When We Think Of Design, We Usually Imagine Things That Are Chosen Because They Are Designed. Vases Or Comic Books Or Architecture... It Turns Out, Though, That Most Of What We Make Or Design Is Actually Aimed At A Public That Is There For Something Else. The Design Is Important, But The Design Is Not The Point. Call It "public Design"... Public Design Is For Individuals Who Have To Fill Out Our Tax Form, Interact With Our Website Or Check Into Our Hotel Room Despite The Way It's Designed, Not Because Of It.

-Seth Godin

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Book

Thinking

Design

More From Seth Godin

The Best Way To Be Missed When You're Gone Is To Stand For Something When You're Here.

Gone

Way

Stand For Something

If You Are Afraid To Write Or Edit Or Assemble Or Disassemble, You Are Merely A Spectator. And You Are Trapped, Trapped By The Instructions Of Those You've Chosen To Follow. Twenty People In The Field And Eighty Thousand In The Stands. The Spectators Are The Ones Who Paid To Watch, But It's The Player On The Field Who Are Truly Alive.

Motivational

Writing

Player

Our Job As Marketers And Leaders, Is To Create Vibrant Pockets, Not To Hunt For Mass.

Jobs

Leader

Pockets

Where Do You Go To Get Permission To Make A Dent In The Universe ? If You Think There's A Chance You Can Make A Dent, Go !

Thinking

Chance

Permission

Fear For A Linchpin Is A Clue That You're Getting Close To Doing Something Important.

Important

Clue

If You Want Customers To Hear About You, Make Something Worth Talking About.

Talking

Want

Customers

How Dare You Settle For Less When The World Has Made It So Easy For You To Be Remarkable?

Entrepreneur

World

Social Media

In A Crowded Marketplace, Fitting In Is A Failure. In A Busy Marketplace, Not Standing Out Is The Same As Being Invisible.

Marketing

Busy

Invisible

Art Is The Work Of A Human Being – Something A Person Does With Generosity To Touch Someone Else To Make A Change For The Better.

Art

Generosity

Doe

It's Not About You, It's About The Next Person. The Single Best Use Of A Business Book Is To Help Someone Else. Sharing What You Read, Handing The Book To A Person Who Needs It... Pushing Those Around You To Get In Sync And To Take Action-that's The Main Reason It's A Book, Not A Video Or A Seminar. A Book Is A Souvenir And A Container And A Motivator And An Easily Leveraged Tool. Hoarding Books Makes Them Worth Less, Not More.

Business

Book

The Only Way To Get What You're Worth Is To Stand Out, To Exert Emotional Labor, To Be Seen As Indispensable, And To Produce Interactions That Organizations And People Care Deeply About.

Emotional

Organization

People

Things That Look Like Shortcuts Are Actually Detours (disguised As Less Work).

Looks

Detours

Shortcuts

If You Treat Your Employees Like Mushrooms (keep Them In The Dark And Regularly Throw Crap On Them), It's Entirely Likely You Will Get Precisely The Work You Deserve In Return.

Dark

Mushrooms

Return

Faith In Yourself, In Your Friends, In Your Colleagues And Most Of All, Faith In Your Ability To Impact Our Future Is The Best Strategy I Know.

Impact

Achievement

Strategy

Anyone Who Says Failure Is Not An Option Has Also Ruled Out Innovation.

Thought Provoking

Innovation

Failure Is Not An Option

It's Easy To Pretend Expertise When There's No Data To Contradict You.

Data

Easy

Expertise

Waiting For Perfect Is Never As Smart As Making Progress.

Perseverance

Monday

Business

When You Walk Around Braced For Impact, You're Dramatically Decreasing Your Chances. Your Chances To Avoid The Outcome You Fear, Your Chances To Make A Difference, And Your Chances To Breathe And Connect.

Impact

Differences

Making A Difference

If You're A Marketer Who Doesn't Know How To Invent, Design, Influence, Adapt, And Ultimately Discard Products, Then You're No Longer A Marketer. You're Deadwood.

