“
Maybe we can relax here for a few seconds,” says Little B. “Oops, time’s up,” says Howler, slapping his hand on Little B’s shoulder. “Back to being tense and hunted.
”
”
Susan Ee (End of Days (Penryn & the End of Days, #3))
“
All of that art-for-art’s-sake stuff is BS,” she declares. “What are these people talking about? Are you really telling me that Shakespeare and Aeschylus weren’t writing about kings? All good art is political! There is none that isn’t. And the ones that try hard not to be political are political by saying, ‘We love the status quo.’ We’ve just dirtied the word ‘politics,’ made it sound like it’s unpatriotic or something.” Morrison laughs derisively. “That all started in the period of state art, when you had the communists and fascists running around doing this poster stuff, and the reaction was ‘No, no, no; there’s only aesthetics.’ My point is that is has to be both: beautiful and political at the same time. I’m not interested in art that is not in the world. And it’s not just the narrative, it’s not just the story; it’s the language and the structure and what’s going on behind it. Anybody can make up a story.
”
”
Toni Morrison
“
You meet dozens of people who tell you you can't do it. Surround yourself with the people who believe you will do it. Seek out and spend time with those rare people who tell you, no BS, why you haven't done it yet, what it takes to do it, and how they could help you do it. Note how this advice works whether 'it' is robbing a bank, opening a gallery, or writing a bestseller. "It" is up to you. But you can't do it alone.
”
”
Heather Grace Stewart (Three Spaces)
“
Do you ever lay off the crap or is it all bullshit, all the time with you?
”
”
Denise Grover Swank (Chosen (The Chosen, #1))
“
You get a lot of A’s and B’s in school. In the stock market, you get a lot of F’s. And if you’re right six or seven times out of ten, you’re very good.
”
”
William P. Green (Richer, Wiser, Happier: How the World's Greatest Investors Win in Markets and Life)
“
a large body of empirical research conducted over decades suggests that student evaluations are more than unhelpful; instead, they are likely to change the behaviors of presenters in ways that make learning and personal growth less likely. That is one reason why Armstrong concluded that “teacher ratings are detrimental to students.
”
”
Jeffrey Pfeffer (Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time)
“
You can tell if a discipline is BS if the degree depends severely on the prestige of the school granting it. I remember when I applied to MBA programs being told that anything outside the top ten or twenty would be a waste of time. On the other hand a degree in mathematics is much less dependent on the school (conditional on being above a certain level, so the heuristic would apply to the difference between top ten and top two thousand schools). The same applies to research papers. In math and physics, a result posted on the repository site arXiv (with a minimum hurdle) is fine. In low-quality fields like academic finance (where papers are usually some form of complicated storytelling), the “prestige” of the journal is the sole criterion.
”
”
Nassim Nicholas Taleb (Skin in the Game: Hidden Asymmetries in Daily Life)
“
There are times when the marvels of scientific advancement expedite our processes, making our lives easier. Modern technology provides machines that can think three or five or seven steps ahead of the human mind, machines that offer elegant solutions, a selection of contingency plans, Bs and Cs and Ds in case A isn't to your liking.
And then there are times when a screwdriver and a bit of elbow grease are all that's necessary to get the job done.
”
”
Victoria Schwab (Vicious (Villains, #1))
“
Property taxes' rank right up there with 'income taxes' in terms of immorality and destructiveness. Where 'income taxes' are simply slavery using different words, 'property taxes' are just a Mafia turf racket using different words. For the former, if you earn a living on the gang's turf, they extort you. For the latter, if you own property in their territory, they extort you. The fact that most people still imagine both to be legitimate and acceptable shows just how powerful authoritarian indoctrination is. Meanwhile, even a brief objective examination of the concepts should make anyone see the lunacy of it. 'Wait, so every time I produce anything or trade with anyone, I have to give a cut to the local crime lord??' 'Wait, so I have to keep paying every year, for the privilege of keeping the property I already finished paying for??' And not only do most people not make such obvious observations, but if they hear someone else pointing out such things, the well-trained Stockholm Syndrome slaves usually make arguments condoning their own victimization. Thus is the power of the mind control that comes from repeated exposure to BS political mythology and propaganda.
”
”
Larken Rose
“
I moved forward. Gut-check time. Now or never, do or die-all of that inspirational BS. Kill my enemies or die trying.
”
”
Amanda Bonilla
“
Sad
Mad
Tired
Grouchy
Frustrated
Those are not dwarves.
They are feelings, OK?
They are like nickels and quarters
jangling, jangling, jangling
buying me time on Mrs. B’s computer.
”
”
K.A. Holt (House Arrest)
“
No one who is unmemorable is going to be chosen for an important job, because one cannot select what one cannot remember.
”
”
Jeffrey Pfeffer (Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time)
“
Every time I visit, he sends me off to the Chicken Ranch to fetch dinner. Deep fried chicken, greasy potatoes, BBQ sauce. I can feel my arteries clogging just thinking about
”
”
Nick Vulich (Life Without the BS: Rants, Raves and Other Crazy Stuff)
“
During this time I quit attending classes at the university, and my grades rose from four Fs to three Bs and an A.
”
”
Dan Simmons (Song of Kali)
“
For anyone who thinks "profit" is evil, I have a challenge for you: try NOT to get any profit in the next week. Profit simply means increasing how much valuable stuff you have, and if you don't profit, you die. Literally. For example, don't buy any food for a week, because when you buy food (or anything), it's because you value the food MORE than you value the money you trade for it. If you didn't, you wouldn't make the trade. So you PROFIT (and so does the seller) every time you buy something. And every time you sell something, or work for money, etc. So before condemning "profit" (or "greed" or "selfishness," for that matter), see if you can survive without it. Then stop repeating vague collectivist BS, and learn to distinguish between "win/win" events (voluntary exchange) where BOTH sides profit, and "win/lose" events, where one side benefits by harming the other side. By the way, "government" is ALWAYS the latter.
”
”
Larken Rose
“
Francie thought that all the books in the world were in that library and she had a plan about reading all the books in the world. She was reading a book a day in alphabetical order and not skipping the dry ones. She remembered that the first author had been Abbott. She had been reading a book a day for a long time now and she was still in the B’s. Already she had read about bees and buffaloes, Bermuda vacations and Byzantine architecture. For all of her enthusiasm, she had to admit that some of the B’s had been hard going. But Francie was a reader. She read everything she could find: trash, classics, time tables and the grocer’s price list. Some
”
”
Betty Smith (A Tree Grows in Brooklyn)
“
Asian professionals are frequently held back from senior positions by the perception that they don’t have “executive presence,” a factor that similarly operates against other minority groups in the workplace, including women.39 And what constitutes executive presence? Certainly not modesty:
”
”
Jeffrey Pfeffer (Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time)
“
Deming argued that if there are performance problems and quality defects, one needs to understand how those problems arise almost naturally as a consequence of how a system has been designed—and then fix those design flaws. Put simply, attack the problems by fixing the system, not scapegoating the necessarily fallible human beings working in and operating that system—whether or not they deserved it.
”
”
Jeffrey Pfeffer (Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time)
“
The American Psychological Association reports that Americans today, compared to the 1950s, seem less happy, even though we eat out twice as much and own two times as many cars. We have so many more toys, like big-screen TVs, smartphones, and microwaves. But that isn’t leading to a more satisfying life.
”
”
Ramit Sethi (I Will Teach You to Be Rich: No Guilt. No Excuses. No B.S. Just a 6-Week Program That Works.)
“
I once had a woman who emailed me saying, “I always tell myself I want to run three times a week, but I never go.” I wrote back and said, “What about going for a run once a week?” She replied, “Once a week? What’s the point?” She would rather dream about running three times a week than actually run once a week.
”
”
Ramit Sethi (I Will Teach You to Be Rich: No Guilt. No Excuses. No B.S. Just a 6-Week Program That Works.)
“
that leaders inspire trust, be authentic, tell the truth, serve others (particularly those who work for and with them), be modest and self-effacing, exhibit empathic understanding and emotional intelligence, and other similar seemingly sensible nostrums.
”
”
Jeffrey Pfeffer (Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time)
“
[Bob] Dylan said, "I don't have to B.S. anybody like those guys up on Broadway that're always writin' about 'I'm hot for you and you're hot for me--ooka dooka dicka dee.' There's other things in the world besides love and sex that're important too. People shouldn't turn their backs on 'em just because they ain't pretty to look at. How is the world ever gonna get any better if we're afraid to look at these things.
”
”
David Hajdu (Positively 4th Street: The Lives and Times of Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Mimi Baez Farina and Richard Farina)
“
Money isn't the only way to give back. You can make a difference by giving your time, a helping hand, or a smile, or simply by lending an ear and listening to someone in need.
”
”
Melissa Ambrosini (Mastering Your Mean Girl: The No-BS Guide to Silencing Your Inner Critic and Becoming Wildly Wealthy, Fabulously Healthy, and Bursting with Love)
“
companies with high levels of workplace trust enjoy higher stock market returns.
”
”
Jeffrey Pfeffer (Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time)
“
Given a good time in bed, women turn blind to the faults of their men.
”
”
B.S. Murthy (Benign Flame: Saga of Love)
Dan S. Kennedy (No B.S. Time Management for Entrepreneurs: The Ultimate No Holds Barred Kick Butt Take No Prisoners Guide to Time Productivity and Sanity)
“
our ability to accurately discern who is taking advantage of us is remarkably poor.
”
”
Jeffrey Pfeffer (Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time)
“
overconfident individuals achieved higher social status, respect, and influence in groups.
”
”
Jeffrey Pfeffer (Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time)
“
to change the world of work and leadership, we need to get beyond the half truths and self-serving stories that are so prominent today.
”
”
Jeffrey Pfeffer (Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time)
“
career prospects of employees who report corporate malfeasance are so dismal that it is surprising that people whistleblow at all.
”
”
Jeffrey Pfeffer (Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time)
“
qualities we actually select for and reward in most workplaces are precisely the ones that are unlikely to produce leaders who are good for employees or, for that matter, for long-term organizational performance.
