I always feel a certain sense of reverence in libraries, even small city ones that smell like homeless internet users.
For some reason the most devoted mapheads seem to be kids.
I have condemned my kids to a lifetime of geographic illiteracy.
I would read the atlas for pleasure. I knew it was weird. It was weird.
Twitter makes you a comedian in the same way that digital cameras make you a photographer.
There’s just something hypnotic about maps.
Being a nerd really pays off sometimes.
Trivia is mainstream. ‘Nerd’ is the new ’cool.
In his book Why Geography Matters, the geographer Harm de Blij argues that the West’s three great challenges of our time – Islamist terrorism, global warming, and the rise of China – are all problems of geography. An informed citizenry has to understand place, not because place is more important than other kinds of knowledge but because it forms the foundation for so much other knowledge.
Trivia, as I’ve said before, shouldn’t really be called “trivia.” Facts about history, geography, books, movies, music – this is the stuff that used to be called good old-fashioned “general knowledge,” the stuff that everybody was supposed to remember from school, regardless of their career niche. We lost something the more we specialized – it started to drain away this vast pool of information that everybody knew. Knowledge was what connected us, and now it distinguishes us.
I feel about Flannery O’Connor the same way that terrible people feel about Ayn Rand.
In this country, we were not into detail. Europe developed detail.” “Why do you think that is?” “Weather. The whole history of England consists of finding things to do out of the weather. Which tells you why Russia was even worse. That’s why Russian novels have 182 characters: bad weather.
If you never open a map until you’re lost, you’re missing out on all the fun.
Your butt may like to sit, but your butt is not the boss of you! Say no to your butt.
In general your brain stretches out time when there’s a lot going on. That’s why time seems to pass more slowly in childhood than it does in adulthood – because kids are doing so many new things for the first time. If you want to have a longer-seeming life, that’s the secret... Keep trying lots of new things, and enjoy each moment!
One of the most significant barriers to progress is the lack of effective leadership.
Self-esteem is important because it sets up a powerful cycle of personal growth and willingness to take risks.
Getting your ego out of the way has an even deeper organizational impact.
To serve the many, you first serve the few.
When a leader keeps personal ego in check it builds the confidence and self-esteem of others.
Every day we forget stories. I saw a funny video about a cat on the Internet this morning, but when I tried to tell a friend about it, I suddenly had no idea how it ended.