March 4, 2023

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20 Maxims For A Fulfilling Life from Dee Hock

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This Week: 20 Maxims For A Fulfilling Life from Dee Hock

Dee Hock was the founder of $360b payments behemoth, Visa.

He’s one of my all-time favourite thinkers and will be sorely missed in the world.

The following are 20 of his most powerful maxim’s on living well.

If you want to dig deeper on Dee Hock, head to his website here.

No dream is so great as the person you might become by remaining true to it.

It is a wise man who knows whether he is in complete error or deluded by partial truth.

There is nothing that can’t be imposed on an indifferent many by a dedicated few.

Advice is as abundant as help is rare.

People who ask for advice more often need help but rarely get it.

People who ask for help rarely need advice but often get it.

It is a kindness to the world to be liberal with help and chary with advice.

Wisdom finds humor in everything; old, barren reason alone is deadly serious.

We judge others harshly by the standards we profess rather than those we practice.

Yet we resent it bitterly when they return the favor.

When life is frightening or distasteful, scholarship is always a suitable sanctuary.

Who takes a step bereft of love walks to death in shrouds of calculation to lie forever embalmed by money in a mausoleum of things.

Ethics pale when money growls.

Those who despise people are the most desperate to be favorably recognized by them.

That which is growing looks only ahead; that which is declining looks only behind.

This day brought health, moderation, someone to love, work to be done, and a clear sky under which to do it.

What more could anyone want?

Condemnation debases the condemner far more than the condemned.

If you never test your courage and strength, how can you measure the validity of your fears?

As my grandfather used to say,

“There’s them as talks and them as does, and them as does gives them as talks a passel to natter about.”

The pleasures of youth are the pains of old age, just as the pleasures of old age are the pains of youth.

Humility and generosity have no enemies.

One should not read like a dog obeying its master, but like an eagle hunting its prey.

You can give no greater gift than to speak and write that which is useful to your own heart.

Like fishermen, we constantly cast the lure of expectation ahead of us, hoping to hook a desired piece of the future. Something unimaginable always takes the bait.

And hey, for good measure, one bonus:

Happiness may be difficult, but it is not complicated.

Dismiss desire, discard opinion, honor the past, trust the future, and treasure the moment.

There you have it, 20 maxim’s for a fulfilling life from the incredible Dee Hock. 

I hope you found these as helpful as I have.

Stay curious,

Alex

P.S. Whenever you're ready, there are 4 ways I can help you:

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🔗 Favourite links of the week 🔗

  1. 21 tactics to help you become a better writer
  2. The New Book Publishing Playbook
  3. Ultimate Guide

See you again next week!


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