Never follow self-referencing advices.
Ask YC: What's the best advice you ever got?
71–80 of 101 posts
Re: Ask YC: What's the best advice you ever got?
#72Steve Jobs gave a great commencement speech at Stanford a few years ago. The best bits were: "Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it."
I second the Steve Jobs Stanford speech.
And good advice from my wife: "get outside more and do some exercise". So time to switch off HN and go for a bike ride!
Re: Ask YC: What's the best advice you ever got?
#73Be excellent to each other
Re: Ask YC: What's the best advice you ever got?
#74Imagination is more important than knowledge.
-Einstein
Re: Ask YC: What's the best advice you ever got?
#75Even the most beautiful paintings, the best novels, and the greatest scientific discoveries were 95% drudgery to create. The reason most people never paint beautiful paintings and write world-changing novels isn't because they aren't smart enough, but because they don't find it fun.
right. they prefer pokemon or football or something that doesn't require much thought or learning. since they are smart enough to do better, they are guilty of having immoral values. they ought to find better things fun, but instead are wasting their lives. edit: looks like 8 people so far noticed that they are guilty and don't intend to change anything.
'are smart enough to do better' puts subjective definitions on both 'smart' and 'better'. It's also to say that your definition of better is right.
I'm certainly not one that prefering football or even pokemon is any kind of a poor choice. I happen to prefer programing. I prefer to stretch my mind instead of my physical or social limits. That is not to say that preferring to know what it takes to be a good corner back, and executing on that is immoral.
Re: Ask YC: What's the best advice you ever got?
#76It was striking to me to see how many of those 13 cited a prominent man in their lives, here is mine:
When I was about twelve, I was supposed to plant grass over what used to be our garden one day over summer vacation. My summer breaks were usually sprinkled with chores like this, and taking care of the house and my younger sister. This particular day, I didn't feel like doing any of it, so I hit the dirt with the rake a couple of times tossed the seed around, and went back to whatever it was I was doing.
My dad came home, and when he took a look at the garden he asked if I did it, I said yes, and he was obviously disappointed.
"You can't go through life doing half a job, because you'll just have to do it again"
Then he made me do it again the next day. Certainly the next day was much better (tilled by hand, seeded and covered with straw) but that really stuck with me.
Re: Ask YC: What's the best advice you ever got?
#77I have a vivid memory of being six years old and seeing my dad come in the door of the apartment we lived in at the time. My father came from a working class family. On that day, he had already been going to night school for three years, and would continue for another four years before getting a degree in computer science (this was before the days of easy, short degree programs for adults with jobs). He wore a shirt…
Welcome, Lisa. You helped me realize what I overlooked.
I automatically thought of a mentor for best advice when the real answer was many years before.
I too have many fond memories of waiting for my father to come home. His best advice was never said explicitly, but implied every single day of my childhood, "You can do anything you want, if you apply yourself and work hard enough." I still lean on that advice every day.
Thanks for reminding me that Mark Twain was right:
"When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years."
Re: Ask YC: What's the best advice you ever got?
#78Be excellent to each other
station!
Re: Ask YC: What's the best advice you ever got?
#79Earlier quoted context omitted.
right. they prefer pokemon or football or something that doesn't require much thought or learning. since they are smart enough to do better, they are guilty of having immoral values. they ought to find better things fun, but instead are wasting their lives. edit: looks like 8 people so far noticed that they are guilty and don't intend to change anything.
I believe that human beings have a fundamental right to waste their lives on completely meaningless pursuits. It's what separates us from the animals. Your post made a very aggressive move by defining "contributes little back to humanity" as immoral. It's not a bad definition, but it's very different from the common definition.
i certainly didn't define morality by contributions to humanity. as you can see in the other comments, i specifically denied that one owes anything to humanity. rather, i said morality is about having and using knowledge of how to live well, and having good values, and that the primary result is to benefit yourself.
i certainly think people have a right to waste their lives. i will not stop them, forcibly. but i will verbally criticize that decision.
Re: Ask YC: What's the best advice you ever got?
#80Three. The first is from a YC founder. I don't remember who, but he said "Always say yes." I tried that out for a while, and it has worked pretty well. A lot of where I am in my life is because I just said yes when I normally would have shrugged it off. The second is from an essay by paul graham. "When given two choices, always choose the harder one." This one has become a mantra I say over and over again to myself.…
"When given two choices, always choose the harder one."
Stated slightly more poetically by Robert Frost:
"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference."
:)