Design

Marketing

Influence

This Notion That It Is Up To Each Person To Innovation In Some Way Flies In The Face Of The Industrial Age, But You Know What, The Industrial Age Is Over.

Innovation

Age

Culture

Dreamers Don't Have Special Genes. They Find Circumstances That Amplify Their Dreams.

Dream

Special

Amplify

If We Can Fall In Love With Serving People, Creating Value, Solving Problems, Building Valuable Connections And Doing Work That Matters, It Makes It Far More Likely We're Going To Do Important Work

Falling In Love

Creating Value

People

Any Customer That Walks Away, Disrespected And Defeated, Represents Tens Of Thousands Of Dollars Out The Door, In Addition To The Failure Of A Promise The Brand Made In The First Place. You Can't See It But It's Happening, Daily.

Doors

Promise

Dollars

I See Things Differently When I'm Focused On Opening Doors For Other People, And More Often Than Not, My Doors Are Opened As Well.

Doors

People

Wells

But What If I Fail? You Will. A Better Question Might Be, ‘after I Fail, What Then?’ If You’ve Chosen Well, After You Fail You Will Be One Step Closer To Succeeding, You Will Be Wiser And Stronger And You Almost Certainly Will Be More Respected By All Of Those That Are Afraid To Try.

What If

Stronger

Trying

If You Do A Job Where Someone Tells You Exactly What To Do, They Will Find Someone Cheaper Than You To Do It. And Yet Our Schools Are Churning Out Kids Who Are Stuck Looking For Jobs Where The Boss Tells Them Exactly What To Do.

Jobs

School

Kids

Winners Quit All The Time. They Just Quit The Right Stuff At The Right Time.

Stuff

Quitting

Winner

Now, Before Sliced Bread Was Invented In The 1910s I Wonder What They Said? Like The Greatest Invention Since The Telegraph Or Something. But... The Thing About The Invention Of Sliced Bread Is This - That For The First 15 Years After Sliced Bread Was Available No One Bought It; No One Knew About It; It Was A Complete And Total Failure.

Years

Bread

Firsts

You Can Raise The Bar Or You Can Wait For Others To Raise It, But It's Getting Raised Regardless.

Waiting

Bars

Mediocrity

In The Long Run, Doing Work That's Important Leads To More Happiness Than Doing Work That's Merely Profitable.

Running

Long

Important

Persistent People Are Able To Visualize The Idea Of Light At The End Of The Tunnel When Others Can't See It

Tunnels

Light

Ideas

Basically You Create Your Experience Through Your Beliefs About Yourself And The Nature Of Reality. Another Way To Understand This Is To Realize That You Create Your Experiences Through Your Expectations.

Nature

Reality

Expectations

If You Can’t State Your Position In Eight Words, You Don’t Have A Position.

Eight

States

Position

Fire The Committee. No Great Website In History Has Been Conceived Of By More Than Three People. Not One. This Is A Deal Breaker.

Business

Fire

People

The Devil Doesn't Need An Advocate. The Brave Need Supporters, Not Critics

Brave

Devil

Needs

As Creators, Our Pursuit Of Perfection Might Be Misguided, Particularly If It Comes At The Expense Of The Things That Matter.

Perfection

Might

Matter

What Makes Someone An Artist? I Don't Think Is Has Anything To Do With A Paintbrush. There Are Painters Who Follow The Numbers, Or Paint Billboards, Or Work In A Small Village In China, Painting Reproductions. These Folks, While Swell People, Aren't Artists. On The Other Hand, Charlie Chaplin Was An Artist, Beyond A Doubt. So Is Jonathan Ive, Who Designed The Ipod. You Can Be An Artist Who Works With Oil Paints Or Marble, Sure. But There Are Artists Who Work With Numbers, Business Models, And Customer Conversations. Art Is About Intent And Communication, Not Substances.

Art

Communication

Thinking

Anxiety Is Experiencing Failure In Advance. Tell Yourself Enough Vivid Stories About The Worst Possible Outcome Of Your Work And You'll Soon Come To Believe Them. Worry Is Not Preparation, And Anxiety Doesn't Make You Better.

