History had been man's effort to accomodate himself to what he could not do. Amereican history in the 20th century would, more than ever before, test man's ability to accomodate himself to all the new things he could do.
Daniel J. BoorstinRead
I've learned any fool can write a bad ad, but it takes a real genius to keep his hands off a good one.
Interpretation
It’s easy to create poor work, but true skill lies in recognizing and valuing quality without interference.
This quote emphasizes the distinction between mediocre and skilled work, particularly in the context of advertising. While anyone can produce a subpar advertisement, it requires discernment and expertise to recognize a well-crafted message and to appreciate its value without overcomplicating or altering it. This speaks to the idea that simplicity and quality in creativity often outperform complexity and interference.
In practice
In a marketing seminar to illustrate the importance of quality in ads.
History had been man's effort to accomodate himself to what he could not do. Amereican history in the 20th century would, more than ever before, test man's ability to accomodate himself to all the new things he could do.
The most promising words ever written on the maps of human knowledge are terra incognita, unknown territory.
Freedom means the opportunity to be what we never thought we would be.
Human models are more vivid and more persuasive than explicit moral commands.
Knowledge is not simply another commodity. On the contrary. Knowledge is never used up. It increases by diffusion and grows by dispersion.
We need not be theologians to see that we have shifted responsibility for making the world interesting from God to the newspaperman.
I’m thirty,” I said. “I’m five years too old to lie to myself and call it honor
You can’t buy that kind of empowerment. To just know that as far as you are aware, you have not got a price; that there is not an amount of money large enough to make you compromise even a tiny bit of principle that, as it turned out, would make no practical difference anyway. I’d advise everyone to do it, otherwise you’re going to end up mastered by money and that’s not a thing you want ruling your life.
There is one plain rule of life. Try thyself unweariedly till thou findest the highest thing thou art capable of doing, faculties and outward circumstances being both duly considered, and then do it.
Beautiful leaving (hajr), is to leave without harming, beautiful pardoning is to pardon without rebuking, and beautiful patience is to be patient without complaining.
If you expect nothing, you're apt to be surprised. You'll get it.
If to live is to progress, if you are lucky, from foolishness to wisdom, then to write novels is to broadcast the various stages of your foolishness.
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