“The more people you have to ask for permission, the more dangerous a project gets.”
More from Alain de Botton on Wisdom
“We never envy another's achievement more than when we know very little about how it was attained.”
“One of the best protections against disappointment is to have a lot going on.”
“The best cure for one's bad tendencies is to see them in action in another person.”
“Failure is becoming someone who needs others to fail.”
“Maturity: knowing where you're crazy, trying to warn others of the fact and striving to keep yourself under control.”
“Bitterness: anger that forgot where it came from.”
Others on Wisdom
Sun Tzu
30 quotes“A clever general, therefore, avoids an army when its spirit is keen, but attacks it when it is sluggish and inclined to...”
Dalai Lama
22 quotes“A disciplined mind leads to happiness, and an undisciplined mind leads to suffering.”
Cervantes
20 quotes“Honesty's the best policy.”
Aesop
19 quotes“Do not waste your pity on a scamp.”
Confucius
19 quotes“If a man take no thought about what is distant he will find sorrow near at hand.”
Ben Franklin
18 quotes“Never ruin an apology with an excuse.”
Napoleon
16 quotes“One must change one's tactics every ten years if one wishes to maintain one's superiority.”
Cicero
15 quotes“Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others.”
Rudyard Kipling
14 quotes“One paid for one's knowledge with one's skin.”
William Penn
14 quotes“Speak properly, and in as few words as you can, but always plainly; for the end of speech is not ostentation, but to be...”
George R.R. Martin
14 quotes“A good act does not wash out the bad, nor a bad act the good. Each should have its own reward.”
Sir Winston Churchill
14 quotes“...anger is a waste of energy. Steam which is used to blow off a safety valve would be better used to drive an engine.”