Paul Graham on Deep Work Quotes

"The most important thing is to be able to think."

"The top of your todo list is whatever you're thinking about in the shower."

"The best way to keep your time is to say no to things."

"To do something well, you have to be able to focus on it to the exclusion of everything else."

"The most important thing is to find a problem that is worth solving."

"The most important thing is to have a project of your own."

"The most dangerous form of procrastination is 'perilous procrastination'—the kind that doesn't look like procrastination."

"The best way to get new ideas is to work on hard problems."

"The most valuable work is often the work that is hardest to start."

"The most important thing in any venture is to be the kind of person people want to play iterated games with."

"You can't do great work if you're always busy."

"Distraction is the enemy of great work."

"If you want to make money at some point, remember this, because this is one of the reasons startups win. Big companies want to decrease the standard deviation of design outcomes."

"The secret to doing great work is to be curious."

"Good design is simple."

"The most successful people are often those who are best at avoiding distractions."

"The way to do great work is to find something you have a natural aptitude for and a deep interest in."

"The only way to do great work is to be obsessed with what you do."

"To do great work, you need to be able to think about a problem for a long time."

"You can't do great work if you're constantly being interrupted."

"One meeting can sometimes blow a whole afternoon, by breaking it into two pieces each too small to do anything hard in."

"If you want to find the next big thing, look for things that seem like toys."

"You have to be able to spend a lot of time on a single problem."

"To do great work, you need a certain kind of isolation."

"If you want to do something hard, you have to be able to concentrate."

"You need to protect your time if you want to do something meaningful."

"The unit of work for a maker is the half-day."

"The manager's schedule is for bosses... But there's another way of using time: the maker's schedule."

"To do great work, you have to be willing to be bored for long periods."

"The best way to do great work is to be working on something that is at the limit of your ability."

"Obsession is the wellspring of all great things."

"The most important work is often the work you do when you're not working."

"Great work happens when you have a long, clear view of the problem."