...There is a legend that Pablo Picasso was approached in the park by a woman who insisted he paint her portrait. He looked her over for a moment, then, with a single stroke, drew her a perfect portrait. “You captured my essence with one stroke. Amazing! How much do I owe you?” “Five thousand dollars,” Picasso replied. “What? How could you want so much? It only took you a few seconds!” “No, ma’am. It took me my entire life and a few more seconds.”...

...Self-control is an exhaustible resource...

...Being brave is about facing physical or mental discomfort with courage...

...Wealth is more often the result of hard work, perseverance, and most of all self-discipline...

...there are only four basic factors that determine how good your food will taste: salt, which enhances flavor; fat, which amplifies flavor and makes appealing textures possible; acid, which brightens and balances; and heat, which ultimately determines the texture of food...

...Systematize your decision making...

...This insight is that sleeping soundly, eating smarter, moving more, and thinking clearly are all interconnected...

...The Predators’ Ball dramatically captures American business history in the making, uncovering the philosophy of greed that has dominated Wall Street in the 1980's...

...As Levitt sees it, economics is a science with excellent tools for gaining answers but a serious shortage of interesting questions. His particular gift is the ability to ask such questions...

...Good is the enemy of great...

...The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it - Michelangelo...

...Yet the real enigma of life is not what happens after you die but what happens before you die...

...There are two things that determine how our lives turn out: the quality of our decisions and luck...

...Why knowledge of what needs to be done frequently fails to result in action or behavior consistent with that knowledge. We came to call this the knowing-doing problem - the challenge of turning knowledge about how to enhance organizational performance into actions consistent with that knowledge...

...Reclaim Dead Time - Time is the critical factor in our lives, our most precious resource...

...To do great things, we need to be able to endure tragedy and setbacks. We’ve got to love what we do and all that it entails, good and bad. We have to learn to find joy in every single thing that happens...

...The greater danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it. MICHELANGELO...

...this insider’s account of 1980's Wall Street excess...

...Like an artist who pursues both enduring excellence and shocking creativity, great companies foster a productive tension between continuity and change...

...The only way to get what you’re worth is to stand out, to exert emotional labor, to be seen as indispensable, and to produce interactions that organizations and people care deeply about...