”
”
Jeffrey Pfeffer (Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time)
“
I have performed the following experiment in workshops for nearly 40 years now: Everybody in the class is asked to describe the hall they passed through to get to the classroom. I must have tried this several hundred times by now, and I have never encountered two people who agreed totally about what was or was not in the hall, the color of the walls, or any similar data. We do not walk through the “same” hall: we walk through a reality-tunnel constructed by our imprinted, conditioned and learned brain circuits.
The same experiment works with hearing, and other senses, as well as with vision and memory. Try it with a half-dozen friends. Let somebody with a watch say “Go!” and then all of you be silent and listen for one full minute — 60 surprisingly long seconds. You will all hear some sounds nobody else hears and miss some sounds everybody else caught.
From 'In Doubt We Trust: Cults, religions, and BS in general
”
”
Robert Anton Wilson
“
SHE WAS A KNOCKOUT. A stoned fox. I’d never seen her before. Not one of the cutesy Irish Barbie Dolls I normally fell for, this was something of a different class altogether. No disco glam or sparkles or fashionably trashy stripper chic. No make-up or slutty, revealing outfit. No desperate, tits-in-your-face “notice me” B.S. This was something pure and earthy -- fresh as newly cut grass. The smoking-hot girl next door, but yet completely of another world and time. A true classic.
”
”
Quentin R. Bufogle (KING OF THE NEW YORK STREETS)
“
prioritizing the wrong outcomes: making participants feel good and giving them a good time. Simply stated, measuring entertainment value produces great entertainment, not change; measuring the wrong things crowds out assessing other, more relevant indicators
”
”
Jeffrey Pfeffer (Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time)
“
Wherever there is power imbalance, such as exists between men and women, white and black people, rich and poor, boss and employee, then that power can breed oppressive behaviour. Silence and acceptance from the weaker player is the grease that keeps these wheels turning.
”
”
Jess Phillips (Truth to Power: 7 Ways to Call Time on B.S.)
“
Orolo said, “What if these two universes—each as big and as old and as complicated as ours—were entirely separate, except for a single photon that managed to travel somehow between them. Would that be enough to wrench A’s time and B’s time into perfect lockstep for all eternity?
”
”
Neal Stephenson (Anathem)
“
One thing I’ve learned in the self-development business: We all have lots of reasons why we aren’t doing something we “should,” like investing, flossing, or starting a business. No time, no money, not sure where to start, etc. Sometimes the truth is simpler: We just don’t want to.
”
”
Ramit Sethi (I Will Teach You to Be Rich: No Guilt. No Excuses. No B.S. Just a 6-Week Program That Works.)
“
My mother grimaces, clearly on to my BS. She’s what you’d call a health fanatic times one hundred, from the raw-ful cuisine she makes us eat to her handmade sanitary napkins (no joke: the woman actually uses kitchen sponges), and so, pepperoni-and-cheese-laden pizza ranks right up there with what fur coats are to PETA.
”
”
Laurie Faria Stolarz (Deadly Little Games (Touch, #3))
“
But I no longer believe that trust is essential to organizational functioning or even to effective leadership. Why? Because the data suggest that trust is notable mostly by its absence. Nevertheless, organizations continue to roll along, as do their leaders who seemingly suffer few consequences for being untrustworthy.
”
”
Jeffrey Pfeffer (Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time)
“
Independent girls who don't accept BS will have a harder time settling and that is okay. We tend to want to find someone who is worth our time because guess what we don't need anyone we just want someone that's worth it. At the end of the day we are going to choose love, respect, compassion and good treatment over any money a man could give and we are not going to accept bad vibes. Know the difference!
”
”
Hopal Green
“
Measuring the wrong thing is often worse than measuring nothing, because you do get what you measure. So if the assessments focus on how much people “enjoy” the experience—be that reading a book, watching a talk, or going to a training session—those same books, talks, and trainings will respond to those measurements by prioritizing the wrong outcomes: making participants feel good and giving them a good time. Simply stated, measuring entertainment value produces great entertainment, not change; measuring the wrong things crowds out assessing other, more relevant indicators such as improvements in workplaces. Improvement comes from employing measurements that are appropriate, those that are connected to the areas in which we seek improvement. In the case of leadership, that appropriate measurement would include assessing the frequency of desirable leader behaviors; actual workplace conditions such as engagement, satisfaction, and
”
”
Jeffrey Pfeffer (Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time)
“
We have got to call time on the bullsh*t that makes us feel as if we are powerless, the bullsh*t that tells ordinary people they have a defined place in the world and should put up with their lot. The bullsh*t that means the same people always end up with the same jobs. The bullsh*t that says we just have to tolerate a rising tide of hatred and division. The bullsh*t that says the laws are just the way they are and you should live within a system that was designed for someone else.
”
”
Jess Phillips (Truth to Power: 7 Ways to Call Time on B.S.)
“
You’d think someone as resourceful as Rachel would know whether or not Toraf was the identical twin of a known terrorist. But nooooo. So we wait by our guard in the corridor of the security office of LAX airport while about a dozen people work to verify our identity.
My identity comes back fine and clean and boring.
Toraf’s identity doesn’t come back for a few hours. Which is not cool, because he’s been puking in the trash can next to our bench seats and it’s got to be almost full by now. Because of the regional storms in Jersey, we’d had a rough takeoff. Coupled with the reaction Toraf had to the Dramamine-excitability, no less-it was all I could do to coax him out of the tiny bathroom to get him to sit still and not puke while doing so.
His fingerprints could not be matched and his violet eyes were throwing them for a loop, since they physically verified that they aren’t contacts. A lady security officer asked us several times in several different ways why our tickets would be one-way to Hawaii if we lived in Jersey and only had a carry-on bag full of miscellaneous crap that you don’t really need. Where were we going? What were we doing?
I’d told them we were going to Honolulu to pick a place to get married and weren’t in a hurry to come back, so we only purchased one-way tickets and blah blah blah. It’s a BS story and they know it, but sometimes BS stories can’t be proven false. Finally, I asked for an attorney, and since they hadn’t charged us with anything, and couldn’t charge us with anything, they decided to let us go. For crying out loud.
I can’t decide if I’m relieved or nervous that Toraf’s seat is a couple of rows back on our flight to Honolulu. On the plus side, I don’t have to be bothered every time he goes to the bathroom to upchuck. Then again, I can’t keep my eye on him, either, in case he doesn’t know how to act or respond to nosy strangers who can’t mind their own business. I peek around my seat and roll my eyes.
He’s seated next to two girls, about my age and obviously traveling together, and they’re trying nonstop to start a conversation with him. Poor, poor Toraf. It must be a hard-knock life to have inherited the exquisite Syrena features. It’s all he can do not to puke in their laps. A small part of me wishes that he would, so they’d shut up and leave him alone and I could maybe close my eyes for two seconds. From here I can hear him squirm in his seat, which is about four times too small for a built Syrena male. His shoulder and biceps protrude into the aisle, so he’s constantly getting bumped. Oy.
”
”
Anna Banks (Of Triton (The Syrena Legacy, #2))
“
The feminine nature makes even little things significant. To an extreme, it “blows things out of proportion.” Typically women embody the feminine energy more than men, and this means that when they’re unbalanced, everything becomes a big deal, and they give a shit about so much stuff, it’s overwhelming and at times unmanageable. They don’t have as many barriers in their brain to compartmentalize stuff, so giving a shit about one thing spills over to the other things they give a shit about. It’s easy to become conflicted, over-burdened, and feeling like there is a constant tug-o-war, sometimes in 18 different directions, about what matters most.
”
”
Derek Doepker (Break Through Your BS: Uncover Your Brain's Blind Spots and Unleash Your Inner Greatness)
“
What else draws man to a woman than his desire to access her persona specifics; and once drawn, won’t she bare her veiled assets for her fancied man to dabble with her private accounts? But then, after a few of his jaunts to her favoured joint, what else would be left in her for her lover to explore and for her to offer? Thus, thereafter, how could she cater to his need for variety and what else she could conjure up to sustain her enticement? Oh, the poor thing, seeing his interest in her wane, won’t she turn more so eager to keep him in good humor? But then, the more she gives him; even more she satiates him, and its only time before she finds her paramour bypass her favours for lesser flavours.
”
”
B.S. Murthy (Benign Flame: Saga of Love)
“
Deuteronomy’s notion of tithes—that for two out of three years surplus is shared broadly with the disadvantaged, and in the third year is given to them outright—is sound economics when seen in light of conceptions of redistributive economics in primitive societies. In modern capitalist societies, surplus earnings are placed into savings, and insurance policies are taken out to hedge against various forms of adversity. The laws of tithing may be construed as another element in a program of primitive insurance. In a premodern society, A will give some of his surplus in a good year to B, who may have fallen on hard times in exchange for B’s commitment to reciprocate should their roles one day be reversed.
”
”
Joshua A. Berman (Created Equal: How the Bible Broke with Ancient Political Thought)
“
Having finished the letter, she tiptoed into their bedroom and towards their framed wedding photograph on the dressing table. As she sat on the stool, she couldn’t take her eyes off the picture. In time, dropping the letter in her lap, she took the frame into her hands. But, soon finding the light too dim to hold the picture, she took the frame closer to her. At that, as the memories of their honeymoon came in torrents, her eyes turned into waterfalls. When she realized that the farewell letter in her lap was getting wet, she placed it on the table along with the photograph. If not for her wish to let her man know her mind at the parting, perhaps, she would have wept herself to death and thus allowed her missive to smudge in the pool of her tears.