Believe

Worry

Anxiety

The Problem With Holding A Grudge Is That Your Hands Are Then Too Full To Hold Onto Anything Else. It Might Be The Competition Or A Technology Or The Lousy Things That Someone Did A Decade Ago. None Of It Is Going To Get Better As A Result Of Revisiting The Grudge.

Technology

Hands

Competition

When You Can Swim, Who Cares How Deep The Water Is?

Water

Swim

Who Cares

Developing Expertise Or Assets That Are Not Easily Copied Is Essential; Otherwise You're Just A Middleman.

Business

Essentials

Assets

Not Changing Your Strategy Merely Because You're Used To The One You Have Now Is A Lousy Strategy.

Strategy

Used

I Think If You're Remarkable, Amazing Or Just Plain Spectacular, You Probably Shouldn't Have A Resume At All.

Thinking

Resumes

Remarkable

People That Take Responsibility Are Often Given Responsibility!

Responsibility

People

Taking Responsibility

The Challenge Is Simple: Quitting When You Hit The Dip Is A Bad Idea. If The Journey You Started Was Worth Doing, Then Quitting When You Hit The Dip Just Wastes The Time You’ve Already Invested. Quit In The Dip Often Enough And You’ll Find Yourself Becoming A Serial Quitter, Starting Many Things But Accomplishing Little. Simple: If You Can’t Make It Through The Dip, Don’t Start. If You Can Embrace That Simple Rule, You’ll Be A Lot Choosier About Which Journeys You Start.

Journey

Simple

Ideas

In A Long Distance Race, Everyone Gets Tired. The Winner Is The Runner Who Figures Out Where To Put The Tired, Figures Out How To Store It Away Until After The Race Is Over. Sure, He's Tired. Everyone Is. That's Not The Point. The Point Is To Run.

Running

Distance

Tired

Understanding The Mythology Of Your Partner, Your Customer And Your Audience Is Far More Important Than Watching The Instant Replay Of What Actually Happened.

Understanding

Important

Instant Replay

You Can Win With Consistent Benefits, Delivered Over Time. You Win By Incrementally Earning Share, Attention And Trust.

Winning

Marketing

Attention

What We Most Need In Our Lives, Though, Is Something Worth Doing, Worth It Because We Care.

Needs

Care

Our Lives

Great Stories Agree With Our Worldview. The Best Stories Don't Teach People Anything New. Instead The Best Stories Agree With What The Audience Already Believes And Makes The Members Of The Audience Feel Smart And Secure When Reminded How Right They Were In The Thirst Place.

Smart

Believe

People

The Market ... Demands A Signal From You That You're Serious, Powerful, Accepted, And Safe.

Powerful

Demand

Safe

Change Almost Never Fails Because It's Too Early. It Almost Always Fails Because It's Too Late.

Inspirational

Change

Too Late

The Status Quo Is Leaving The Building, And Quickly.

Leaving

Mediocrity

Building

Evolution Is The Most Popular Way We Have For Dealing With Change.

Way

Evolution

Surprise And Differentiation Have Far More Impact Than Noise Does.

Impact

Doe

Differentiation

I Think If Your Goal Is For Everything To Be Okay, That's A Mistake. To Achieve That Goal, The Only Obstacle You'd Have To Face Tomorrow Is To Eliminate All Risk ... I've Made The Decision That I'm Never Trying To Make Everything Okay. I'm Trying For There To Be More Loose Ends, Not Fewer Loose Ends.

Mistake

Thinking

Goal

There's A Big Difference Between Not Settling And Not Starting.

Differences

Settling

Starting

Leadership Is Scarce Because Few People Are Willing To Go Through The Discomfort Required To Lead.

Leadership

People

Management

Faced With The Opportunity To Become The Category Of One, We Almost Always Hesitate, Almost Always Compromise, Almost Always Dumb It Down To Play It A Little Bit Safer

Opportunity

Play

Dumb

You Can Risk Being Wrong Or You Can Be Boring.

