Quotes

“ When a man finds it is his destiny to suffer he will have to accept suffering as His Task, his single and unique task. He will have to acknowledge the fact that even in suffering he is unique and alone in the universe. No one can relieve him of his suffering or suffer in his stead. His unique opportunity lies in the way in which he bears his burden. ” - Victor Frankl, Death Camp to Existentialism

“ It wasn’t until I started reading and found books they wouldn’t let us read in school that I discovered you could be insane and happy and have a good life without being like everybody else. ” - John Waters

“ It is useless to try to make peace with ourselves by being pleased with everything we have done. In order to settle down in the quiet of our own being we must learn to be detached from the results of our own activity. We must withdraw ourselves, to some extent, from effects that are beyond our control and be content with the good will and the work that are the quiet expression of our inner life. We must be content to live without watching ourselves live, to work without expecting an immediate reward, to love without an instantaneous satisfaction, and to exist without any special recognition. ” - Thomas Merton, No Man is an Island 

“ Habits are the very stuff our identities are made of. In them, we enact and thus define what we effectively are as social beings, often in contrast with our perception of what we are. ” - Slavoj Zizek

“ I’m sick of following my dreams, man. I’m just gonna ask where they’re going and hook up with them later. ” - Mitch Hedberg

 

Ezra Klein, The Rich Are Not Bad, Just Rich:

Our economy has adapted to having rich people, and now there’s lots of stuff for them to buy. Private school, for instance. Fancy cars. Dinners at Alinea. Only a very select few make so much money that they cannot figure out how to buy enough stuff to make them feel financially stressed. This is Henderson’s argument, and he’s right: You can make $400,000 and still worry over the checkbook. You can make $400,000, in fact, and be terribly in debt.
Now, most of the things you’re buying at $400,000 aren’t the bare necessities. Your house is fancy, and in a desirable location. Your television is large, and flat. Your kid’s school is only available to those with a lot of money, because you’re paying for a wealthier peer group and higher-paid teachers. These purchases may seem like luxuries to people making $60,000, but a family making $60,000 a year will seem to be living in incredible luxury when faced with the median family in Mexico. It’s all relative.

“ I am a blues man in the life of the mind; I’m a jazzman in the world of ideas, which means I’ve got to forge my unique voice, tied to my vocation with a vision, and a unique style. ”  
- Cornel West.

From Cal Newport of Study Hacks:

[Steve Martin] injected minimalism into his life by orienting his world around a single passionate pursuit: innovating stand-up comedy.  For Martin, there was never any doubt what his Most Important Task would involve each morning, and jettisoning unrelated commitments and distractions came naturally. As he discovered, when you know what your life is about it’s easy to sidestep all that threatens to clutter it.

In other words: passion breeds simplicity.