”
”
B.S. Murthy (Jewel-less Crown: Saga of Life)
“
When I started in real estate, despite high ambition, I was constrained by the same 24 hours as everyone else. My early success came from a grueling schedule, long hours, and the high price of near burn-out. In self-defense, I devised a system that featured direct marketing in place of traditional prospecting plus a highly effective team, with all the non-rainmaker tasks delegated to them. This took me to the top of the profession, twice #1 in RE/MAX worldwide in commissions earned, and 15 years as one of the top agents—working less hours than most. While an active agent, I consistently sold over 500 homes a year, even while starting and developing a second business, training and coaching more millionaire agents than any other coach. Without the inspiration of Dan Kennedy’s direct marketing methods and his extraordinary, extreme time-management philosophy, these achievements simply would not have been possible. LEVERAGING yourself, by media in place of manual labor, and with other people is very intimidating to most real estate agents and to most small businesspeople. It frankly is not easy to get right, but it is the quantum leap that uniquely and simultaneously lifts income and supports a great lifestyle. —CRAIG PROCTOR, CRAIGPROCTOR.COM
”
”
Dan S. Kennedy (No B.S. Time Management for Entrepreneurs: The Ultimate No Holds Barred Kick Butt Take No Prisoners Guide to Time Productivity and Sanity)
“
I left Brookstone and went to the Pottery Barn. When I was a kid and everything inside our house was familiar, cheap, and ruined, walking into the Pottery Barn was like entering heaven. If they really wanted people to enjoy church, I thought back then, they should make everything in church look and smell like the Pottery Barn. My dream was to surround myself one day with everything in the store, with the wicker baskets and scented candles, the brushed-silver picture frames. But that was a long time ago. I had already gone through a period of buying everything there was to buy at the Pottery Barn and decorating my apartment like a Pottery Barn outlet, and then getting rid of it all during a massive upgrade. Now everything at the Pottery Barn looked ersatz and mass-produced. To buy any of it now would be to regress in aspiration and selfhood. I didn’t want to buy anything at the Pottery Barn so much as I wanted to recapture the feeling of wanting to buy everything from the Pottery Barn. Something similar happened at the music store. I should try to find some new music, I thought, because there was a time when new music could lift me out of a funk like nothing else. But I wasn’t past the Bs when I saw the only thing I really cared to buy. It was the Beatles’ Rubber Soul, which had been released in 1965. I already owned Rubber Soul. I had owned Rubber Soul on vinyl, then on cassette, and now on CD, and of course on my iPod, iPod mini, and iPhone. If I wanted to, I could have pulled out my iPhone and played Rubber Soul from start to finish right there, on speaker, for the sake of the whole store. But that wasn’t what I wanted. I wanted to buy Rubber Soul for the first time all over again. I wanted to return the needle from the run-out groove to the opening chords of “Drive My Car” and make everything new again. That wasn’t going to happen. But, I thought, I could buy it for somebody else. I could buy somebody else the new experience of listening to Rubber Soul for the first time. So I took the CD up to the register and paid for it and, walking out, felt renewed and excited. But the first kid I offered it to, a rotund teenager in a wheelchair looking longingly into a GameStop window, declined on the principle that he would rather have cash. A couple of other kids didn’t have CD players. I ended up leaving Rubber Soul on a bench beside a decommissioned ashtray where someone had discarded an unhealthy gob of human hair. I wandered, as everyone in the mall sooner or later does, into the Best Friends Pet Store. Many best friends—impossibly small beagles and corgis and German shepherds—were locked away for display in white cages where they spent their days dozing with depression, stirring only long enough to ponder the psychic hurdles of licking their paws. Could there be anything better to lift your spirits than a new puppy?
”
”
Joshua Ferris (To Rise Again at a Decent Hour)
“
Having studied workplace leadership styles since the 1970s, Kets de Vries confirmed that language is a critical clue when determining if a company has become too cultish for comfort. Red flags should rise when there are too many pep talks, slogans, singsongs, code words, and too much meaningless corporate jargon, he said. Most of us have encountered some dialect of hollow workplace gibberish. Corporate BS generators are easy to find on the web (and fun to play with), churning out phrases like “rapidiously orchestrating market-driven deliverables” and “progressively cloudifying world-class human capital.” At my old fashion magazine job, employees were always throwing around woo-woo metaphors like “synergy” (the state of being on the same page), “move the needle” (make noticeable progress), and “mindshare” (something having to do with a brand’s popularity? I’m still not sure). My old boss especially loved when everyone needlessly transformed nouns into transitive verbs and vice versa—“whiteboard” to “whiteboarding,” “sunset” to “sunsetting,” the verb “ask” to the noun “ask.” People did it even when it was obvious they didn’t know quite what they were saying or why. Naturally, I was always creeped out by this conformism and enjoyed parodying it in my free time. In her memoir Uncanny Valley, tech reporter Anna Wiener christened all forms of corporate vernacular “garbage language.” Garbage language has been around since long before Silicon Valley, though its themes have changed with the times. In the 1980s, it reeked of the stock exchange: “buy-in,” “leverage,” “volatility.” The ’90s brought computer imagery: “bandwidth,” “ping me,” “let’s take this offline.” In the twenty-first century, with start-up culture and the dissolution of work-life separation (the Google ball pits and in-office massage therapists) in combination with movements toward “transparency” and “inclusion,” we got mystical, politically correct, self-empowerment language: “holistic,” “actualize,” “alignment.
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Amanda Montell (Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism—Understanding the Social Science of Cult Influence)
“
Honor yourself enough to take time to prepare something nourishing with love. Sit down without distractions, give thanks to your food, and enjoy it.
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Melissa Ambrosini (Mastering Your Mean Girl: The No-BS Guide to Silencing Your Inner Critic and Becoming Wildly Wealthy, Fabulously Healthy, and Bursting with Love)
“
Every time we people please, we are saying yes to someone else and no to our truth. In that moment we are dimming our light.
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Melissa Ambrosini (Mastering Your Mean Girl: The No-BS Guide to Silencing Your Inner Critic and Becoming Wildly Wealthy, Fabulously Healthy, and Bursting with Love)
“
Your time, energy, and space are very precious, so be careful who you give them to.
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Melissa Ambrosini (Mastering Your Mean Girl: The No-BS Guide to Silencing Your Inner Critic and Becoming Wildly Wealthy, Fabulously Healthy, and Bursting with Love)
“
The Laundry may have a bureaucracy surfeit and a craze for ISO-9000 certification, but GCHQ is even worse, with some bizarre spatchcock version of BS5720 quality assurance applied to all their procedures in an attempt to ensure that the Home Office minister can account for all available paper clips in near real-time if challenged in the House by Her Majesty’s loyal opposition. On the other hand, they’ve got a bigger budget than us and all they have to worry about is having to read other people’s email, instead of having their souls sucked out by tentacular horrors from beyond the universe. “Oh, and you really ought to wear a tie when you’re representing us in public,” Phil says apologetically at the end of his spiel. “And get a haircut,” Jane adds with a smile. Bastards. The
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Charles Stross (The Atrocity Archives (Laundry Files, #1))
“
You know Trav, steamrolling the assholes with a bulldozer.” It was Cal’s turn to laugh. Although his cousin’s disdain for politicians was more tempered than his own, Travis was still a no BS kinda guy. In the short time he’d been in the White House, the former SEAL had purged the non-performers
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C.G. Cooper (Lethal Misconduct (Corps Justice, #6))
“
When I go back to work, will be sick
When I go back to work will be fireworks
I wanna serve people like there is no tomorrow
If someone says Thanks
I will kiss her or him
(Even though, old folks have no real teeth)
With no teeth, there is more room for heart
With all my love, I hope me and the elderly never part
All this will be consummated when I go back to work…
My hope and dreams are so unlimited…
When I think about going back to work.
It will be like that moment when Proust sipped his tea
And at once the vicissitudes of life had become indifferent
The disaster became innocuous, the brevity, illusory.
Ah, when I go back to work…
This sensation has an effect on me
Which love has of filling me with a precious essence.
Whence could it have come to me, this all-powerful joy?
Did Joan of Arc feel it
when she kept strong in front of the executioners?
Did John the Baptist have this feeling when he says,
the time arrived that I must decrease and He must increase.
And he was right about it…
Did Nicki Minaj feel it when the barbz looked away from Cardi B’s beckons of violence?
Did Shawn Mendes keep strong when Justin Beiber feigned ignorance to his existence?
We must stay strong in these times, and prove perseverance.
For there will be a day that I ought to go back to work
And it will be all of me.
”
”
Alther&Ali
“
Gardening is like poetry in that it is gratuitous, and also that it cannot be done on will alone. What will can do, and the only thing it can do, is make time in which to do it. Young poets, enraged because they don’t get published right away, confuse what will can do and what it can’t. It can’t make a tree peony grow to twelve feet in a year or two, and it can’t force the attention of editors and publishers. What it can do is create the space necessary for achievement, little by little. I thought of this when reading yesterday the review of Leslie Farber’s new book by Anatole Broyard in the Times. A. B.’s first two paragraphs are as follows: “ ‘The attempt of the will to do the work of the imagination:’ W. B. Yeats applied this phrase to an incorrect approach to life. Ours, he says, is the age of the disordered will. It is our conceit that no human possibility is beyond our conscious will. T.S. Eliot had something similar in mind when he said that the bad poet is conscious when he should be unconscious and unconscious when he should be conscious. “Trying to will what cannot be willed, according to Mr. Farber, brings on anxiety, and this anxiety, in turn, cripples our other faculties so that we are left with nothing but anxiety about anxiety, a double unease. Among the things we try to will are happiness, creativity, love, sex, and immortality.
”
”
May Sarton (The House by the Sea: A Journal)
“
percentages, that’s a Big Win toward a Rich Life. ☐ Fixed costs (50–60%) ☐ Investments (10%) ☐ Savings (5–10%) ☐ Guilt-Free Spending (20–35%) ☐ Reassess current subscriptions (cut if necessary). ☐ Renegotiate cable and internet bills. ☐ Revisit spending goals: Are they accurate? Are you actively saving for them? ☐ If your fixed costs are too high, it may be time to look at a cheaper rent (or AirBnB’ing a room out,
”
”
Ramit Sethi (I Will Teach You to Be Rich: No Guilt. No Excuses. No B.S. Just a 6-Week Program That Works.)
“
The echoes of a radical idea could gain decibels as time passes.
