The opportunity is not in being momentarily popular with the anonymous masses. It's in being missed when you're gone, in doing work that matters to the tribe you choose.

Are you doing work worth doing, or are you just doing your job?

Seizing new ground, making connections between people or ideas, working without a map-these are works of art, and if you do them, you are an artist, regardless of whether you wear a smock, use a computer, or work with others all day long.

You can listen to what people say, sure. But you will be far more effective if you listen to what people do.

Just about every great, brave or beautiful thing in our culture was created by someone who didn't do it for money.

It's entirely possible that there won't be a standing ovation at the end of your journey. That's okay. At least you lived.

A well-defined backup plan is sabotage waiting to happen. Why push through the dip, why take the risk, why blow it all when there's the comfortable alternative instead? The people who break through usually have nothing to lose, and they almost never have a backup plan.