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Or, If I Take That Same Auditorium And I Make It Much Bigger And Put More Space Between Seats, It'll Be Quieter Because It's Much Harder When You're Not In Physical Contact With People To Spread A Virus From Person-to-person, Right? There Are All Sorts Of Patterns That We See In Epidemiology That Help Us Understand Why Something Spreads.
-Seth Godin
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Or, If I Take

Seth Godin
Or, If I Take That Same Auditorium And I Make It Much Bigger And Put More Space Between Seats, It'll Be Quieter Because It's Much Harder When You're Not In Physical Contact With People To Spread A Virus From Person-to-person, Right? There Are All Sorts Of Patterns That We See In Epidemiology That Help Us Understand Why Something Spreads.
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Epidemiology
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Change Is Not A Threat, It's An Opportunity. Survival Is Not The Goal, Transformative Success Is.
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Many Things That Are True Are True Because You Believe Them.
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When You Put Your Ideas In The World, Then, And Only Then, Do You Know If They're Real.
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Living And Breathing An Authentic Story Is The Best Way To Survive In A Conversation-rich World.
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When You Think About Uber And Airbnb And The Other Companies That Are Turning Things Upside Down, Uber Isn't Big 'cause They Ran A Lot Of Ads. They're Big Because Someone Took Out Their Iphone And Said To Their Friend, Watch This, And Pressed A Button And A Car Pulled Up.
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Effort Is Its Own Reward If You Allow It To Be.
Effort
Rewards
Ifs
Someone Can Always Do Your Job A Little Better Or Faster Or Cheaper Than You Can.
Jobs
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Dig Your Well Before You're Thirsty.
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Thirsty
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Liars
Stories
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Media
Giving
People
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Leadership
Desire
Engagement
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Jobs
New Job
Needs
The People That Are Doing Work That Matters Aren't Doing Work Thats Popular. They're Just Doing Work That Changes Some People.
People
Matter
The Status Quo Is Leaving The Building, And Quickly.
Leaving
Mediocrity
Building
Remarkable Work Often Comes From Making Choices When Everyone Else Feels As Though There Is No Choice.
Choices
Making Choices
Remarkable
I Find That It's Almost Essential To Fall In Love With An Idea To Invest The Time It Takes To Make It Good And Worth Sharing. And Then, The Hard Part: Deleting That Idea When It's Just Not What It Could Be. Too Often, Organizations Are Good At The First Part, But Struggle With The Second. And So We Defend Expired Business Models, Support The Status Quo And Have A Knee-jerk Inclination To Preserve What We've Got.
Falling In Love
Struggle
Organization
If You're Working With A Spreadsheet Or A Thread Of Correspondence Or A Set Of Data, I'm Not Sure You're Doing Your Best Work If You're Doing It On An Iphone.
Iphone
Data
Doing Your Best
Set A Goal, And In Small, Consistent Steps, Work To Reach It. Get Support From Your Peers When You Start Flagging. Repeat. You Will Change.
Inspirational
Goal
Support
Many People Are Starting To Realize That They Work A Lot And That Working On Stuff They Believe In (and Making Things Happen) Is Much More Satisfying Then Just Getting A Paycheck And Waiting To Get Fired (or Die).
Motivational
Money
Work
If You Don't Like Your Definition Of 'good Enough', Then Feel Free To Change That, But The Goal Before Shipping Is Merely That. Not Perfect.
Perfect
Goal
Definitions
We Fail When We Give Up Too Soon.
Giving Up
Giving
Failing
Communication Is The Transfer Of Emotion.
Communication
Emotion
Transfers
Debt Creates Stress, Stress Creates Behaviors That Don't Lead To Happiness.
Stress
Health
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Marketing Management Is Now Tribal Leadership.
Marketing
Management
The Opposite Of Coherent Is Interesting.
Opposites
Interesting
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Educational
Feelings
Purpose
The Only Path To Amazing Runs Directly Through Not-yet-amazing
Running
Path
So Sure, Start With A Slogan. But Don't Bother Wasting Any Time On It If You're Merely Going For Catchy. Aim For True Instead.
Catchy
Aim
Bother
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Thinking
Average
People
