What I learned from rereading Autobiography of a Restless Mind: Reflections on the Human Condition Volume 1 and Autobiography of a Restless Mind: Reflections on the Human Condition Volume 2 by Dee Hock.

As a young child born in a tiny cottage in a small farming village in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, I discovered 3 principal loves of my life.

Nature, reading, and unstructured learning.

With school and church came increasing confinement, demands for conformity, and crushing boredom, along with sharp rising awareness of the chasm between how organizations profess to function and how they actually did.

When I was 14, the fourth love of my life appeared, a beautiful brown-eyed girl.

Sidetracked into business to support a growing family, I vowed to escape as soon as possible.

As partial recompense for a dislike of business, I continued to read and study voraciously.

During my business years, I developed the habit of formulating short, graphic assertions – often in

the form of aphorisms, maxims, and metaphors – to test and clarify my thinking.

In 1980, I took the first steps to keep my vow to escape from business by purchasing 200 acres of ravaged land in coastal hills overlooking the Pacific Ocean with the intent to restore it to health and beauty through personal labor.

4 years later, in 1984, I resigned as CEO of Visa, turned my back on the business world, and turned to my first loves, family, nature, books, contemplation, and the isolation of manual labor on the land.

A house was eventually built there containing a poor boy's dream realized.

A library containing 5, 000 books accumulated over the years.

Rising at 530 in the morning to write a thousand words or more before beginning the day's labor became an entrenched habit unbroken to this day.

Each day's writing ended with 4 or 5 short reflections on subjects then occupying my mind.

By the late 1990s my writing had grown to 5, 000 pages containing several thousands of the short reflections.

It occurred to me that a selection of them in the order written would constitute a history of sorts, an autobiography of a mind at work.

Since the mind never works linearly by subject matter but flutters from thought to thought and idea to idea with the agility of a butterfly, I selected 1 in 5 in the order written then indexed them by subject matter for the convenience of readers with specialized interests.

The contents of these 2 volumes of The Autobiography of a Restless Mind were written in the decades spanning the turn of the millennium.

Volume 1 contains selections from those written when I was in my 60s.

I make no claim to have fully believed them when written, to believe them today, or to have fully lived those I do believe.

Neither do I pretend that others have not thought or written about many of the same subjects over the centuries, for most reflect common concerns of mankind.

The only claims asserted are that they then occupied my mind, seemed worth serious thought, contained some truth, or indulged my lifelong love affair with the music of words." So here is the autobiography of a restless mind.

That is from the preface of the first of 2 books I'm going to talk to you about today, which is autobiography of a restless mind, reflections on the human condition, volume 1, and it was written by D Hawk.

So this is part 2 of a two-part series I'm doing on D Hawk.

at the age of 93 and I thought a way to honor him and like my own little small way is to reread 3 books of his that I have that I've read before and make podcasts on them.

And the primary reason I felt compelled to do that is because of the book that I'm holding in my hand.

After I read, the first time I read 1 from Manny, it was probably like 4 years ago, I picked up, I went looking for other books that he wrote, and I found this 1.

It is a book of aphorisms and maxims, just like he said.

It's about 200 pages long, and it has almost 1, 200 little short reflections.

And so I would say every week or so, and sometimes a few times a week, I would just pick it up, turn to a random page, read a few, you know, these are, most of them are a sentence or 2 just as a way to prompt my own thinking or learn something really rapidly and the way I thought about it is like hey what if you had like this wise grandfather figure that could pull you aside for a minute or 2 and just drop some knowledge in your ear And so the format of this episode is going to be different than any other episode that I've ever done.

There's a great YouTube channel that I really like.

It's just called Quotes and I'll leave a few links of some of the videos.

I probably listened to I don't know maybe like 20 or 25 of their videos.

But What they do is they hire voice actors and they make usually short videos usually like you know 5 maybe 10 minutes long.

And the voice actors just have fantastic they sound fantastic.

But what they do is they read quotes from historical figures.

