Author Archives: daveatrice

Don’t write soulless blog posts. The world has enough other forms of text that must be or pressured to be written in a bland or circumspect form. If you don’t derive the majority of your income from blog writing, then you should write only when inspired to and in a style that is entertaining, enlightening,Continue reading “TotD”

Lightning doesn’t strike the same place twice unless there’s a lightning rod. Look for people who have succeeded on two independent difficult tasks, and you’ll find an unusually high concentration of world changers.

“Smart” is a catch-all adjective/trait of an individual’s mental capabilities, but smart is highly multi-dimensional.  Some people can be smart at counting cards but not smart at predicting actions of others.  When I judge someone for “smartness”, I typically try to break it down into 4 orthogonal components:  Intelligence, Creativity, Wisdom, and Charisma.  These collectivelyContinue reading “The Components of “Smart”:  Intelligence, Creativity, Wisdom, and Charisma”

Anyone who truly changes the world must be fundamentally driven by a purpose that transcends material comforts and philistine status.  In his heart, the visionary is constantly reciting and refining his poem, a poem about the distant Elysium that he only can visualize.  While dealing with the trivial tedium of today, the poet dreams duringContinue reading “The Poem and the Distant Elysium”

The missteps and procrastination from youth may become secret weapons later on. 冥冥之中自有天意。 When I was depressed in college, I spent about a full year doing almost nothing but reading and writing novels and fanfics (sadly this was before the era of Dropbox, and my writings have disappeared with my old laptops). The OCD partContinue reading “TotD”

Good is the enemy of great. To be a top gambler, you must always be willing to fold the second and third and fourth strongest hands, no matter how good they are. The vast majority of potential legends gave up their positions in the history books to enjoy a good life; will you be oneContinue reading “TotD”

When one wanders the endless wilderness, shame is but an accessory that can be discarded at any time. 人在江湖混，脸乃身外之物

Virtue is not in obtaining universal understanding and approval, but in consistently acting in concordance with your own beliefs and morals. 不求尽如人意，但求无愧于心。

Good people like to work with good people, but there are two axes to “good”. The first axis is competence, and the second axis is moral uprightness. The duration of a partnership (between two people, between two organizations, between a person and an organization) often varies inversely with the distance on this two-dimensional parameter space.Continue reading “TotD”

If you wish to walk the path of the extraordinary, then you must fully appreciate and accept that extraordinary only comes in the flavors of extreme success and extreme failure. 做大事不是大成就是大败。