I think one problem we've had is that people who are smart and creative and innovative as engineers went into financial engineering.
Walter IsaacsonJobs has within him sort of this conflict, but he doesn't quite see it as a conflict between being hippie-ish and anti-materialistic but wanting to sell things like Wozniak's board. Wanting to create a business.
Walter IsaacsonSteve has a reality distortion field.โ When Hertzfeld looked puzzled, Tribble elaborated. โIn his presence, reality is malleable. He can convince anyone of practically anything. It wears off when heโs not around, but it makes it hard to have realistic schedules.
Walter IsaacsonIf you want to live your life in a creative way, as an artist, you have to not look back too much. You have to be willing to take whatever youโve done and whoever you were and throw them away. The more the outside world tries to reinforce an image of you, the harder it is to continue to be an artist, which is why a lot of times, artists have to say, โBye. I have to go. Iโm going crazy and Iโm getting out of here.โ And they go and hibernate somewhere. Maybe later they re-emerge a little differently. (Steve Jobs)
Walter IsaacsonI think that we shouldn't be fixated all the time on the ups and downs of the weekly ratings, of the quarter-hour ratings.
Walter IsaacsonLeonardo da Vinci did not take received wisdom - whether from ancient classical thinkers or medieval scholars or from the Bible - without questioning it. And this was the beginning of the scientific method. This is another lesson for our time: that when we have evidence that contradicts a certain belief, we should be willing to change it. I think this made Leonardo, in some ways, a person who better understood the beauty of God's creation than a person who just takes all received wisdom from the Bible on faith.
Walter Isaacson