”
”
BS Murthy
“
Chastain had watched teammates like Mia Hamm and Julie Foudy end their careers with testimonial matches—the special farewell games that important players earn—but she was never going to get one. Her last game was the final stop of the post-Olympics victory tour in 2004, the same last game as Hamm and Foudy, only Chastain didn’t know it at the time. “It wasn’t on my radar—it wasn’t supposed to happen like that,” Chastain says. “He was the assistant coach. I’m not sure how he became coach of the national team, to be honest, and there was no discussion.” Shannon MacMillan, another veteran, tells a similar story. She, too, was surprised to find herself left off rosters, but in her case, it was because Greg Ryan had reassured her that she was in his plans. As time went on and she still hadn’t gotten a call, at age 31 she gave up hope of ever returning to the team. Her career ended at 176 caps. “I was like, Enough’s enough,” she says. “That’s kind of what forced my hand into retiring. I just got sick and tired of the politics and the B.S.
”
”
Caitlin Murray (The National Team: The Inside Story of the Women who Changed Soccer)
“
Still and again, on the page, I smithereen the five-minute rule; I take my own damned time to stretch and look around. Because music is possible, I want music. Because I skated, I want ice and air for prose. Because plot bores me and knowing doesn’t, I write to find out what I know, or if I know, or if I might know sometime soon. “Life is not a series of gig lamps symmetrically arranged; life is a luminous halo, a semi-transparent envelope surrounding us from the beginning of consciousness to the end,” Virginia Woolf wrote, in “Modern Fiction.” She thought it, she said it, and at the hand press she and her husband called Hogarth, the press through which she published anything she pleased as she pleased (after her first two books), she sat with the weight of the words in her hands, the Caslon As and Bs and Cs, and letter by letter she chased haloes.
”
”
Beth Kephart (Wife | Daughter | Self: A Memoir in Essays)
“
Schwab rolled out a phenomenal high-interest checking account years ago that offered unrivaled benefits for free. They’ve honored it and improved it over time. I trust them and have a checking account with them.
”
”
Ramit Sethi (I Will Teach You to Be Rich: No Guilt. No Excuses. No B.S. Just a 6-Week Program That Works.)
“
Remember how I told you I had it under control after the last time, three years ago or whatever?” He looked up. “That was all total BS. Well, not total BS. It was like a car with no brakes going downhill. At first you think you can control it because the steering wheel still works. But as you pick up speed it gets harder to control until finally the littlest thing, a divot in the road, a slight error in the way you move the wheel, and you careen off course and fly off the mountain.” “That’s poetic,” Austin said, “but it’s no excuse.
”
”
D.D. Black (The Horror at Murden Cove (A Thomas Austin Crime Thriller #4))
“
According to a recent survey of millionaires done by US Trust, “83% of the wealthy say their largest investment gains have come from smaller wins over time rather than taking big risks.
”
”
Ramit Sethi (I Will Teach You to Be Rich: No Guilt. No Excuses. No B.S. Just a 6-Week Program That Works.)
“
Their wealth isn’t measured by the amount they make each year, but by how much they’ve saved and invested over time.
”
”
Ramit Sethi (I Will Teach You to Be Rich: No Guilt. No Excuses. No B.S. Just a 6-Week Program That Works.)
“
Possession, to be meaningful, should be timely
”
”
BS Murthy
“
The Structure
SAFEs or Notes For a seed round, I recommend a SAFE (simple agreement for future equity) or Convertible Note. Why? They: - Are flexible instruments that let you raise the price incrementally. A fixed price round locks you into one price and one set of terms. - Let you close money progressively instead of all at once. This is a key point that’s hard to comprehend unless you’ve actually been through the process. Fixed priced rounds require a lead investor, which makes them much more painful. All of the investors who can’t lead will be forced to wait on a lead, thus dampening momentum. You won’t be able to get money in the bank until the lead is secured and everything closes. If you don’t get a lead quickly, there will be concerns about your company. And priced rounds add a ton of legal and governance overhead to your company. - Are easy to close (it’s a simple document!). Fixed price rounds can take weeks or months to close and get through all the paperwork. Make sure you know every term in your documents. Lean on, but don’t fully trust, your attorneys. Tell them you want the most founder-friendly terms possible. Even with this directive, I’ve been shocked at the number of times they'll include terms that are completely unnecessary and a disservice to the company. They’ll tell you it’s “standard.” That’s usually BS.
”
”
Ryan Breslow (Fundraising)
“
Every mutual fund manager believes he can beat the market. To accomplish this, managers use fancy analysis and data, and they trade frequently. Ironically, this results in lots of taxes and trading fees, which, when combined with the expense ratio, makes it virtually impossible for the average fund investor to beat—or even match—the market over time.
”
”
Ramit Sethi (I Will Teach You to Be Rich: No Guilt. No Excuses. No B.S. Just a 6-Week Program That Works.)
“
That’s why the easiest way to manage your money is to take it one step at a time—and not worry about being perfect.
”
”
Ramit Sethi (I Will Teach You to Be Rich: No Guilt. No Excuses. No B.S. Just a 6-Week Program That Works.)
“
Just because something is common, that doesn’t mean you have to follow it. Blaze your own trail and be a leader, not a follower. Every time you deny your truth and don’t act in alignment there is always a consequence.
”
”
Melissa Ambrosini (Mastering Your Mean Girl: The No-BS Guide to Silencing Your Inner Critic and Becoming Wildly Wealthy, Fabulously Healthy, and Bursting with Love)
“
Now it’s time to hold yourself accountable.
”
”
Melissa Ambrosini (Mastering Your Mean Girl: The No-BS Guide to Silencing Your Inner Critic and Becoming Wildly Wealthy, Fabulously Healthy, and Bursting with Love)
“
We are here to discover what we are truly passionate about and let that become the life-force that pumps through our veins. Now that I know all this, I don’t think I could ever do something I wasn’t passionate about. Your work is not who are you, but it is something you spend a lot of time doing—so why not do something that lights you up and puts profits in your pockets at the same time? I’ve had two careers in my lifetime, both driven by passion. When I first started as a performer I loved what I did so much that it never felt like work. Similarly to now: speaking, writing, and creating products to inspire women to be wildly wealthy, fabulously healthy, and bursting with love doesn’t feel like work to me. And I feel deeply grateful I have had these two careers that made my heart sing.
”
”
Melissa Ambrosini (Mastering Your Mean Girl: The No-BS Guide to Silencing Your Inner Critic and Becoming Wildly Wealthy, Fabulously Healthy, and Bursting with Love)
“
Some people believe in good vibes only, but I don't subscribe to that BS. I believe in all vibes at all times. There are a lot of garbage humans on this planet who deserve nothing more than a truckload of negative energy sent their way in the form of the smallest, most annoying punishments possible.
”
”
Alexa Martin (Next-Door Nemesis)
“
Workplaces are mostly—and there are obviously notable exceptions—not what many people apparently seek from them: communal settings in which people take care of each other, provide economic security and social support, and possibly even provide meaning and purpose from the work people do. Of course a few organizations—the best-places-to-work lists are a good source for many of them—do all these things. But don’t count on your place of employment being one of them. Unfortunately, most people are understandably reluctant to heed this message.
”
”
Jeffrey Pfeffer (Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time)
“
If you don’t take time out for yourself, you’re doing yourself and everyone around you a disservice.
”
”
Melissa Ambrosini (Mastering Your Mean Girl: The No-BS Guide to Silencing Your Inner Critic and Becoming Wildly Wealthy, Fabulously Healthy, and Bursting with Love)
“
Just keep following your heart and trust that you are Universally supported and the rest will unfold in perfect time.
”
”
Melissa Ambrosini (Mastering Your Mean Girl: The No-BS Guide to Silencing Your Inner Critic and Becoming Wildly Wealthy, Fabulously Healthy, and Bursting with Love)
“
Every decision comes down to a choice—to do things either from love or from fear. To master your Mean Girl you must choose love over fear in every moment. In times of uncertainty ask yourself, “What would love do right now?” You can always light up the darkness of fear with love.
”
”
Melissa Ambrosini (Mastering Your Mean Girl: The No-BS Guide to Silencing Your Inner Critic and Becoming Wildly Wealthy, Fabulously Healthy, and Bursting with Love)
“
To master your Mean Girl you must choose love over fear in every moment. In times of uncertainty ask yourself, “What would love do right now?” You can always light up the darkness of fear with love.
”
”
Melissa Ambrosini (Mastering Your Mean Girl: The No-BS Guide to Silencing Your Inner Critic and Becoming Wildly Wealthy, Fabulously Healthy, and Bursting with Love)
“
Somewhere along the way, spirituality and organized religion took a right turn and decided that if you didn’t live your life as a happy-happy-joy-joy person and if you didn’t love God all the time, then you are bad and there is something wrong with you. There is nothing wrong with you. There is an important question that is probably on your mind. It’s okay if you ask it. Here, we’ll ask it for you: Why did God take them from you?
”
”
Steven L. Case (Hardcore Grief Recovery: An Honest Guide to Getting through Grief without the Condolences, Sympathy, and Other BS (F*ck Death; Healing Mental Health Journal for Adults After the Loss of a Loved One))
“
You can’t turn back time and ignore what has happened. It has happened, and it sucks.
”
”
Steven L. Case (Hardcore Grief Recovery: An Honest Guide to Getting through Grief without the Condolences, Sympathy, and Other BS (F*ck Death; Healing Mental Health Journal for Adults After the Loss of a Loved One))
“
For a long time, I didn’t bother hanging out with women. I thought they (we, whatever) were catty and bitchy. But the older I get, the smarter I’ve become. I’ve come to rely on other women’s wisdom, insights and war stories to help navigate my life.
