Majicman Notes

Blog

  • “ I was just being myself”

    “ I was just being myself” is not an excuse for disrespectful behavior. It signals a lack of concern for others. Authenticity without empathy is selfish. Authenticity without boundaries is careless. Being true to yourself shouldn’t… Read more

  • Always produce

    For example, if you have a day job you don’t take seriously because you plan to be a novelist, are you producing? Are you writing pages of fiction, however bad? As long as you’re producing,… Read more

  • Seneca, on friendship:

    …Nothing delights the mind so much as fond and loyal friendship. What a blessing it is to have hearts that are ready and willing to receive all your secrets in safety, with whom you are… Read more

  • Self-pity is a dead-end road.

    Nobody’s going to do your life for you. You have to do it yourself, whether you’re rich or poor, out of money or raking it in, the beneficiary of ridiculous fortune or terrible injustice. And… Read more

  • Seek nothing outside of yourself.

    There is nothing outside of yourself that can ever enable you to get better, stronger, richer, quicker, or smarter. Everything is within. Everything exists. Seek nothing outside of yourself. Miyamoto Musashi, The Book Of Five… Read more

  • Every moment of life is a “last time.”

    Our lives, thanks to their finitude, are inevitably full of activities that we’re doing for the very last time. Just as there will be a final occasion on which I pick up my son—a thought… Read more

  • Be guided by beauty

    Simons shared a few life lessons with the school’s audience: “Work with the smartest people you can, hopefully smarter than you . . . be persistent, don’t give up easily. Be guided by beauty .… Read more

  • You don’t understand sheep.

    One of my favorite stories is about the little boy in Texas. The teacher asked the class, If there are nine sheep in the pen and one jumps out, how many are left? And everybody… Read more

  • If one wants to be active, one mustn’t be afraid to do something wrong sometimes

    If one wants to be active, one mustn’t be afraid to do something wrong sometimes, not afraid to lapse into some mistakes. To be good — many people think that they’ll achieve it by doing… Read more

  • Much like a fight, when you get hit, it’s important to counterpunch and hit back

    Much like a fight, when you get hit, it’s important to counterpunch and hit back. A counterpunch can be positive self talk, a return to your healthier routine, or even doing something small like going… Read more