junyi

Team development

Eventually, we all have to take a leap of faith and dive into the swirl. Our destination is a future whose form we may not find comforting, but which has just as much beauty and potential as the straight lines and right angles of the past century of reductionism: this future will take the form of organic networks, resilience engineering, controlled flooding-a world without stop signs. (249)

Quaint, simple, grief

“She discovers that it is possible to cry all day and all night. That there are many different ways to cry: the sudden outpouring of tears, the deep, racking sobs, the soundless and endless leaking of water from the eyes. That sore skin around the eyes may be treated with oil infused with a tincture of eyebright and chamomile. That it is possible to comfort your daughters and assurances about places in Heaven and eternal joy and how they may all be reunited after death and how he will be waiting for them, while not believing any of it. That people don't always know what to say to a woman whose child has died. That some will cross the street to avoid her merely because of this. That people not considered to be good friends will come, without warning, to the fore, will leave bread and cakes on your sill, will say a kind and apt word to you after church, will ruffle Judith's hair and pinch her wan cheek.” (287-288)

Idealistic

“I opened this book with Andrew Sullivan's concern about losing his humanity in the electronic world wrought by Samuel Morse. “I used to be a human being,” he wrote. My hope is that digital minimalism can help reverse this state of affairs by providing a constructive way to engage and leverage the latest innovations to your advantage, not that of faceless attention economy conglomerates, to create a culture where the technologically savvy can upend Sullivan's lament and instead say with confidence: “Because of technology, I'm a better human being than I ever was before.”” (254)

Sexy, edgy, young

“For a time they sat there on the stairs, not speaking, or speaking absently about things that had happened a long time ago, silly arguments they'd had, people they used to know, things they had laughed about together. Old conversations, repeated many times before. Then quiet again for a little while. I just want everything to be like it was, Eileen said. And for us to be young again and live near each other, and nothing to be different. Alice was smiling sadly. But if things are different, can we still be friends? she asked. Eileen put her arm around Alice's shoulders. If you weren't my friend I wouldn't know who I was, she said. Alice rested her face in Eileen's arms, closing her eyes. No, she agreed. I wouldn't know who I was either. And actually for a while I didn't. Eileen looked down at Alice's small blonde head, nestled on the sleeve of her dressing gown. neither did I, she said. Half past two in the morning. Outside, astronomical twilight. Crescent moon hanging low over the dark water. Tide returning now with a faint repeating rush over the sand. Another place, another time.” (325)

Excellent

“And my voice, with its nicks and scars and telltale rasp, tells its own history of my life, just like yours does.” (268)

“But in these closing remarks, I find myself reflecting on the fact that the most effective and expressive voices-those that connect with listeners in ways that change behaviour or habits or ideas-are those that form the most direct channel between the speaker's interior life and the sounds that emerge from the mouth.” (268)

Broad brushstrokes

“Of course, at times, when I remember those brightly-lit bars and all those people gathered beneath the lamps, laughing a little more boisterously perhaps than those young men yesterday, but with much the same goodheartedness, I feel a certain nostalgia for the past and the district as it used to be. But to see how our city has been rebuilt, how things have recovered so rapidly over these years, fills me with genuine gladness. Our nation, it seems, whatever mistakes it may have made in the past, has now another chance to make a better go of things. One can only wish these young people well.” (206)

Dreamy, meandering, modern

“And the tale I have to tell is so ludicrous, so incredible, that you'll never believe a word of it, and yet” – she taps the end of his nose – “its true.” (622)

History of economic ideas

“Even the most enlightened lives of today may look benighted by the standards of tomorrow.” (226)