Motivational

Risk

Boring

Make Something Happen Today, Before You Go Home, Before The End Of The Week. Launch That Idea, Post That Post, Run That Ad, Call That Customer. Go The Edge, That Edge You've Been Holding Back From... And Do It Today. Without Waiting For The Committee Or Your Boss Or The Market. Just Go.

Running

Home

Ideas

All The Creativity Books In The World Aren’t Going To Help You If You’re Unwilling To Have Lousy, Lame, And Even Dangerously Bad Ideas.

Book

Creativity

Ideas

You Don't Need A New Plan For Next Year. You Need A Commitment.

Commitment

Years

Needs

A Product For Everyone Rarely Reaches Much Of Anyone.

Business

Products

Just Because The Tide Is Out, Doesn't Mean There Is Less Water In The Ocean.

Wise

Wisdom

Clever

A Bully Is Playing A Game, One That He Or She Enjoys And Needs. You're Welcome To Play This Game If It Makes You Happy, But For Most People, It Will Make You Miserable.

Bullying

Games

Play

If It Scares You, It Might Be A Good Thing To Try.

Inspirational

Philosophical

Bravery

At The Heart Of Art Is Learning To See

Art

Heart

Art Is

Do You Know What People Want More Than Anything? They Want To Be Missed. They Want To Be Missed The Day They Don't Show Up. They Want To Be Missed When They're Gone.

People

Want

Gone

I Do Not Think You Can Get Rid Of The Fear... But You Can Dance With It.

Thinking

You Have To Find A Group That Really Desperately Cares About What It Is You Have To Say. Talk To Them. They Have Something I Call Otaku. It's A Great Japanese Word. It Describes The Desire Of Someone Who's Obsessed To, Say, Drive Across Tokyo To Try A New Ramen Noodle Place 'cause That's What They Do, They Get Obsessed With It.

Desire

Trying

Care

One Way To Work The System Is To Work The System. The Other Way Is To Refuse To Work It.

Way

Working It

Refuse

...treasure What It Means To Do A Day's Work. It's Our One And Only Chance To Do Something Productive Today, And It's Certainly Not Available To Someone Merely Because He Is The High Bidder. A Day's Work Is Your Chance To Do Art, To Create A Gift, To Do Something That Matters. As Your Work Gets Better And Your Art Becomes More Important, Competition For Your Gifts Will Increase And You'll Discover That You Can Be Choosier About Whom You Give Them To.

Motivational

Art

Business

Way More Productive, I Think, To Push Yourself To Be More In The World, Not To Encourage Yourself To Hide.

Thinking

World

Way

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

If You Hear My Idea But Don't Believe It, That's Not Your Fault; It's Mine. If You See My New Product But Don't Buy It, That's My Failure, Not Yours. If You Attend My Presentation And You're Bored, That's My Fault Too.

Motivational

Wisdom

Business

Laptop Computers Dramatically Increased The Time People Spend Doing Work. (the Internet Dramatically Decreased It, So We're Even).

People

Laptops

Computer

Flexible In The Face Of Change, Resilient In The Face Of Confusion. All Of These Attributes Are Choices, Not Talents, And All Of Them Are Available To You.

Confusion

Choices

Faces

Quality Is Not An Absolute Measure. It Doesn't Mean 'deluxeness' Or 'perfection'. It Means Keeping The Promise The Customer Wants You To Make.

Mean

Perfection

Promise

You Are Far More Likely To Do Your Best Work If You Are Willing To Delight A Few As Opposed To Soothe The Masses.

Delight

Mass

Best Work

The Best Favors Are Worth Doing For The Doing, Not Because We'll Ever Get Paid Back Appropriately.

Favors

Paid

Go For The Edges. Challenge Yourself And Your Team To Describe What Those Edges Are, And Then Test Which Edge Is Most Likely To Deliver The Marketing Results You Seek.

Team

Challenges

Marketing

There's No Shortage Of Great Ideas. There's A Shortage Of Execution.

