If you happen upon good fortune, work hard to extend its duration—rather than attempting to replicate another similar stroke of luck.
The best teachers are successful individuals willing to share their failures with you.
When successful people recount their failures, they carefully curate the narrative—much like celebrities deliberately leak so-called “bare-faced photos.”
People do not get lost in the forest of reality, but rather immerse themselves in the forest within their own hearts—a labyrinth each person deliberately constructs for themselves.
An adult who claims to be “selfless” is prepared to sacrifice anyone.
Youth, in essence, means remaining undismayed—even in despair.
Those who never think for themselves lack even independent opinions about how to be foolish.
A great product is a seductive vampire.
If a talented singer writes an excellent song after smoking marijuana, then listening to that song amounts to indirectly and safely consuming that marijuana.
I despise spirituality—or divinity—that discards humanity.
Humans possess the freedom to move; plants possess the freedom to remain still.
Why do I always feel as though I’m merely gliding across the surface of this world?
The altitude of low Earth orbit is equivalent to driving straight upward for half an hour. If Earth’s surface serves as the center point, humanity is a species with an extremely small activity radius and remarkably flat thinking.
People pay most readily in two scenarios: 1) when chasing something; 2) when compelled to pay. Anything failing to meet either criterion does not constitute a genuine business model.
Life simplifies complexity; contemplation complicates simplicity.
Perspective does not alter one’s intelligence or foolishness—it only amplifies whichever trait already exists.
One consequence of science is that many people use scientific achievements to oppose science itself.
There’s a dullness about him—the kind associated with “overly disciplined people”—a dullness that stems from pursuing discipline *because* he finds life dull, rather than one that arises *as a result* of discipline.
Groupthink is not thinking.
As people age, their increasing shamelessness stems—only rarely—from “not wanting to waste time on irrelevant people or matters,” and far more often—from growing desperation.
Accurate weighing scales and mirrors that reflect reality are typically unpopular.
When trying to understand something, discard your crutches; when helping others understand it, offer them crutches.
Where “Mr. Science” is absent, people apply scientific rigor to inspirational quotes—and treat science itself like inspirational quotes.
An entire industry collectively guarding its secrets from outsiders is as seemingly impossible—and yet just as airtight—as all men collectively concealing gender-related truths from women.
Plagiarizing lyrics from music, physics from mathematics, and emotion from rationality—these forms of plagiarism are both subtle and highly effective.
Reading quickly first means being able to rapidly identify which books you *don’t* need to read.
People willingly pay for both “instant gratification” and “instant harm.”
People tend to believe lies that cost less to accept—hence, inferior lies have broader market appeal.
Letting a terrible fire burn itself out is better than trying to extinguish it—some things simply aren’t worth saving.
Merely surviving without doing evil is not inherently ignoble.
“Pretentiousness” is becoming a fundamental social skill.
People dislike encountering the unfamiliar in survival contexts—but actively seek the unfamiliar in pursuit of pleasure.
Those who declare they want nothing are, in fact, emphasizing precisely what they desire.
Intelligent people often miss simple truths because they disdain superficiality.
Protect the worldly possessions you cannot afford to lose, and pursue the ideal possessions you cannot yet attain.
The loner seeks overlooked observation—not absence of observation.
Evolution’s harsh selection operates without regard to subject or time—and is not continuous. Intelligent species often recognize this, thus refraining from hastily labeling themselves “unfortunate.”
The head determines the spatial position of the buttocks; the buttocks determine how long the head remains in that position.
If you yourself are “noise,” then no matter how much information you possess, it remains noise.
Just as few people understand metacognition (thinking about thinking), few grasp meta-knowledge (knowledge about knowledge).
In a world governed by randomness, luck is a one-time event; in a world built on storytelling, however, luck can be repackaged and resold repeatedly.
Worldly concerns slow down the thinker’s pace—so they may journey farther.
Plants serve as a life hedge: you wish your child would grow more slowly, and yourself age more slowly—but you hope your plants grow faster.