”
”
Brook Kreder (Onward The Absolute No B.S. Raw Ridiculous Soul-Stirring Truth About Training for Your First Marathon)
“
We didn’t have jobs, not in any real sense—jobs were a myth, a rumor—so we held on in grad school, semester after semester, for lack of anything better to do. We got financial aid, of course, and accrued debt on our student loans. Our car, a hand-me-down from Mallory’s mother, needed tires and probably everything else into the bargain. We wrote papers, graded papers, got A’s and B’s in the courses we took, and doled out A’s and B’s in the courses we taught. Sometimes we felt as if we were actually getting somewhere, but the truth was, like most people, we were just marking time.
”
”
T. Coraghessan Boyle (The Tortilla Curtain)
“
You should devote at least 80% of your time to your personal business: talking to people, finding those who want to be your customers and giving them the best possible service, finding those who want to join your team and training these newbies (those in the first 30 days of their business).
”
”
Romi Neustadt (Get Over Your Damn Self: The No-BS Blueprint to Building A Life-Changing Business)
“
As A and B interact, in whatever manner, typifications will be produced quite quickly. A watches B perform. He attributes motives to B’s actions and, seeing the actions recur, typifies the motives as recurrent. As B goes on performing, A is soon able to say to himself, “Aha, there he goes again.” At the same time, A may assume that B is doing the same thing with regard to him. From the beginning, both A and B assume this reciprocity of typificatíon. In the course of their interaction these typifications will be expressed in specific patterns of conduct. That is, A and B will begin to play roles vis-à-vis each other. This will occur even if each continues to perform actions different from those of the other. The possibility of taking the role of the other will appear with regard to the same actions performed by both. That is, A will inwardly appropriate B’s reiterated roles and make them the models for his own role-playing. For example, B’s role in the activity of preparing food is not only typified as such by A, but enters as a constitutive element into A’s own food-preparation role. Thus a collection of reciprocally typified actions will emerge, habitualized for each in roles, some of which will be performed separately and some in common.22 While this reciprocal typification is not yet institutionalization (since, there only being two individuals, there is no possibility of a typology of actors), it is clear that institutionalization is already present in nucleo. At
”
”
Peter L. Berger (The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge)
“
Usenet bulletin-board posting, August 21, 1994: Well-capitalized start-up seeks extremely talented C/C++/Unix developers to help pioneer commerce on the Internet. You must have experience designing and building large and complex (yet maintainable) systems, and you should be able to do so in about one-third the time that most competent people think possible. You should have a BS, MS, or PhD in Computer Science or the equivalent. Top-notch communication skills are essential. Familiarity with web servers and HTML would be helpful but is not necessary. Expect talented, motivated, intense, and interesting co-workers. Must be willing to relocate to the Seattle area (we will help cover moving costs). Your compensation will include meaningful equity ownership. Send resume and cover letter to Jeff Bezos.
”
”
Brad Stone (The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon)
“
Even though one can work from home in yoga pants every day, one simply should not. Those suckers stretch, making it difficult to recognize how lax one has been in shutting one's pie hole. Then, when it comes time to don cut-off shorts with buttons or a bathing suit (cue blood-curdling scream), one realizes the false sense of security one has been enjoying since said yoga pants still fit, while none of one's non-stretchy clothes do. Do yourself a favor, and vow to only wear stretchy athletic wear when actually doing athletic endeavors—the athleisure trend be damned!—and to change into structured clothing immediately after said athletic endeavor. Shower optional.
”
”
Romi Neustadt (Get Over Your Damn Self: The No-BS Blueprint to Building A Life-Changing Business)
“
How did I feel when I entered Daltonbury Hall? I was excited, elated and filled with anticipation to be in England. This was a country wherein I had wanted to be located since I was six years of age. As a teenager, I was fearless and dying to explore new, uncharted territories. Daltonbury Hall was precisely the relief I craved after my Methodist Boys’ School bullying experiences. To have a handsome, caring ‘big brother’ twenty-four seven as my guardian was a dream come true for this gay boy. Was my life in Malaya very different from England? Very much so! To me, England was a completely different planet. I felt as if I had landed on the Moon. Instead of a planet filled with ugly rocks, it was a planet filled with good-looking boys (especially those I came in contact with as I was secretly groomed to enter E.R.O.S.). The boys I befriended were well-mannered and aristocratic in more ways than just being born into wealthy homes. E.R.O.S. selected candidates that had a certain je ne sais quoi about them. That made a big difference to me; they weren’t like the ‘regular’ boys I encountered at the Methodist Boys School in Malaysia. You asked how I coped when I first arrived in the United Kingdom. I was homesick for the first few weeks but I adjusted to my new environment quickly. Daltonbury Hall provided me with a fresh start, a new life. A life I was happy to leave behind when I left Kuala Lumpur. Everything was exciting, even at times when I was uncertain about my capabilities in my studies. The ‘big brothers’ were always available to assist, to comfort and encourage the freshmen and juniors when we faced difficulties in our educational and private lives. In my opinion, the BB and BS program should be installed in regular schools. I believe this will eliminate the current dysfunctional school system and reduce school bullying as well as suicidal behavior in students. More often than not, adolescent boys look to an older and more experienced guardian for guidance and mentorship. I blossomed under Nikee, Andy, and Oscar’s tutelage.
”
”
Young (Unbridled (A Harem Boy's Saga, #2))
“
shakedowns and restrictive new laws. Ivorians from the north, who tend to share family names and the Muslim faith with immigrants from Mali, Guinea, and Burkina Faso, came in for similar treatment. If a single word can be said to have started a war, ivoirité started Ivory Coast’s. Cool B’s father
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”
George Packer (Interesting Times: Writings from a Turbulent Decade)
“
He’s a politician. It’s all about money. The size of his damned war chest. Kissing babies is total BS. It’s all about campaign contributions. Television and radio time. Mass mailings. What’s the biggest issue facing a career politician? The economy? Crime? Unemployment? Illegal immigration? It’s none of those things. It’s getting reelected to another term.
”
”
Andrew Peterson (First to Kill (Nathan McBride, #1))
“
the leadership industry also has its share of quacks and sham artists who sell promises and stories, some true, some not, but all of them inspirational and comfortable, with not much follow-up to see what really does work and what doesn’t.
”
”
Jeffrey Pfeffer (Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time)
“
By calling BS on so much of what goes on, this book gives people a closer, more scientific look at many dimensions of leadership behavior. Most important, it encourages everyone to finally stop accepting sugar-laced but toxic potions as cures.
”
”
Jeffrey Pfeffer (Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time)
“
airline executives who have created an experience so unpleasant that their best customers flee for private options and others avoid flying if they can;
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”
Jeffrey Pfeffer (Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time)
“
systematic data on workplace bullying report widespread verbal abuse, shouting, berating others, and the general creation of a climate of intimidation.
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”
Jeffrey Pfeffer (Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time)
“
willingly forgo a substantial pay raise in exchange for seeing their direct supervisor fired.
”
”
Jeffrey Pfeffer (Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time)
“
First full day as Twitter COO tomorrow. Task #1: undermine the CEO,
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”
Jeffrey Pfeffer (Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time)
“
thirteen months later, Costolo did take over as CEO from the then-CEO Evan Williams, a cofounder of the company.
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”
Jeffrey Pfeffer (Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time)
“
statistically insignificant relationship between student evaluations and learning,
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”
Jeffrey Pfeffer (Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time)
“
the more objectively learning is measured, the less likely it is to be related to the evaluations.
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”
Jeffrey Pfeffer (Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time)
“
Another review also concluded that “teacher ratings and learning are not closely related
”
”
Jeffrey Pfeffer (Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time)
“
empirical research conducted over decades suggests that student evaluations are more than unhelpful;
”
”
Jeffrey Pfeffer (Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time)
“
change the behaviors of presenters in ways that make learning and personal growth less likely.
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Jeffrey Pfeffer (Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time)
“
a recent review of the evidence concluded that there is a very small and statistically insignificant relationship between student evaluations and learning, and that “the more objectively learning is measured, the less likely it is to be related to the evaluations.”48 Another review also concluded that “teacher ratings and learning are not closely related
”
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Jeffrey Pfeffer (Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time)
“
SAS Institute, where the cofounder and CEO Jim Goodnight evaluates managers by their ability to attract and retain talent, and where people can lose their jobs if their units experience excessive voluntary turnover.
”
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Jeffrey Pfeffer (Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time)
“
read Jack Welch’s books about General Electric and his management approach and never encounter the phrase “GE jerks.” Yet that is a term I first heard from a now-retired GE senior executive who reported directly to Mr. Welch.
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”
Jeffrey Pfeffer (Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time)
“
people who first had the opportunity to demonstrate that they were nonprejudiced were subsequently more willing to express attitudes that showed bias.
”
”
Jeffrey Pfeffer (Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time)
“
narcissism levels have increased significantly among college students over the past several decades.
”
”
Jeffrey Pfeffer (Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time)
“
Narcissism levels are higher for Americans than for citizens of many other countries and regions,
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”
Jeffrey Pfeffer (Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time)
“
Men tend to be more narcissistic than women, possibly because men are somewhat more competitive and women are more communal, and also because narcissistic behavior would be much more gender-role discrepant for women than for men.
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Jeffrey Pfeffer (Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time)
“
Business school students seem to be particularly narcissistic, an important fact because many leaders in both the for-profit and the nonprofit world come from business school backgrounds, particularly in the more recent past.
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Jeffrey Pfeffer (Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time)
“
people with higher narcissism scores were more likely to emerge as leaders during four-person initially leaderless group discussions.
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”
Jeffrey Pfeffer (Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time)
“
women tend to underrate their achievements, and have less confidence in their abilities than their line managers have for them.
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Jeffrey Pfeffer (Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time)
“
narcissistic CEOs led firms to bounce back more successfully during the post-crisis recovery.42
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Jeffrey Pfeffer (Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time)
“
The way leadership gurus try to demonstrate their legitimacy is not through their scientific knowledge or accomplishments but rather by achieving public notoriety—be it the requisite TED talks, blog posts, Twitter followers, or books filled with leadership advice that might or might not be valid and useful.
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Jeffrey Pfeffer (Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time)
“
Systematic research supports the message of these cases. As noted in an article in the New York Times, “even in the most extreme circumstances—like the financial crisis—directors bore little consequence for their poor decisions.