Ideas

Execution

Great Idea

Don't Try To Be The 'next'. Instead, Try To Be The Other, The Changer, The New.

Business

Trying

If You're Not Uncomfortable In Your Work As A Leader, It's Almost Certain You're Not Reaching Your Potential As A Leader.

Leadership

Management

Reaching

More Time [to Decide] Without More Information Just Creates Anxiety, Not Insight.

Anxiety

Information

More Time

Anything Worth Achieving In Life Has A Dip

Dip

Achieve

Surprise And Delight And Connection Are Remarkable.

Connections

Delight

Surprise

The Cost Of Being Wrong Is Less Than The Cost Of Doing Nothing.

Inspiring

Insightful

Marketing

Transformation Al Leaders Don't Start By Denying The World Around Them. Instead, They Describe A Future They'd Like To Create Instead.

Leader

World

Als

Isn't The Drawing Board The Place Where All The Best Work Happens? It's Not A Bad Thing To Go Back There. It's The Entire Point.

Drawing

Boards

Best Work

The Key To Success Is To Find A Way To Stand Out--to Be The Purple Cow In A Field Of Monochrome Holsteins.

Keys

Purple

Cows

Incrementalism Ceases To Be A Good Strategy When There's A Cliff On The Route.

Cliffs

Strategy

Routes

You Cannot Buy Your Way To Share Of Voice Today; You Cannot Buy Attention Anymore.

Voice

Attention

Today

Own Your Dreams. There Is No Better Way To Make Them Happen.

Dream

Way

Happens

Lack Of Resources (payroll), Time And Competing Priorities Are Why So Many Nonprofits Haven't Done Well. It's That Simple.

Business

Simple

Priorities

Before You Tell Yourself You Have No Right To Invent This Or Improve That, Remind Yourself That The Person Before You Had No Right Either, But Did It Anyway.

Persons

The Future Of Marketing Is Leadership

Marketing

It’s Okay. Let Your Ego Push You To Be The Initiator. But Tell Your Ego That The Best Way To Get Something Shipped Is To Let Other People Take The Credit. The Real Win For You (and Your Ego) Is Seeing Something Get Shipped, Not In Getting The Credit When It Does.

Real

Winning

People

The Problem With Holding A Grudge Is That Your Hands Are Then Too Full To Hold Onto Anything Else.

Hands

Problem

Grudge

Your Peer Group Are People With Similar Dreams, Goals And Worldviews. They Are People Who Will Push You In Exchange For Being Pushed, Who Will Raise The Bar And Tell You The Truth. They're Not In Your Business, But They're In Your Shoes. Finding A Peer Group And Working With Them, Intentionally And On A Regular Schedule, Might Be The Single Biggest Boost Your Career Can Experience.

Dream

Careers

Shoes

The Essence Of Marketing Today Is To Tell A Story To People Who Want To Hear It, In A Way That Resonates With Them So They Are Likely To Either Respond Or Connect To You, Or Tell Their Friends.

Essence

People

Marketing

Persistence Isn't Using The Same Tactics Over And Over. Persistence Is Having The Same Goal Over And Over.

Persistence

Goal

Tactics

An Organization Filled With Honest, Motivated, Connected, Eager, Learning, Experimenting, Ethical And Driven People Will Always Defeat The One That Merely Has Talent. Every Time.

Organization

People

Honest

The Way I Understand Gifts Is That The Giver Must Make A Sacrifice, Create An Uneven Exchange, Bring Himself Closer To The Recipient, Create Change And Do It All With The Right Spirit.

Sacrifice

Way

Spirit

Those That Spend The Most Effort In Search Of Shortcuts Are Often The Most Disappointed And The Least Successful.

Successful

Effort

Shortcuts

Debt Creates Stress, Stress Creates Behaviors That Don't Lead To Happiness.

Stress

Health

Inspire

People Get Good Gigs Because They Stand Up....you Don't Get Picked. Reject The Tyranny Of Picked. Pick Yourself.