To render Murphy’s Law inoperative, set “hedged” aspirations for your life—perhaps Murphy will then find himself torn between conflicting outcomes.
Modern gladiatorial games are even more brutal: losers do not die swiftly but endure continued humiliation to satisfy onlookers.
Replacing ignorance with truth is far more difficult than replacing one form of ignorance with another.
The typical individual rarely benefits from collective self-interest.
“What you know” creates wealth for you; “what you know you don’t know” safeguards your wealth.
Metaphors are the brain’s slide.
If a person gains more from procrastination than they lose, they are not suffering from procrastination disorder.
You should avoid self-praise as much as possible, so that praise from others feels more dramatic.
Some cultures are obsessed with unearthing malicious motives behind virtuous acts—motives that Darwin invariably traces back to the primordial jungle era.
A person who insists they don’t care about worldly criticism is, in fact, attempting to shift society’s criteria for judging them.
If someone tells you that you resemble their first love, it’s best not to foolishly look up that first love’s photo.
Pigs grow pork regardless of what they eat; humans develop biases regardless of what they read.
Cultivating goodwill can also yield fame and fortune—rewards fully sanctioned by goodwill itself.
On the singular stage of life—where no encore is possible—the only line spoken is: “One more time.”
Enduring mockery from ignorance is a price knowledge must pay.
To design an “unknown” sufficiently unknown, God made the universe vast—and human lifespans brief.
People willingly pay prices exceeding intrinsic value for things they “almost got.”
A human life does not flow uniformly—it unfolds like quantum leaps: one day you suddenly realize you’re no longer a child; another day, you suddenly realize you’re no longer young.
A thin reality makes illusions all the more vivid.
When a person decides to abandon themselves, they begin to pity themselves.
Transcending one’s era means having one’s physical body experience warmth and cold within that era, while one’s wisdom floats above it—observing its ebbs and flows.
Good and evil are not two sides of a coin—they are two sides of a Möbius strip.
In the scientific world, gains come from overcoming human folly; in the secular world, gains come from exploiting human folly.
Pessimists are often right; optimists are often successful; winners are “optimistic pessimists.”
If humanity were less greedy and less brutal, our ignorance would be just sufficient—like a thin atmosphere.
The exam-oriented education system systematically deprives children of their most precious ability—the ability to make mistakes.
Calculators erode mental arithmetic skills; the internet erodes memory capacity; AI erodes judgment. The polarization of wealth is, in fact, a result of the polarization of judgment.
Accelerated money printing and digital colonization will give rise to trillion-dollar supercompanies.
Gold panning has always existed in human society, and humanity’s definition of “gold” continues to evolve.
You simply say “because… therefore…”—nobody cares whether the causal relationship you assert actually holds true.
Despair-inducing pressure is often beneficial from an evolutionary perspective; hopelessness-inducing pressure, however, is part of merely eking out an existence.
Few people understand the distinction between “despair” and “hopelessness.”
As a writer, you must firmly believe your readers are the silent majority—only then can you avoid disappointment.
I write not to persuade, not to memorize, not to prove, not to explain—but solely to exist.
Paying money to “pretend to know” instead of admitting “I don’t know” is like botched plastic surgery.
How could sparrows comprehend the aspirations of swans? Yet swans constantly strive to make sparrows understand.
When shared suffering fails to unite humanity, it may herald the arrival of some unforeseen catastrophe.
Acting on common sense is usually correct; explaining using common sense is usually wrong.
People confuse a “lightweight brain” with a “simplified brain.”
One hallmark of success in modern society is becoming someone who defies categorization.
There are increasingly more interesting souls—perhaps because pork prices keep rising.
The illusion of civilization is genetic compensation granted by nature to humanity as its biological vessel.
Truly great books are exceedingly rare—so there must be a sufficient number of bad books to preserve this rarity.
I hope my life appears interesting in the short term, uneventful in the medium term, and dramatic in the long term.