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Jeffrey Pfeffer (Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time)
“
Leaders who have come up through the ranks and have done many if not most of the organization’s jobs are much more likely to look out for the interests of those they lead because they have been there themselves.
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Jeffrey Pfeffer (Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time)
“
Individuals who wear fake (counterfeit) branded sunglasses cheat more often across a number of different tasks.
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”
Jeffrey Pfeffer (Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time)
“
if little changes in the informational environment that people confront.
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Jeffrey Pfeffer (Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time)
“
weight gain was dependent on the weight gains of others with whom that person was socially tied.
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”
Jeffrey Pfeffer (Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time)
“
the level of narcissism has increased in presidents over time.
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”
Jeffrey Pfeffer (Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time)
“
a tale about America’s first president not lying is itself apparently a lie.
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”
Jeffrey Pfeffer (Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time)
“
the higher one rises in an organization, the more likely it is that people will tell you you’re right. People will agree with powerful leaders as a strategy of ingratiation, as nothing is as flattering as others’ telling you how right and how smart you are.
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Jeffrey Pfeffer (Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time)
“
We prefer to say that Larry has a problem with tenses. For example, ‘our product is available now’ might mean it’ll be available in a few months or that Larry was thinking about one day developing the product.
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Jeffrey Pfeffer (Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time)
“
one in 10 text messages involves a lie of some kind. . . .
”
”
Jeffrey Pfeffer (Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time)
“
although most people believe they can reliably discern when they are being lied to, the evidence suggests that they can’t.
”
”
Jeffrey Pfeffer (Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time)
“
jobs that require employees to display (positive) emotions that they may not actually be feeling can be psychologically demanding and stressful.
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Jeffrey Pfeffer (Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time)
“
is incredibly common and seemingly an important requirement for effective leadership.
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Jeffrey Pfeffer (Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time)
“
lying produces few to no severe sanctions, lying increases in frequency.
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Jeffrey Pfeffer (Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time)
“
Lincoln lied about whether he was negotiating with the South to end the war. . . .
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Jeffrey Pfeffer (Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time)
“
He also lied about where he stood on slavery. He told the American public and political allies that he didn’t believe in political equality for slaves because he didn’t want to get too far ahead of public opinion, Mott says.45
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Jeffrey Pfeffer (Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time)
“
he was ultimately being pushed out of the company by his alumni mentor.
”
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Jeffrey Pfeffer (Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time)
“
[Kildall] couldn’t imagine being knifed in the back—certainly not by Gates. The two had known each other since Gates was a thirteen-year-old hacker in Seattle and Kildall was getting his doctorate. . . . They discussed merging their young companies . .
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Jeffrey Pfeffer (Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time)
“
80 percent of founders are forced out of their companies by their venture capital investors,
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Jeffrey Pfeffer (Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time)
“
I have never heard anyone tell me that this would happen to them.
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”
Jeffrey Pfeffer (Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time)
“
John Freeman and Michael Hannan asked why the size of the administrative component—administrative overhead—seems to rise inexorably in organizations.
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Jeffrey Pfeffer (Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time)
“
when times are good, the number of administrators (and probably everybody else) expands,
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”
Jeffrey Pfeffer (Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time)
“
when times are bad, administrators, closer to the locus of decision-making and with more power, protect their jobs disproportionately,
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Jeffrey Pfeffer (Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time)
“
the percentage of people in administration inexorably increases.
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”
Jeffrey Pfeffer (Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time)
“
gap between average employee and CEO pay is largest in the financial industry and smallest in technology.
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”
Jeffrey Pfeffer (Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time)
“
In everyday social relationships, people expect fair treatment and favors to be reciprocated.
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Jeffrey Pfeffer (Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time)
“
in work settings, things become a lot more calculative. Specifically, people make more evaluations of whether or not coworkers and superiors could be useful in the future; likewise, people show more concern with the future than with repaying past kindnesses.
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Jeffrey Pfeffer (Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time)
“
workplaces are primarily instrumental, calculative settings largely free of moral sentiments and even normative constraints.
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Jeffrey Pfeffer (Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time)
“
SAS Institute has resisted going public because Jim Goodnight, the CEO, is concerned about the effects of public ownership on its employee-centric, family-oriented culture. So long as he holds all the cards, his workers’ loyalty is probably justified, but only so much as they can be certain that he’ll be in charge forever. Which
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Jeffrey Pfeffer (Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time)
“
you change people’s behavior by having them set some specific, measurable goals, reminding them of what they have committed to do, measuring their activities and providing frequent feedback, and providing positive reinforcement for progress. Effective
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Jeffrey Pfeffer (Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time)
“
we are predisposed to trust and have an evolutionary need to do so. Therefore, people are motivated to overlook a violation of trust
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Jeffrey Pfeffer (Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time)
“
For instance, even though entrepreneurs in technology often know the statistics that about 80 percent of founders are forced out of their companies by their venture capital investors, I have never heard anyone tell me that this would happen to them. In
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Jeffrey Pfeffer (Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time)
“
Rather, companies improve their quality by defining what the idea means in terms of specific operational measures, then routinely and frequently assessing those aspects of performance, sharing the outcomes with everyone (often in graphical form), and holding people accountable for improving the measures that are under their control. When
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Jeffrey Pfeffer (Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time)
“
The most fundamental principle of learning theory is that behavior is a function of its consequences. When
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Jeffrey Pfeffer (Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time)
“
there are times when we want to avoid having to figure things out and want to be told exactly what to do because it: A) makes life easier and B) we don’t trust that we have the answers within us.
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Derek Doepker (Break Through Your BS: Uncover Your Brain's Blind Spots and Unleash Your Inner Greatness)
“
He had a lot of stake in us. He didn’t want to give us equal partnership until we proved we were able. I say “we” because I always needed people to get to where I got; it wasn’t about “I, I, I.” Anyone who tells you he does it all by himself is full of BS. I wasn’t the one building those homes. We had crews doing everything. We became the biggest builder in California and stayed No. 1 for a long time, one year building more than 3,000 homes. We were in the top 10 in the U.S. for several years, and thanks to all the people who contributed to what we accomplished and the strong foundation we set, I was inducted into the Homebuilders Hall of Fame by the California Homebuilding Foundation at a 2004 ceremony in San Francisco.
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Stephen C. Schott (Long Schott: Building Homes, Dreams, and Baseball Teams)
“
The demographic character of India is such that whereas the Hindus think they belong to it, the Muslims feel it belongs to them and the Christians want to own it in time.
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B.S. Murthy
“
On November 4, while the votes were still being counted, Rick Perry, Trump’s former secretary of energy, wrote Meadows about his “AGRESSIVE STRATEGY.” “Why can’t the states of GA NC PENN and other R controlled state houses declare this is BS […] and just send their own electors to vote,” Perry mused. Perry sent the message to a group chat that included Meadows and two people who were still part of Trump’s cabinet at the time: Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson and Secretary of Agriculture George Ervin “Sonny” Perdue III. “Interesting,” Carson wrote. Alternate electors were a central element of various plots to overturn Trump’s loss that were cooked up by his allies in the weeks after the election. There were basically five states that mattered in the 2020 presidential race: Arizona, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Georgia, and Wisconsin. The rest of the results were predictable. It was all coming down to the margin in those swing states. Of course, presidential elections aren’t technically decided in the states. They
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Denver Riggleman (The Breach: The Untold Story of the Investigation into January 6th)
“
Schwab rolled out a phenomenal high-interest checking account years ago that offered unrivaled benefits for free. They’ve honored it and improved it over time. I trust them and have a checking account with them. Vanguard has consistently demonstrated a long-term focus on low costs and putting their clients first. They actually lower fees proactively. I trust them and invest with them.
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Ramit Sethi (I Will Teach You to Be Rich: No Guilt. No Excuses. No B.S. Just a 6-Week Program That Works.)
“
If you don't take time out for yourself, you're doing yourself and everyone around you a disservice.
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Melissa Ambrosini (Mastering Your Mean Girl: The No-BS Guide to Silencing Your Inner Critic and Becoming Wildly Wealthy, Fabulously Healthy, and Bursting with Love)
“
Yes, the best time to start investing was ten years ago.
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Ramit Sethi (I Will Teach You to Be Rich: No Guilt. No Excuses. No B.S. Just a 6-Week Program That Works.)
“
It's funny how some people refuse to do the work and come towards you as they process a fail through their ego. So they come to you from their ego, believing that they'll succeed 'this time' except that they won't because they are still their toxic self coming with their BS. And you can tell through and through. But they are convinced that you won’t be able to tell, still undermining you in their head and taking you for a dense fool, thinking that they’ll have you all wrapped up around their little finger. That is how such people become the biggest lessons and eye-openers in your Life. Through them, you realise exactly what you don't want and you are reminded of what you truly deserve because they never came to you correctly. So in the end, they really are/ were the biggest losers. And it is what it is.
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”
N.
“
Right. Sure. Okay. So . . . Gamemaster, please tell us the nature of your relationship with Chance Claybourne. AG: There is none. JS: I don’t understand. You don’t know Mr. Claybourne? Never had any dealings with him? AG: The boy means nothing to me. He was never part of The Game. [PAUSE] BS: But Chance Claybourne was involved in the events leading to your arrest. Are you saying— AG: Claybourne interfered, and for that he’ll pay. They’ll all pay, in time, I can assure you. But Claybourne is barely an afterthought in the grand scheme of things. An interloper. He was never part of the challenge. [PAUSE] JS: What do you know about his friend Victoria Brennan? [PAUSE]
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Kathy Reichs (Terminal: A Virals Novel)
“
The tax-deferred accounts with which Americans are most familiar are 401(k)s and Individual Retirement Accounts (more commonly known as IRAs). Other tax-deferred accounts, such as 403(b)s, 457s, SIMPLES, SEPs, and Keoghs, have different rules that apply to them, but they all generally have two things in common: Contributions are tax-deductible. Generally, when you put money into this bucket, you get a tax deduction. For example, if you make $100,000 this year, and you put $10,000 into your 401(k), your new taxable income is $90,000. Distributions are treated as ordinary income. When you divert a portion of your income to a tax-deferred investment, all you’re really doing is postponing the receipt of that income until a point in time much further down the road. When you take the money out, you pay taxes at whatever the rate happens to be in the year you make the distribution. For that reason, the IRS calls these distributions ordinary income and taxes them accordingly.
