Greg McKeown Quotes
Best 22 Essentialism Quotes by Greg McKeown
Essentialism Quotes
“A choice is an action. It is not just something we have but something we do.”
“Boundaries are a little like the walls of a sandcastle. The second we let one fall over, the rest of them come crashing down.”
“Done is better than perfect.”
“Essentialism: only once you give yourself permission to stop trying to do it all, to stop saying yes to everyone, can you make your highest contribution towards the things that really matter.”
“Essentialists see trade-offs as an inherent part of life, not as an inherently negative part of life. Instead of asking, ‘What do I have to give up?’ they ask, ‘What do I want to go big on?’”
“If it isn’t a clear yes, then it’s a clear no.”
“If you don’t set boundaries—there won’t be any. Or even worse, there will be boundaries, but they’ll be set by default—or by another person—instead of by design.”
“Is this the very most important thing I should be doing with my time and resources right now?”
“One wrong hire is far costlier than being one person short.”
“Remember that a clear 'No' can be more graceful than a vague or noncommittal 'Yes'.”
“Remember that if you don’t prioritize your life someone else will.”
“Sometimes what you don’t do is just as important as what you do.”
“The reality is, saying yes to any opportunity by definition requires saying no to several others.”
“The word priority came into the English language in the 1400s. It was singular. It meant the very first or prior thing. It stayed singular for the next five hundred years.”
“The word school is derived from the Greek word 'schole', meaning 'leisure'. Yet our modern school system, born in the Industrial Revolution, has removed the leisure—and much of the pleasure—out of learning.”
“There should be no shame in admitting to a mistake; after all, we really are only admitting that we are now wiser than we once were.”
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“More important than how fast you’re going, is where you’re headed.”
“We can either make our choices deliberately or allow other people’s agendas to control our lives.”
“We overvalue nonessentials like a nicer car or house, or even intangibles like the number of our followers on Twitter or the way we look in our Facebook photos. As a result, we neglect activities that are truly essential, like spending time with our loved ones, or nurturing our spirit, or taking care of our health.”
“What if we stopped celebrating being busy as a measurement of importance?”
“When we forget our ability to choose, we learn to be helpless.”
“When we play, we are engaged in the purest expression of our humanity, the truest expression of our individuality.”
“You cannot overestimate the unimportance of practically everything.”
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“It’s more satisfying to be useful now than to be remembered later.”
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