Mastery Quotes

"You have to reach the point where you’re not just repeating what you’ve been told, but you actually understand the underlying theory."

"Broadly speaking, the short words are the best, and the old words best of all."

"Invert, always invert: Turn a situation or problem upside down. Look at it backward."

"In my whole life, I have known no wise people (over a broad subject matter area) who didn't read all the time—none, zero."

"Courage is rightly esteemed the first of human qualities because it is the quality which guarantees all others."

"Spend each day trying to be a little wiser than you were when you woke up."

"My tastes are simple: I am easily satisfied with the best."

"You have to keep learning if you want to become a master of anything."

"If you don't get this elementary, but mildly unnatural, mathematics of elementary probability into your repertoire, then you go through a long life like a one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest."

"I have never accepted what many people have kindly said, namely that I inspired the nation... I had the luck to be called upon to give the roar."

"Mastery is not just about knowing the answers, it's about knowing which questions to ask."

"Knowing what you don't know is more useful than being brilliant."

"Without courage, all other virtues lose their meaning."

"The safest way to try to get what you want is to try to deserve what you want."

"It is remarkable how much long-term advantage people like us have gotten by trying to be consistently not stupid, instead of trying to be very intelligent."

"Every man has his day and some days last longer than others."

"I believe in the discipline of mastering the best that other people have ever figured out. I don’t believe in just sitting down and trying to dream it all up yourself."

"We have a passion for keeping things simple."

"Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never—in nothing, great or small, large or petty—never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense."

"The game of life is the game of everlasting learning. At least it is if you want to win."

"You need to have a latticework of mental models in your head. You've got to hang your experience on it."

"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."

"The best thing a human being can do is to help another human being know more."

"The most important thing is to be able to recognize when you are wrong."

"If you are going through hell, keep going."

"You must have models in your head and you must array your experience—both vicarious and direct—on this latticework of models."

"A lot of people with high IQs are terrible investors because they’ve got terrible temperaments."

"Continuous effort—not strength or intelligence—is the key to unlocking our potential."

"You should have a checklist. You need to use it."

"Take a simple idea and take it seriously."

"We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us."

"Our job is to find a few intelligent things to do, not to maximize every opportunity."

"You don't have to be brilliant, only a little bit wiser than the other guys, on average, for a long, long time."