“A high self-regard and inflated ego can actually limit creativity, as confidence gives way to laziness.
You’ll roll out the same ideas over and over again, many of them powered by hubris rather than good judgement.
And because even the egotistical don’t like an ego-tripping colleague, you’ll eventually be brought back to Earth by envious and irritated enemies.
There’s no telling how the crash will happen, or when it will happen, but the self-satisfied and over-confident will always crash. And as you lie twisted and broken in the wreckage, it’s here that you’ll discover your best ideas.
Because brilliance begins at rock bottom.”
– Erik Kessels, Failed It!
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“Well, I’ve been down so Goddamn long
That it looks like up to me
Well, I’ve been down so very damn long
That it looks like up to me
Yeah, why don’t one you people
C’mon and set me free.”
– The Doors, Been Down So Long
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There is a freedom of inhabiting the world down, close to the ground.
You are unnoticed so your tinkering passes unremarked.
If you lift up into a higher plane it’s because you have built something yourself.
You rise upon solid ground, without the hollowness of the overconfident beneficiaries of nepotism.
But there is no guarantee of a prolonged and steady rise.
The likelihood of crashing back to earth is high.
But it’s familiar down here. There are tools to use. I can work in the shadows some more. There is still the promise of light and success, perhaps.
I make my home on rock bottom. But I built it with wheels. I am ready to move up at any time.
Conversations With Quotations 