If you're busy showing off your brains

If you're busy showing off your brains, you're probably not listening closely enough, thinking hard enough or reaching the smartest conclusions. The loudest signals come from the emptiest sources. Those who truly possess something rarely need to announce it.

Neither for you nor against you

You come to understand that most people are neither for you nor against you, they are thinking about themselves. You learn that no matter how hard you try to please, some people in this world are not going to love you, a lesson that is troubling at first and then really relaxing.

If you think you’re running 10 minutes late

If you think you’re running 10 minutes late, text to say you’ll be 15 minutes late. That way the other person gets one disappointment and one pleasant surprise. Most people do the opposite: they say they’re 5 minutes late when it’s 10 and end up annoying the other and looking like total fools.

Nobody cares

When you're winning, when everything is going well, when you're crushing it, nobody cares. When you're losing, when everything is falling flat, when you're down and out, nobody cares. It doesn't mean nobody loves you. It just means nobody cares about your life as much as you do. It just means that you are in control. It's on you. It's not depressing. It's liberating. It's empowering. It's energizing.

You aren't afraid of failure

You aren't afraid of failure. You're so scared of what other people will think of you if you fail. The fear is in the judgment. The fear is in the embarrassment. The fear is in the scrutiny. The fear is in the whispers. The fear is in what they might say, or what they might think. The fear is in the silence.

Rest is not idleness

Rest is not idleness, and lying sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer's day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is no means a waste of time.

Obvious or perhaps?

"Obvious" closes the door to inquiry.

"Perhaps" opens it.