitPeriodsBeatsTasksBritishProductivityNovelistsLabourLong RunsConsistentlyUnderestimateFrequencyNineteenth CenturyOverestimateDaily Tasks Author:Gretchen Rubin
“It was a real revolution. But with one missing feature. That is the feeling in a people that "We have done it once, and if the new lot let us down, we can do it again!" It was that proud, menacing confidence which made the French revolution special. But it's not around in 21st-century Europe. After 1989, the people handed over liberty to the experts. Will they ever want it back?” PeopleIfsWantMadeRealDoneFeelingsCan DoLibertySpecialCenturyMissingRevolutionProudEuropeFeaturesExperts21st CenturyFrench Revolution Author:Neal Ascherson
“Violence, less and less embarrassed by the limits imposed by centuries of lawfulness, is brazenly and victoriously striding across the whole world, unconcerned that its infertility has been demonstrated and proved many times in history. What is more, it is not simply crude power that triumphs abroad, but its exultant justification. The world is being inundated by the brazen conviction that power can do anything, justice nothing.” WorldHas BeensWholeWisdomPoliticsCan DoJusticeEconomyViolenceCenturyLimitsConvictionWhole WorldTriumphLiberalismJustificationEmbarrassedCrudeBrazenInfertilityUnconcernedLawfulness Author:Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
“We need to invest in peoples lives so that they can do the jobs of the 21st century.” NeedsJobsCan DoCentury21st Century Author:Ann McLane Kuster
“If we are going to compete in this world we're in today, there is no possible way we can do it with lowering expectations and dumbing down everything. Children are going to suffer and families' hearts are going to be broken that their kids won't be able to get a job in the 21st Century.” IfsWorldWayHeartChildrenKidsTodayAbleJobsSufferingCan DoCenturyThis WorldBrokenExpectations21st CenturyDumbing Down Author:Jeb Bush
“Composers can do things that weren't allowed in the 17th century. Until we had composers like Igor Stravinsky and Sergei Rachmaninoff to break the rules.” Can DoBreakCenturyComposer17th CenturyStravinskyRachmaninoff Author:Aaron Zigman