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David McKnight (The Power of Zero, Revised and Updated: How to Get to the 0% Tax Bracket and Transform Your Retirement)
“
Something about women with boundaries and no time for BS is a little bit terrifying to the world.
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Nova Nelson (Eastwind Witches Cozy Mysteries (Eastwind Witches #1-6))
“
I gather my grub and sit behind my desk. He moves a chair, situated too far for his liking, and presses it very close to the front of my desk. He extricates a long envelope, squished in his side pocket, and proudly slaps it in front of me on my desk. “My grades,” he announces, “from camp.” His voice has moved to a preadolescent octave of excitement, and I scurry to join him at the parade. “De veeeras,” as I relieve the transcript from its container. Looney straightens his back and hops a little in the chair. “Straight A’s,” he says. “Seeeerrriioo?” I say. “Me la rallo,” he says. “Straight A’s.” Like a kid fumbling with wrapping on a present, I get the transcript out and extend it open. And, sure enough, right there before my eyes: 2 Cs; 2 Bs; 1 A. And I think, Close enough. Not the straightest A’s I’ve ever seen. I decide not to tell Looney he’s an “unreliable reporter” here. “Wow, mijo,” I tell him, “Bien hecho. Nice goin’.” I carefully refold the transcript and put it back in the envelope. “On everything I love, mijo,” I say to him, “if you were my son, I’d be the proudest man alive.” In a flash, Looney situates his thumb and first finger in his eye sockets, trembling, and wanting to stem the flow of tears, which seem to be inevitable at this point. Like the kid with the fingers in the dike, he’s shaking now and desperate not to cry. I look at this little guy and know that he has been returned to a situation largely unchanged. Parents are either absent at any given time or plagued by mental illness. Chaos and dysfunction is what will now surround him as before. His grandmother, a good woman, whose task it is now to raise this kid, is not quite up to the task. I know that one month before this moment I buried Looney’s best friend, killed in our streets for no reason at all. So I lead with my gut. “I bet you’re afraid to be out, aren’t you?” This seems to push the Play button on Looney’s tear ducts, and quickly he folds his arms on the front of my desk and rests his sobbing head on his folded arms. I let him cry it out. Finally, I reach across the desk and place my hand on his shoulder. “You’re gonna be okay.” Looney sits up with what is almost defiance and tends to the wiping of his tears. “I . . . just . . . want . . . to have a life.” I am taken aback by the determination with which he says this. “Well, mijo,” I say to him, “who told you that you wouldn’t have one?
”
”
Gregory Boyle (Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion)
“
Forcing people to be silent and give up is the most powerful tool any oppressor has in their arsenal. 'What's the point, I won't get anywhere,' is the victory call that brings joy to the ears of every person or institution that ever sought to control you.
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Jess Phillips (Truth to Power: 7 Ways to Call Time on B.S.)
“
Whether on a big global platform or just in your office, speaking truth to power is not necessarily done so that the powerful change; it is rarely that simple. Speaking truth to power is, in fact, mostly for the ears of the oppressed. It speaks to everyday people, offers them the comfort that they are not alone and gives them hope that things can change. A small act of personal resistance viewed by someone else changes the way that they feel about speaking up themselves.... Speaking truth to power has the effect of activation and solidarity
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”
Jess Phillips (Truth to Power: 7 Ways to Call Time on B.S.)
“
Example 2. Schmidt’s method began with the indisputable observation that the history of human people is a long story of innumerable migrations. So, let us imagine a geographical area occupied by two different tribes, call them A and B, and that a part of the territory occupied by tribe A bisects the territory of tribe B, as shown in Figure 1.3. Figure 1.3. Geographical layout of two hypothetical cultures It is a safe assumption that one tribe migrated into the area ahead of the other one.[21] If A arrived earlier, then B would presumably have appeared as a unified tribe, but then split up and settled on the two sides of A’s unusually narrow extension. The previously unencumbered existence of this extension would be rather unusual since B’s settlement demonstrates that both adjoining sides are capable of sustaining life. On the other hand, if B had settled there earlier, it would have existed as a geographically unified tribe for a time until it was divided by A’s invasion, a far more common occurrence. Already it would appear that the latter option is more likely, but let us propose some further data to support the conclusion. Suppose that culture A has many more cultural “forms” than culture B. By forms Schmidt meant parts of objects that do not contribute directly to their pure function, such as decorations on pottery, curved ends of hunting bows or special designs on clothes. In this theoretical example we stipulate that these and other similar items are found in A, but not in B. If A had been there first, B would have needed to subdue A in A’s former territory, and we should expect to find residual forms of A’s culture (technically called “survivals”) in B’s area, but we stipulated that forms that are popular in A are not present in B’s territory. All other things being equal, it seems pretty clear that the people of tribe A came later into this territory than those of B, and that A brought cultural innovations that B is lacking. Most probably, then, B is therefore, the older culture.
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Winfried Corduan (Neighboring Faiths: A Christian Introduction to World Religions)
“
Zach Nies suggests going even further, segmenting customers into three groups. “‘A customers’ are your really big customers who negotiated a big discount and expect the world from you. ‘B customers’ are customers who are fairly low maintenance, didn’t get a big discount, see themselves as partners with you, and provide useful insights. ‘C customers’ cause trouble, are a pain to deal with, and demand things from you that you feel will damage your business,” he explains. “Don’t spend too much time on the A’s—they sound good but aren’t the best for your business. Bring as many Bs on as customers as possible. And try to get your ‘C customers’ to be customers of your competitors.
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Alistair Croll (Lean Analytics: Use Data to Build a Better Startup Faster)
“
The more a woman gives her paramour; even more she satiates him, and its only time before she finds him bypass her favours for lesser flavours.
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B.S. Murthy (Benign Flame: Saga of Love)
“
Sadly for books in the current times there are more writers than readers, so it seems.
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B.S. Murthy
“
Put in slightly less deathless prose, the poet’s thought might go like this: “Hey, John! This is John speaking. Those doubts you’re experiencing about Endymion? I know you think you’re never going to finish such an epic. I know you’re afraid the work will be savaged in the Times. They’ll say you’re not fit to hold Percy Shelley’s quill pen or Lord Byron’s sheet of parchment. BS, baby! I’m here to tell you, your poem is great! Scholars will be poring over its stanzas for centuries. Lovers will be cadging verses and dispatching them to their beloveds. Buck up, buddy! The tunnel may seem dark right now, but keep plugging. Don’t lose faith. You will emerge from it—I promise—to the sunlit uplands of poetic glory and renown!
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Steven Pressfield (Put Your Ass Where Your Heart Wants to Be)
“
The echoes of a radical idea could gain decibels as time passes.
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B.S. Murthy
“
Hunting Designers So you have your wireframes sorted out, you know you want a well-designed app, but where do you find a great designer? Designers are elusive creatures who can be hard to recruit at the best of times. The great ones are always booked months in advance; most don’t want a permanent job (they’re happy doing contract work – going from new project to newer project); and, when you do find someone, you usually find that a combination of very strong design opinions and outrageous day rates will make it hard to get the designs you need. A great approach is to trawl two websites in particular – dribbble.com and behance.net. I’ve experienced great success with Dribbble (yes, three Bs in its name and in its URL). In fact, that’s where we found Hailo’s head of design. The great thing about these portfolio sites is that you can see a designer’s style, often with a lot of their historic work. Also, Dribbble has added the ability to search for designers who are actively looking for full- and part-time work (and, despite its being a paid-for feature, I thoroughly recommend using it). Once again, I would also suggest checking out AngelList: it attracts the most entrepreneurial cross-section of people, across all areas, whether in design or engineering.
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George Berkowski (How to Build a Billion Dollar App)
“
My father criticizes me all the time. My grades went up from Cs to Bs in two courses and down in another, and all he could talk about was the course I had done worse in. Why would a father say something like that to a kid?” We sometimes have to wait weeks or months for that brief window of emotional disclosure when a boy suddenly shows us his sadness and bewilderment, which had previously been masked by silence or anger.
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Dan Kindlon (Raising Cain: Protecting the Emotional Life of Boys)
“
As she realized that at the core of it, her life was as empty as the bottle in her hand, she tried to speculate what her life would have been like, had she married someone who wouldn’t have thought of crossing the Rubicon when it came to it. But, as if not to hurt her sensibilities at that point of no return, her faculties failed her. In time, her body too began losing its vitality to hold her restless soul any longer.
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B.S. Murthy (Jewel-less Crown: Saga of Life)
“
Showiness has become the malady of our times; haven’t wedding cards come to resemble wall posters. None seems to mind that the card and the copy don’t jell at all; maybe, it’s all prognostic, who knows?
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B.S. Murthy (Crossing the Mirage - Passing through Youth)
“
Money and looks are Ok to an extent to lure women, but better realise that it’s the luck that enables one to lay them. Why, you can’t even screw a whore if you’re not destined to have her for your visit to the brothel would’ve coincided with her periods, and the next time you’re eager, she could’ve shifted out of the town itself.
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B.S. Murthy (Benign Flame: Saga of Love)
“
Remember that time you “accidentally” climbed Mount Everest or won an Olympic gold medal? Or maybe “mistakenly” performed brain surgery? No? That’s because success doesn’t happen by accident, no matter what your Inner Critic tries to tell you. And deep down, you know this.