People

Mind Your Own Business

Gigs

If Your Organization Requires Success Before Commitment, It Will Never Have Either.

Business

Commitment

Organization

Average Feels Safe But It's Not. It's Invisible.

Average

Safe

Invisible

We're All Born Creative, It Takes A Little While To Become Afraid.

Creative

Littles

Born

Too Often, We Don't Give People The Opportunity To Fill In The Blanks.

Opportunity

People

Giving

Instead Of Working Hard To Keep Their Share Of A Shrinking Pie, Or Working Even Harder To Make Sure The Industry Stays As Is, I Think The Most Essential Thing Legacy Book Industry Players Can Do Is Set Up Independent Ventures With Great People And Little Interference And Work Really Hard To Put Themselves Out Of Business By Starting At The Bottom, Not By Reinforcing The Top.

Book

Independent

Player

No Organization Ever Created An Innovation. People Innovate, Not Companies.

Organization

Ideas

People

Say What You Believe And See Who Follows.

Believe

Discomfort Brings Engagement And Change. Discomfort Means You're Doing Something That Others Were Unlikely To Do, Because They're Hiding Out In The Comfortable Zone. When Your Uncomfortable Actions Lead To Success, The Organization Rewards You And Brings You Back For More.

Mean

Organization

Engagement

Dig Your Well Before You're Thirsty.

Entrepreneur

Thirsty

Wells

Following The Well-lit Path, Offers Little In The Way Of Magic.

Magic

Littles

Way

The Rest Of The World Isn't Nearly As Important As The Few Who Are Here.

Life

Motivational

Work

Marketing Is The Art Of Seeing (and Then Creating) What Might Be Interesting To More Than Our Friends

Art

Creating

Interesting

What People Want Is The Extra, The Emotional Bonus They Get When They Buy Something They Love.

Emotional

People

Marketing

I Hope I'm Better Looking Than Yoda, But - I'm Really Interested In People Who Have Something To Say, A Change They Want To Make And Can't Figure Out Why They Can't Make It Spread.

People

Want

Figures

Measurement Is Fabulous. Unless You're Busy Measuring What's Easy To Measure As Opposed To What's Important

Important

Fabulous

Measurement

Competent People Are The Most Resistant To Change

People

Competent

If There's Time For An Emergency, Why Isn't There Time For Brilliance, Generosity Or Learning?

Generosity

Choices

Emergencies

By The Time There Is A Case Study About Your Industry, You Are Already Too Late.

Too Late

Study

Case Studies

We’ve Been Trained To Prefer Being Right To Learning Something, To Prefer Passing The Test To Making A Difference, And Most Of All, To Prefer Fitting In With The Right People, The People With Economic Power. Now It’s Your Turn To Stand Up And Stand Out.

Differences

People

Making A Difference

The Reason Business Writing Is Horrible Is That People Are Afraid. Afraid To Say What They Mean, Because They Might Be Criticized For It. Afraid To Be Misunderstood, To Be Accused Of Saying What They Didn't Mean, Because They Might Be Criticized For It.

Writing

Mean

People

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.

Thinking

Iphone

Uber

Not Only Are Bloggers Suckers For The Remarkable, So Are The People Who Read Blogs.

People

Marketing

Blogging

The Rules Are Now Clear: No One Is Going To Inform You, But It's Easier Than Ever To Inform Yourself.

Mature

Easier

Clear

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

If You Wait Until There Is Another Case Study In Your Industry, You Will Be Too Late!

Success

Waiting

Marketing

The Art Of Good Decision Making Is Looking Forward To And Celebrating The Tradeoffs, Not Pretending They Don't Exist.

Art

Decision

Looking Forward

What I Learned: Shun Nonbelievers. Ignore Critics. Do Your Best For People Who Want To Dance With You.

People

Want

Critics

Why Waste A Sentence Saying Nothing?

Successful

Inspire

Marketing

No, The Only Way To Know What People Think Is To Watch What They Do, Not What They Say. Do They Come Back For More? Do You Cause Them To Change Their Behavior? