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"Be Hated." I always thought being liked by everyone should be my goal. After reading this, I realized that being hated is is even better.
Great line from the article: "So, I became a litigator...If I didn’t do that, I would’ve been in some other type of work that still involved writing fiction"
"Be Hated." I always thought being liked by everyone should be my goal. After reading this, I realized that being hated is is even better.
My interpretation of him saying be hated is to speak and do the things you believe in even if they dont quite resemble with the audience you are in. So I think it's not in searching of people to hate you but in having the guts to speak your mind and do the things you believe in no matter what others think of it. And hatred of other people because of you doing it and them not having guts to do it sometimes comes along…
Fantastic read. One sample: " It far easier to find a reason not to love someone, than otherwise. Rejection requires only one reason. Love requires complete acceptance. It is hard work – the only kind of work that I find palatable." (The Anna Karenina principle, in other words.)
Just for completeness, in case someone doesn't know about it, the Anna Karenina principle (first time I've heard it called this) refers to the first line of the Tolstoy book of that same name: http://www.penguinclassics.co.uk/nf/shared/WebDisplay/0,,489... 'All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.'
The Anna Karenina principle was popularized by Jared Diamond in his book Guns, Germs and Steel to describe an endeavor in which a deficiency in any one of a number of factors dooms it to failure. Consequently, a successful endeavor (subject to this principle) is one in which every last one of the possible deficiencies has been avoided.
I clicked, expecting it to be an audio/video clip that I'd maybe, possibly get around to listening to/watching. Pleasantly surprised to find it was a transcript of the speech instead. I still put it into Instapaper, though.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Just for completeness, in case someone doesn't know about it, the Anna Karenina principle (first time I've heard it called this) refers to the first line of the Tolstoy book of that same name: http://www.penguinclassics.co.uk/nf/shared/WebDisplay/0,,489... 'All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.'
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Karenina_principle : The Anna Karenina principle was popularized by Jared Diamond in his book Guns, Germs and Steel to describe an endeavor in which a deficiency in any one of a number of factors dooms it to failure. Consequently, a successful endeavor (subject to this principle) is one in which every last one of the possible deficiencies has been avoided.
"Be Hated." I always thought being liked by everyone should be my goal. After reading this, I realized that being hated is is even better.
Mark Twain wrote about a guy (can't remember the name of the short story) who got a doppelganger to take his place in tedious social situations. The doppelganger was sent to town-hall meetings with instructions to always vote in the minority, and soon the man had a reputation as prudent and wise in matters of politics :-)
This speech is the perfect blend of humor and sound advice: "I’m here to tell you this. Forget about your life expectancy. After all, it’s calculated based on an average. And you never, ever want to expect being average."
Of course I'm nitpicking though. His point is that you shouldn't aspire to averageness, and overall it's a great speech.