I don’t know what to say. There are different people in different environment.

from the book

It never occurred to me that Armco wouldn’t be around forever, funding scholarships, building parks, and throwing free concerts.

At that moment, I resolved to be the type of man who would smile when someone gave him an eraser.

The experience taught me a valuable lesson: that I could do it.

It’s hard to put a dollar value on that advice. It’s the kind of thing that continues to pay dividends. But make no mistake: The advice had tangible economic value. Social capital isn’t manifest only in someone connecting you to a friend or passing a résumé on to an old boss. It is also, or perhaps primarily, a measure of how much we learn through our friends, colleagues, and mentors. I didn’t know how to prioritize my options, and I didn’t know that there were other, better paths for me. I learned those things through my network—specifically, a very generous professor.

I finished this book through Audible.

too broad and unrealistic, but this future is coming as real.

한강의 다양한 글을 모아놓은 책.

나는 수필(?) 비슷한 자전적 글들이 참 좋았다.
그렇게 부정적이면서도 따뜻한 글..

책에서

그날, 두 분은 행복하셨을까. 돌아오는 길은 멀지 않았을까. 어린 내가 너무 무겁진 않았을까.

어느 순간, 갑자기 아버지의 모든 것을 이해하게 되는 순간이 자식에게 찾아온다. 그것이 자식의 운명이다. 인생은 꼭 그렇게 힘들어야 하는 건가, 하는 의문 없이. 불만도 연민도 없이. 말도 논리도 없이. 글썽거리는 눈물 따위 없이. 단 한 순간에.

그 열두 살의 나에게, 이제야 더듬더듬 나는 말할 수 있을 것 같다. 바로 사랑하기 때문에 우리가 절망하는 거라고. 존엄을 믿고 있기 때문에 고통을 느끼는 것이라고. 그러니까, 우리의 고통이야말로 열쇠이며 단단한 씨앗이라고.

Very direct and practical somehow..

I don’t know if there is a degree or knowlege to know the essential mimimum..

from the book

The more interesting question is the pain. What is the pain that you want to sustain? That’s the hard question that matters, the question that will actually get you somewhere. It’s the question that can change a perspective, a life. It’s what makes me, me, and you, you. It’s what defines us and separates us and ultimately brings us together.

Manson, Mark. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life (Mark Manson Collection Book 1) (p. 38). (Function). Kindle Edition.

The rare people who do become truly exceptional at something do so not because they believe they’re exceptional. On the contrary, they become amazing because they’re obsessed with improvement. And that obsession with improvement stems from an unerring belief that they are, in fact, not that great at all. It’s anti-entitlement. People who become great at something become great because they understand that they’re not already great – they are mediocre, they are average – and that they could be so much better.

나는 괜찮다고 괜찮다고 스스로에게 강요할 필요는 어디에도 없다.

누구나 그저 자신 안에서 최선을 다할 뿐이다.

책에서

무슨 말을 하지 않기 위해 그는 그렇게 많은 말을 지껄여댄 것일까.

마치 그밖에는 아무것도 줄 수 있는 것이 없어 슬프다는 듯이, 그 하염없고 정성스러운 손길만이 그녀가 줄 수 있는 유일한 것이라는 듯이.

의선은 그때까지 명윤이 보았던 어떤 사람과도 달랐다. 그녀는 마치 어린아이와도 같이 무기력했고 섬약했고 불가해했고, 무엇보다 선했다.

내용은 잘 이해할 수 없지만, 문장은 아름답다.

책에서

새로 빨아 바싹 말린 흰 베갯잇과 이불보가 무엇인가를 말하는 것 같다고 느껴질 때가 있다. 거기 그녀의 맨살이 닿을 때, 순면의 흰 천이 무슨 말을 건네는 것 같다. 당신은 귀한 사람이라고. 당신의 잠은 깨끗하고 당신이 살아 있다는 건 부끄러운 일이 아니라고. 잠과 생시 사이에서 바스락거리는 순면의 침대보에 맨살이 닿을 때 그녀는 그렇게 이상한 위로를 받는다.

당신, 올 수 있다면 지금 오기를, 연기로 지은 저 옷을 날개옷처럼 걸쳐주기를. 말 대신 우리 침묵이 저 연기 속으로 스미고 있으니, 쓴 약처럼, 쓴 차처럼 그걸 마셔주기를.

Read some years ago, and listened the audiobook again.

Am I miserable? No.. I live the peak of the human period, I think.

From the Book

Think for a moment about the Agricultural Revolution from the viewpoint of wheat.

What then did wheat offer agriculturists, including that malnourished Chinese girl? It offered nothing for people as individuals. Yet it did bestow something on Homo sapiens as a species. Cultivating wheat provided much more food per unit of territory, and thereby enabled Homo sapiens to multiply exponentially.

My Saboteur – Hyper-Vigilant

Continuous intense anxiety about all the dangers in life and a strong focus on what could go wrong. Vigilance that can never rest.

from the book

The Judge’s most damaging lie is that we are not worthy of love or respect by just being who we are.

When you examine this lie more closely, you will see that there are actually two lies embedded within it. The first lie is that you can’t be happy with your current circumstances. Much of our unhappiness stems from this lie alone. This lie places a “when” condition on your eventual happiness; it could be when you make your first million, when you get promoted, when you get to run your own company, when you raise the kids and see them off to college, when you achieve retirement security, etc. The second lie is that the “when” is a moving target rather than a promise to be kept. When you do make the first million, the Judge will allow you a two-minute or two-day celebration before it has convinced you that you can’t be really happy until you also have a second vacation home like your best buddy from college. After all, you’re just as smart as she was, and it’s only fair that you have one too, right? The “when” gets renegotiated the moment it is about to be reached. Millions of people die every year still waiting to reach the last “when.” This ever-moving target is a mirage and a key technique the Judge uses to ensure your everlasting unhappiness.

Your distress is not caused by what happened; it’s caused by your Judge’s reaction to it.

Have the courage to be good enough..