All Great Programmers Learn The Same Way. They Poke The Box. They Code Something And See What The Computer Does. They Change It And See What The Computer Does. They Repeat The Process Again And Again Until They Figure Out How The Box Works.
Doe
Way
Computer
The Industrial Age Brought Compliance And Compliance Brought Fear And Fear Brought Us Mediocrity.
Age
Mediocrity
Compliance
Sometimes, We're So Focused On Being Consistent That We Also Lower The Bar On Amazing. After All, The Thinking Goes, If We Can't Be Amazing All The Time, Better To Reset The Expectation To Merely Good. Which Robs Us Of The Ability To (sometimes) Be Amazing.
Thinking
Expectations
Bars
How Do I Dance With The Fear? Fear Is Not The Enemy. Paralysis Is The Enemy.
Inspirational
Inspiration
Enemy
If You Want To Dig A Big Hole, You Need To Stay In One Place.
Change
Needs
Want
Instead Of Working So Hard To Prove The Skeptics Wrong, It Makes A Lot More Sense To Delight The True Believers. They Deserve It, After All, And They're The Ones That Are Going To Spread The Word For You.
Delight
Skeptic
Believer
If You're Going To Invest A Valuable Asset (like Time), Go Ahead And Make It Productive. Use A Postit Or Two, Or Some Index Cards Or A Highlighter. Not To Write Down Stuff So You Can Forget It Later, But To Create Marching Orders. It's Simple: If Three Weeks Go By And You Haven't Taken Action On What You've Written Down, You Wasted Your Time.
Business
Taken
Writing
People Who Can Spread Ideas Regardless Of What Those Ideas Are, Win.
Winning
Ideas
People
The Media Wants Overnight Successes (so They Have Someone To Tear Down). Ignore Them. Ignore The Early Adopter Critics That Never Have Enough To Play With. Ignore Your Investors That Want Proven Tactics And Predictable Instant Results. Listen Instead To Your Real Customers, To Your Vision And Make Something For The Long Haul. Because That's How Long It's Going To Take, Guys.
Inspirational
Real
Media
Cheap Is The Last Refuge Of A Product Developer Or Marketer Who Is Out Of Great Ideas.
Ideas
Lasts
Great Idea
We Need Students Who Can Learn How To Learn, Who Can Discover How To Push Themselves And Are Generous Enough And Honest Enough To Engage With The Outside World To Make Those Dreams Happen.
Dream
Needs
World
Permission Marketing Turns Strangers Into Friends And Friends Into Loyal Customers. It's Not Just About Entertainment - It's About Education. Permission Marketing Is Curriculum Marketing.
Educational
Loyal Customers
Marketing
Permission Marketing Is Marketing Without Interruptions.
Marketing
Permission
Interruptions
I Do Not Think You Can Get Rid Of The Fear... But You Can Dance With It.
Thinking
Sure, Compare. But Compare The Things That Matter To The Journey You're On. The Rest Is Noise.
Journey
Noise
Matter
We Long To Connect, All Of Us. We Long To Be Noticed, To Be Cared For, To Matter. Generosity Is The Invisible Salve On Our Wound Of Loneliness, One That Benefits Both Sides, Over And Over Again.
Loneliness
Long
Generosity
Don't Waste Time Looking For A Better Pencil: Learn To Write Better.
Writing
Waste
Wasting Time
Risking The Appearance Of Weakness Takes Strength. And The Market Knows It.
Weakness
Appearance
Knows
Once You Have Permission To Talk To Someone, Finding New Products Or Services For Them Is A Smart Way To Grow.
Business
Smart
Way
I Wonder Why Anyone Would Hesitate To Be Generous With Their Writing. I Mean, If You Really Want To Make A Living, Go To Wall Street And Trade Oil Futures ... We're Writers. We're Doing Something That Is Inherently A Generous Act. We're Exposing Ourselves To The Muse And To The Things That Frighten Us. Why Do That If You're Not Willing To Be Generous? And Paradoxically, Almost Ironically, It Turns Out That The More Generous You Are, The More Money You Make. But That's Secondary. For Me, The Privilege Of Being Generous Is Why I Get To Do This.
Wall
Writing
Mean
The Challenge Of Our Time Is To Find A Journey Worthy Of Your Heart And Your Soul.
Heart
Journey
Challenges
Ideas Don't Get Smaller When They're Shared, They Get Bigger.
Ideas
Bigger
Canoeing Was Hard And Scary, And The Wind Could Blow You Across The Lake If You Did It Wrong. After A Year Of Not Doing It Right, I Could Talk To People And Get Them To Sit Up Straight, Take Different Kinds Of Chances, To Breathe Differently, To Engage In The Moment In The Boat. And I Changed Them, And I Changed Me In The Process.
Blow
Years
Wind
Go Ahead And Make Something For The Elites. Not The Elites Of Class Or Wealth, But The Elites Of Curiosity, Passion And Taste. Every Great Thing Ever Created Was Created By And For This Group.
Passion
Class
Curiosity
Think Big. Start Small.
Thinking
Think Big
Bigs
If It's Work, We Try To Figure Out How To Do Less, If It's Art, We Try To Figure Out How To Do More
Art
Trying
Figures
The Future Isn't So Much About Absorbing Or Tolerating Change, It's About Making Change.
Making Changes
Absorbing
Understanding Quotes: Their Essence and Application

