A lot of the things that involve power on the highest levels sometimes involve the darker side of human psychology. People can be very passive aggressive or they can be aggressive and they can conceal their intentions. There's this world that exists that nobody writes about or describes it's like a dirty little secret or taboo.

Never waste valuable time, or mental peace of mind, on the affairs of others—that is too high a price to pay.

The idea of social performance, that we're always performing identities, is something I got fairly obsessed with. I think it's probably because I am a person who went to 15 different elementary and middle schools. I moved all the time, often having to run out in the middle of the night because my mom couldn't pay the bills. There were schools where I'd be the poor loser kid. There were schools where I'd suddenly be the smart kid or the cool kid, although that was very seldom.

The truth is that creative activity is one that involves the entire self - our emotions, our levels of energy, our characters, and our minds.

The passive ironic attitude is not cool or romantic, but pathetic and destructive.

As most people when I entered the work world, suddenly people are playing games, being manipulative, being a little bit nasty, you get tricked or you're kind of naive and you do something and people come steal your idea.

There are things that you study, classes you've taken, activities you've done that feel right, that feel like they're in your power zone. So it doesn't take incredible amount of effort for you to do it - it just comes more naturally to you.