I’ve been more interested in watches lately — both in aesthetics and how they work. I never really understood how a quartz movement worked until I watched The Engineer Guy’s video:

A voltage from the battery sets [the quartz tuning fork] in motion and then the watch’s circuitry measures the current fluctuations that represent the resonant motions of the tines.

Martin Luther King, Jr. in his Letter From a Birmingham Jail:

I had hoped that the white moderate would reject the myth concerning time in relation to the struggle for freedom. I have just received a letter from a white brother in Texas. He writes: “All Christians know that the colored people will receive equal rights eventually, but it is possible that you are in too great a religious hurry. It has taken Christianity almost two thousand years to accomplish what it has. The teachings of Christ take time to come to earth.”

Such an attitude stems from a tragic misconception of time, from the strangely irrational notion that there is something in the very flow of time that will inevitably cure all ills. Actually, time itself is neutral; it can be used either destructively or constructively. More and more I feel that the people of ill will have used time much more effectively than have the people of good will. We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people. Human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability; it comes through the tireless efforts of men willing to be co-workers with God, and without this hard work, time itself becomes an ally of the forces of social stagnation. We must use time creatively, in the knowledge that the time is always ripe to do right…

Keija Zhu:

It’s easy to forget that our careers extend for decades beyond our 20s and
30s. The truth is significant works usually take a long time. Whether it’s
business, academia or the arts, most of the contributions made have been
the result of many years of toil. It’s just that we hear of the young
overnight success because that’s a more attractive narrative. Even then,
those rare few who achieve a lot early in life do not simply stop. The race
doesn’t end with the win.

His advice to me: Don’t be in so much of a rush. Be easier on yourself.
Comparing yourself to what others are doing is a waste of time. He also
adds an old Chinese saying “大器晚成” – A big construction is always
completed late.

Melody Dye, writing for Scientific American:

Which brings me to the simple, take-home point: if you want to make your two-year old the color-naming talk of the party, watch your tongue. It might seem faster to ask Charlie not to pop “the red balloon,” but if you want him matching colors with aplomb, best rephrase with, “I mean, the balloon that is red .”

How to user a paper towel is — by far — the most influential talk I’ve ever seen.

• 13 billion pounds of paper towels are used by Americans every year.
• If we could reduce the usage of paper towels — one paper towel, per person, per day — 571,230,000 pounds of paper will not be used.

We live in a world where garbage is so abstracted away from us. It is difficult to comprehend what happens to our waste after we toss it in the trash can, and how much of it ends up sitting in a landfill.

The tip is simple. Shake off excess water and fold the paper towel in half (allowing interstitial suspension) before drying your hands with it. I saw this talk sometime in 2013 and have been using this tip ever since. It’s a small and easy thing to do to reduce waste and be mindful of it.

Steve Jobs:

There’s lots of ways to be, as a person. And some people express their deep appreciation in different ways. But one of the ways that I believe people express their appreciation to the rest of humanity is to make something wonderful and put it out there. You never meet the people. You never shake their hands. You never hear their story or tell yours. But somehow, in the act of making something with a great deal of care and love, something is transmitted there. And it’s a way of expressing to the rest of our species our deep appreciation. We need to be true to who we are, and remember what’s really important to us.

Bill Gates, The Road Ahead:

We always overestimate the change that will occur in the next two years and underestimate the change that will occur in the next ten. Don’t let yourself be lulled into inaction.