Quotes, or quotations, are powerful tools in communication, encapsulating ideas, emotions, and wisdom in concise expressions. They serve various purposes across different contexts, from academic writing to everyday conversation.

1. Defining Quotes

A quote is a repetition of someone else's statement or thoughts. It can be a direct replication of words spoken or written by another individual, often used to support arguments, provide evidence, or convey profound insights.


2. The Importance of Quotes

2.1. Enhancing Credibility

Incorporating quotes from authoritative sources can bolster the credibility of your work. By referencing experts or primary sources, you demonstrate thorough research and a solid foundation for your arguments.


2.2. Providing Evidence

Quotes serve as concrete evidence to support claims. In academic and professional writing, they validate points made, offering readers a basis to trust the information presented.


2.3. Conveying Emotions and Perspectives

Quotes can encapsulate emotions and perspectives succinctly. They allow writers to express complex feelings or viewpoints through the words of others, often more eloquently than paraphrasing.


3. Types of Quotes

3.1. Direct Quotes

Direct quotes involve copying the exact words from a source, enclosed in quotation marks. They are used when the original wording is significant or particularly well-expressed.


3.2. Indirect Quotes (Paraphrasing)

Indirect quotes restate the original message in your own words. While not enclosed in quotation marks, they still require proper attribution to the original source.


3.3. Block Quotes

Block quotes are lengthy direct quotations, formatted as a separate block of text. They are typically used for quotes exceeding a certain length, varying by citation style. For instance, in APA style, quotes longer than 40 words are formatted as block quotes.



4. Proper Usage of Quotes


4.1. Contextual Relevance

Ensure that the quote you choose is relevant to the topic and adds value to your content. Avoid inserting quotes solely for decorative purposes.


4.2. Integration into Your Writing

Seamlessly integrate quotes into your writing. Introduce them appropriately and follow up with analysis or commentary to connect them to your main points.


4.3. Attribution and Citation

Always attribute quotes to their original authors and provide proper citations according to the required style guide (APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.).


5. Common Mistakes to Avoid


5.1. Overusing Quotes

Relying too heavily on quotes can overshadow your voice. Use them sparingly to support your arguments, not replace them.


5.2. Lack of Analysis

Presenting a quote without analysis or explanation can leave readers questioning its relevance. Always follow up with your interpretation or discussion.


5.3. Misquoting or Taking Out of Context

Ensure that quotes are accurate and not taken out of context, as this can mislead readers and undermine your credibility.



6. Quotes in Different Contexts


6.1. Academic Writing

In academic writing, quotes are used to support arguments, provide evidence, and engage with existing literature. Proper citation is crucial to avoid plagiarism.


6.2. Journalism

Journalists use quotes to provide firsthand accounts, add authenticity, and present multiple perspectives within a story.


6.3. Literature and Creative Writing

In literature, quotes can be used to convey character voices, themes, and stylistic elements. They enrich narratives and provide depth to storytelling.



7. Punctuation and Formatting


Understanding the correct punctuation and formatting of quotes is essential:


Quotation Marks: Always enclose direct quotes within quotation marks.


Punctuation Placement: In American English, periods and commas are placed inside quotation marks, while colons and semicolons are placed outside.


Block Quotes: For longer quotes, format them as block quotes without quotation marks, and indent the entire block.



8. Ethical Considerations


Ethical use of quotes involves accurate representation, proper attribution, and respect for intellectual property. Misuse can lead to plagiarism, which carries serious academic and professional consequences.

9. Tools for Managing Quotes


Utilize tools like citation generators and plagiarism checkers to manage quotes effectively. These tools help ensure proper formatting and originality in your writing.



Conclusion


Quotes are invaluable in enriching content, providing evidence, and conveying complex ideas succinctly. When used appropriately, they enhance the quality and credibility of your writing. Always ensure relevance, proper integration, and ethical usage to maximize their impact.


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