And in between each quote they give you they pause for maybe like 5 seconds or so just to give you time to think about that sentence or the 2 sentences that they had just read you and I find myself just re listening to a bunch of these of their episodes on people like Mark Twain or Pythagoras or Socrates Einstein Churchill's in their of all tear Da Vinci Hemingway Machiavelli Cicero people that you and I have covered in the past like Walt Disney Henry Ford Carnegie Teddy Roosevelt and so I like that format so much I decided that's the format I'm going to use for this episode most of these I don't think I'll have anything to add if I do obviously if anything pops to mind I'll let you know

Happiness may be difficult but it's not complicated.

Dismiss desire, discard opinion, honor the past, trust the future, and treasure the moment.

You can give no greater gift than to speak and write that which is useful to your own heart.

Reading academic prose is like trying to slake your thirst in a mudflow.

There's moisture there somewhere, but getting to it is the rub.

1 should not read like a dog obeying its master, but like an eagle hunting its prey.

Academia has an incurable compulsion to explain that which is simple with something complex, that which is direct with something labyrinth, that which is intuitive with something verbose, and that which is obvious with something obtuse.

In the soil of every satisfaction sprout the seeds of discontent.

A fool is no less a fool when a wise man errs.

Society will not progress until we cease endless discourse about right ideas and consider right values.

It is not the mind of society that is sick.

Powerful writing should take 1 side and stick to it tenaciously, ignoring the other even though it may have merit.

As my grandfather used to say, there's them that talks and them that does, and

them that does gives them that talks something to talk about.

If you never test your courage and strength, how can you measure the validity of your fears?

Do not get angry, stubborn, and imperious.

Books like nature never praise, never condemn, and never ignore me.

I love them as much for that as for the edification and pleasure that they bring.

That which is declining looks only behind.

The essential reward of anything well done is to have done it.

What becomes known is worthless until it is shared.

When 1 has fallen among wild beasts and serpents, it is best to be alert, cautious, and quiet.

Everything we Say, do, or write belongs to the world.

Others will take meaning from us that we never imagined or intended.

We can do no more than choose our words and act with all the integrity, wisdom, and beauty that we have at hand.

Constructive humane behavior cannot be achieved by external force.

It can be adduced but cannot be compelled.

It is a rare leader who understands this simple fact, let alone puts it into practice.

When life is frightening or distasteful, scholarship is always a suitable sanctuary.

We judge others harshly by the standards we profess rather than those we practice, yet we resent it bitterly when they return the favor.

Language no matter how carefully crafted is inadequate to fully convey what is in one's mind.

No dream is so great as the person you might become by remaining true to it.

There is so much to learn, do, and become in this mysterious, magnificent life that it seems foolish to waste the least bit of it.

Strange semantics indeed to speak of free schooling when young people are compelled to attend and have nothing to say about their indoctrination while incarcerated.

We need not be limited to small dreams or accept the notion that large dreams cannot be realized, providing we are willing to pay the price required for their realization.

Love of nature, love of literature, love of solitude, love of thought, and love of another.

Educational systems are giant abstractions in which people forgo experience, humanity, and wisdom in favor of symbolism, rationalization, and indoctrination.

This 1 is a great description of how D would want institutions to act or to be.

The universe does not exert force in any meaningful sense.

The sun does not force the planets into orbit or command them to do anything.

It merely places an attraction in their path to which they respond in accordance with their nature.

It would be a blessing if people who aspire to be great could understand this principle and behave in accordance with it.

Every word sent forth ricochets in a different direction when it strikes another mind.

The universe seeks perfection by patient attention to small things.

The wise make great use of adversity, the foolish whine about it.

Each new thing must make its way against opposition from all that came before.

Solitude has its merits, but who has ever seen a wave traveling alone or a single flake of falling snow?

Ideas arise from analysis, concepts arise from synthesis.

1 who cannot act effectively has no practical use for new ideas.

If you listen to a bunch of the early episodes of Founders,

this is Dee's way of saying something I used to repeat over and over again that critics don't know shit.

There are hundreds eager to criticize and admonish for each 1 willing to constructively assist.

If learning is so exciting, why are textbooks so pompous and dull?

Impatience is a perpetual barrier between desire and realization.

Nothing satisfies weak, dull people more than publicly confronting strong, creative people with a list of their sins.

The worst books benefit from the genius of the best readers, but the worst readers do not benefit from the genius of the best books.

A magnificent mind has no defense against a hard heart, especially when they occupy the same body.

Transcending disagreement and confrontation through reconciliation is the test of an enduring marriage.

I want to do it and they will not let me.

Or they want to prevent me and I won't let them.

Life is never indifferent and never in balance.

We are steadily overcoming our problems or they are steadily overcoming us.

Wait patiently and listen carefully until something whispers to your soul then quietly follow the sound.

When we believe we are everything we are on our way to nothing.

When we believe we are nothing we are on the way to everything.

A dog chasing its tail never catches more than part of the dog.

A man chasing his thoughts never catches more than part of the man.

There is no shortage of men who would set civilization on fire to warm their fingers.

An academic education too easily prepares 1 to make a living at the expense of life, to be narrowly expert while broadly ignorant, to know much and understand little.

When we fully attend to management of self, excellent management of all else is unavoidable.

It is not the poor and humble who are desecrating the earth, waging wars and demeaning people.

It is the rich, the educated, the honored, and acclaimed.

Men of 70 may make a lot of fuss, but they rarely make revolutions." This 1 reminded me of Henry Ford.

Why supposed experts are so often employed to point out that which is obvious to anyone with common sense is a mystery never to be solved.

Old people have so little left of life they should cease trying to make it bring what they desire and make the most of what it offers.

Come to think of it, that's not a bad policy for young people as well.

I probably read the next 1 a hundred times.

A meaningful life cannot be made from denial.

To discover new lands we must lose sight of the shore for a very long time, and 1 must carry a large cargo of courage, confidence, and faith as well.

An old country saying useful is either compliment or chastisement young and you keep on moving where you're heading.

I think the next 1 is going to resonate with anybody that reads a lot of biographies.

it will be published and widely read throughout our life and for decades thereafter.

Our words conceal more than they reveal, contain more than they convey, achieve less than we desire, and offend more than we intend.

It can only make miserable the 1 we have.

the door with 1 hand urging them to conquer the world and cling to them tenaciously with the other, wishing they would remain with us forever.

Fortunately, neither is our choice to make.

It is a prudent man who never reveals how little he thinks of others or how much he thinks of himself.

Enjoy the convenience of prosperity but treasure the benefit of adversity.

The wise do not feel demeaned by asking for advice or diminished by following it.

Carnal love can create people, but it takes selfless love to perfect them.

A wise man goes forth to meet difficulty rather than agonizing at its approach.

When speaking of oneself, seldom and modest should be the rule.

What I have yet to be is filled with possibilities from which I must choose my becoming.

Fear, when it adds nothing to safety, is pain without utility.

Retirement is confrontation between what we wish we were and what we have actually become.

When someone says let's be completely objective about this you may be confident that they will not.

Common sense is wisdom in working clothes.

Never go to a wise man for an elegant answer.

The greatest achievement in life is to become your own best self.

We should always keep in mind that the world is replete with those who preach like angels and behave like beasts.

Old minds should be like ripe falling fruit, rich with seeds of wisdom for the evolution of the species.

All things that have capacity for self-organization and Self-governance

should be revered, respected, and left free from interference.

If we trash the past rather than build on it, the future will be filled with garbage.

Few adults of great achievement were cooperative, conformist children.

More often they were shunned, iconoclasts protecting themselves as best they could from the contempt and persecution of conformists.

Young students who are not naturally docile are often labeled as having a disorder and drugged into submission.

Conformity and docility are poor qualities for anyone who would be curious, creative, and free.

That students should be drugged into tolerance of banal, boring curriculum and shoddy teaching is tragic.

Patience married to will gives birth to persistence.

The greatest writers have no purpose but to incite the minds of each reader with the highest and best thought of which they are capable.

What we think of as an original idea is merely 1 that never knew its parents.

Those you would destroy, you'd best destroy utterly, else they will linger on to quietly plot your destruction.

Take a loved child by the hand and explore something fascinating together.

Each morning, I rise determined to change the world, to make

a lot of money, to meditate, to exercise, to write something original, to paint a grand picture, to plant some trees, to read a good book, and to spend more time with family.

In the beginning, few things are as delicate as a new idea, but once deeply rooted in a determined mind, its tenacity is astonishing.

Originality and creativity do not result from calculated effort, but from the natural state of consciousness,

No 1 can ever fully know the wealth of creativity, curiosity, and love of learning in all children.

What a pity we send them to school to have it crushed.

Every mistake is a bargain if you learn the lesson it contains and remember it well.

Approach great enterprises with audacious abandon and small enterprises with meticulous care.

When Disagreeing with those you love deal only with the moment, neither resurrecting the past nor anticipating the future.

Great thought, great achievement, and great love have this in common.

You can't make a good child by abusing a bad 1, but you can easily make a bad child by abusing a good 1.

Knowledge is never in doubt, wisdom is never certain.

The swiftest means to an end is rarely the best.

If we could see ourselves as others see us, improvement would be instantaneous, for few of us could tolerate the sight.

You can't beg, borrow, buy, or steal hope.

Superb design and sluggish effort can never compete with modest design and diligent effort.

We never know our power until great difficulties or great opportunities have need of it.

Scorn and ridicule slip effortlessly from a furious mind.

The troubles of life are rarely as terrible in reality as they are in imagination.

Is there anything more barren and futile than arguing with a critic?

It is both foolish and weak to defer confronting what cannot be avoided.

I have done many great things perfectly, the ones I imagined but never attempted.

Delaying what we must do eventually does nothing but lengthen the time and distance we must carry the burden.

The experience, meaning, and destiny of each life are unique and cannot be compared to those of any other.

Nothing is more conducive to silent communication or solitary communion than reading a book.

The most interesting people are always the most interested people.

or eliminate problems in the beginning, for that is when they are least powerful and least pervasive.

There is nothing so pleasant, cheap, ubiquitous, and independent of circumstance, time, and place as reading.

The true value of anything is best discovered in the loss of it.

Complaining about life is like hurling sand against a wind.

Live entirely in the strength of your imagination, passion, and commitment and you may become 1 of the prophets of your error.

And then he closes volume 1 with this After more than 3 quarters of a century on this planet It is apparent to me that I know nothing about truth And neither does anyone else Here is 1 way to think about it Is as definitive as 1 can get So now we're

and I'm going to pull out a few things from the introduction before I go to the maxims.

He's just updating us on what occurred in the last 10 years of his life.

After selling our rural paradise in 1999, we moved to the state of Washington where we bought a derelict house on 2 acres of land.

Sales for my recently published book, 1 for Many, were brisk and brought even more invitations to speak and consult, which I had little desire to pursue.

After 10 years of intense effort to catalyze institutional change without notable success, I had become disillusioned.

And I would say, if you pick up both the books this 1 is to me.

I like volume 1 better volume 2 is a little more cynical or I mean disillusion.

I guess is a good way you could see his disillusion in his writing space.

What I'm trying to tell you and so to express his disillusionment.

He says perhaps it is just as well to stay home and tend one's garden.

I wanted no more of travel, notoriety, and fruitless effort.

I methodically put aside activities of the past as I turned my attention to rebuilding the derelict house, creating 2 acres of gardens, oil painting, hand lettering in stone, and as ever continuing my incessant reading, writing, and studying, including another 2200 reflections on life and living.

I continue to make an occasional speech and work with the Patient Safety Institute, which is a non-for-profit effort, by leading people in the medical field who were attempting to create an electronic medical information system to reduce a rising tide of medical errors resulting in death or serious injury.

Ironically, the cartilage in both my knees gave out and double knee replacement became necessary.

The surgery was successful, however, when I regained consciousness, both my arms were extremely painful and the side of both hands and 2 fingers of each were paralyzed.

Neurological testing revealed major damage to the ulnar nerve in each arm.

The surgeons, nurses, and hospital administrators denied any knowledge of possible cause, yet the fact remained that both arms and hands had been in perfect shape when anesthesia was administered and was severely damaged when I awoke.

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#261 Dee Hock's Autobiography of a Restless Mind Volume One and Two