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Tempest Jemison (How to Break Free from Imposter Syndrome: A Hilarious Journey from Self-Doubt to Self-Love: A Quick, No-BS Guide to Stop Overthinking, Overcome ... Your Life With Fun Exercises and Extra Giggle)
“
one is impressed by the fact that any country moving uphill has its unavoidable σ fraction of stupid people. However, the country moving uphill also has an unusually high fraction of intelligent people who manage to keep the σ fraction at bay and at the same time produce enough gains for themselves and the other members of the community to make progress a certainty. In a country that is moving downhill, the fraction of stupid people is still equal to σ; however, in the remaining population one notices among those in power an alarming proliferation of the bandits with overtones of stupidity (subarea BS of quadrant B in figure 3) and among those not in power an equally alarming growth in the number of helpless individuals (area H in the basic graph, figure 1). Such change in the composition of the non-stupid population inevitably strengthens the destructive power of the σ fraction and makes decline a certainty. And the country goes to Hell.
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Carlo M. Cipolla (The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity)
“
In the future, your relationships have all ended. Your body is dirt. Your possessions are buried, burned, or recycled after eons have passed. In the big picture of time, you’ve already lost everything. Fear of loss is clinging to what is already gone.
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Derek Doepker (Break Through Your BS: Uncover Your Brain's Blind Spots and Unleash Your Inner Greatness)
“
lying is then common, it becomes normative, in the sense that norms describe common behavioral patterns. Because lying becomes normative, it isn’t sanctioned,
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Jeffrey Pfeffer (Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time)
“
73% of companies have decided that lying to their employees about their potential to advance is the right choice.
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Jeffrey Pfeffer (Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time)
“
were also among the least successful, and he provided advice about how to be generous without being a patsy.
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Jeffrey Pfeffer (Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time)
“
givers were not only among the most successful individuals,
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Jeffrey Pfeffer (Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time)
“
evidence shows most workplaces filled with distrustful, disengaged, dissatisfied, despairing employees.
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Jeffrey Pfeffer (Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time)
“
is also famous for his outbursts of temper and his put-downs of employees,
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Jeffrey Pfeffer (Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time)
“
There is a link between respect for others’ time and respect for others’ opinions, property, rights, other kinds of agreements, and contracts. A person reveals a great deal about himself by his punctuality or lack of punctuality. So, as a general rule of thumb, I use this as a means of determining whether or not I want to do business with someone, and when I violate this, as I occasionally foolishly do, I always get burned.
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Dan S. Kennedy (No B.S. Time Management for Entrepreneurs: The Ultimate No Holds Barred Kick Butt Take No Prisoners Guide to Time Productivity and Sanity)
“
Excuses for Not Doing Well in Business • “Everybody in my city buys by price.” • “Nobody in my town uses credit cards.” • “Everybody in my town is cheap.” • “There’s a giant advertiser in my town.” • “I never get the good leads.” • “It’s the time of year.” • “There’s already too many doohickeys in my town.” • “What I do is so unique, nobody understands it.” • “It’s the economy, it’s my spouse, my staff ...
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Dan S. Kennedy (No B.S. Wealth Attraction In The New Economy)
“
Professors reduce their office hours—or skip them entirely—and send students to the much cheaper teaching assistants as the efficiency fairies work to preserve more time for faculty to spend doing all the paperwork required by a burgeoning administrator staff that has nothing better to do than to create new paperwork requirements.
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L. Randall Wray
“
I am not super-attached to my career,' Audrey Tautou says in that sultry, Gallic voice of hers, a glint of recklessness in her big brown eyes. 'I have several plan Bs: I want to become a sailor; I like to draw; I would love to learn many things, but I don’t have time…' She trails off, leaving an uncertain silence hanging over the Kensington hotel room where we’ve met to discuss her latest film, a delightful comic confection called Beautiful Lies. 'That is the problem, you know,' she continues, more carefully. 'That is the reason why I will quit acting very soon.' She lets out a strange little laugh, a creaky exhalation, as if her own admission has taken her by surprise...
'I didn’t want to have this power,' she says, with a shrug. 'I would rather have freedom; and to find that you have to stop being in big, exposed movies. I don’t surf on the big waves. When I see them coming, I take my board and go straight back to the beach.'...
'I am always surprised to be chosen by a director for a role because I never understand why they like me,' she says. Surely, I suggest, that is false modesty, coming from one of Europe’s most bankable stars. 'Oh no, really, I am serious,' she says, leaning forward and planting her feet back on the carpet. 'I am always surprised to be cast.'
Does her track record – in Jeunet’s hits; or in Stephen Frears’s acclaimed Dirty Pretty Things, or as a compellingly self-possessed Coco Chanel in Anne Fontaine’s 2009 biopic – not give her at least a little confidence? 'No,' she says with a scowl, 'pas du tout.'
'A few months ago, I watched one of my old movies and I thought to myself, 'Oh, Jesus!’ Thank God that at the point I made that film I didn’t realise the extent to which I was terrible. Oh, mon dieu! Mon dieu!' But surely, I say, she can take from that the reassurance that she has only improved as an actress.
'Or,' she says, jabbing a finger in the air, 'I say to myself, does it simply mean that if in another 10 years I rewatch the films I am making today I will say, 'Oh mon dieu, how terrible I was then.’
She laughs that odd, breathy laugh again and then looks me dead in the eye. 'You have to be very careful in this life.
”
”
Benjamin Secher
“
Money and looks are okay to an extent to lure women, but it’s the luck that enables one to lay them. Why, you can’t screw even a whore if you’re not destined to have her, your visit to the brothel would have coincided with her periods, and the next time you’re eager, she could have shifted out of the town itself.
”
”
B.S. Murthy (Benign Flame: Saga of Love)
“
Investment-grade corporate bonds carry a relatively low risk of default. As mentioned earlier, rating firms like S&P and Moody’s use different designations of upper- and lower-case As, Bs, and Cs to identify a bond’s credit quality rating.
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Timothy J. McIntosh (The Snowball Effect: Using Dividend & Interest Reinvestment To Help You Retire On Time)
“
A pearl of wisdom is far more valuable than a ton of BS
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William Shatspeare (Captain Quark and the Time Cheaters)
“
Stay true to yourself, who you are at the core, your essence, and the center will hold. You will weather whatever b.s. storm the fucker gods can make.
”
”
Joel Gion (In the Jingle Jangle Jungle: Keeping Time with The Brian Jonestown Massacre)
“
Come to think of it, given a good time in bed, women turn blind to the faults of their men, how strange!
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”
B.S. Murthy (Benign Flame: Saga of Love)
“
All through college, she was blackout drunk several nights a week. She still managed to get A’s and B’s, but that was just the easy classes she was taking, overcrowded lectures where no one knew her name and it didn’t matter if she was hungover. She kept telling herself she was having fun, and maybe she was; it was hard to remember. There were enough embarrassing pictures of her online dancing on tabletops, always a drink or a shot in hand, to suggest she was having the time of her life.
”
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Ana Reyes (The House in the Pines)
“
iven a good time in bed, women turn blind to the faults of their men, how strange!
”
”
B.S. Murthy (Benign Flame: Saga of Love)
“
My father was handsome, charismatic, and complicated. He was a practicing
psychologist and a professor at Colorado State University. The education of his
children was of paramount importance to him. If my brothers and I didn’t bring
home A’s and B’s, we were in big trouble. That being said, he always
encouraged us to pursue our dreams.
At home he was affectionate, playful, and loving, but when it came to our
performance in school and athletics, he demanded excellence. He was filled with
a fiery passion that at times was so intense, it was almost terrifying.
Nothing was “recreational” in our family; everything was a lesson in pushing
past the limits and being the best we could possibly be.
”
”
Molly Bloom (Molly's Game: From Hollywood's Elite to Wall Street's Billionaire Boys Club, My High-Stakes Adventure in the World of Underground Poker)
“
Was I just another person in his life, someone to pass the time with? Or did he truly see me for who I was? Could I believe him?
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”
B.S. Dara
“
I noticed when you're too friendly, too kind and too social people start showing you disrespect. They take your kindness for weakness and think they can walk all over you. People start underestimating you thinking you're soft just because you're a good person. But the moment they push you too far they're gonna see a whole different side of you. A side they ain't ready for. If you're always being nice, always doing things for them, they'll keep expecting it and eventually they'll think they can take advantage of you, run over your shoes like you ain't even there. That's when you got to step up. You got to step up and show them a side they've never seen before. Just because you're nice, just because you're showing love doesn't mean you gotta tolerate their b.s. Matter of fact, that same treat people the way you want to be treated is b.s. I can give you mad respect, show you love all the time, but if I don't get that respect back, I ain't obligated to keep being nice. Some people don't deserve your kindness. Some people deserve to be checked, and some people they gotta learn the hard way what respect really means. So remember, just because you got a good heart doesn't mean you gotta take it.
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”
Jordan Peterson
“
I noticed when you're too friendly, too kind and too social people start showing you disrespect. They take your kindness for weakness and think they can walk all over you. People start underestimating you thinking you're soft just because you're a good person. But the moment they push you too far they're gonna see a whole different side of you. A side they ain't ready for. If you are always being nice, always doing things for them, they'll keep expecting it and eventually they'll think they can take advantage of you, run over your shoes like you ain't even there. That's when you got to step up. You got to step up and show them a side they've never seen before. Just because you're nice, just because you're showing love doesn't mean you got to tolerate their b.s. Matter of fact, that same treat people the way you want to be treated is b.s. I can give you mad respect, show you love all the time, but if I don't get that respect back, I ain't obligated to keep being nice. Some people don't deserve your kindness. Some people deserve to be checked, and some people they gotta learn the hard way what respect really means. So remember, just because you got a good heart doesn't mean you got to take it.
”
”
Jordan Peterson
“
In fact, much of the FBI at that time, as well as the law enforcement world in general, considered psychology and behavioral science as they applied to criminology to be so much worthless bullshit. While clearly I never felt this way, I had to acknowledge that a lot of what was known and taught in this field had no real relevance to the business of understanding and catching criminals, a circumstance several of us would try to begin to rectify a couple of years later. When I took over as chief of the operational side of the Behavioral Science Unit, I changed the name to the Investigative Support Unit. And when people asked me why, I told them, quite frankly, I wanted to take the BS out of what we were doing.
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”
John E. Douglas (Mindhunter: Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit)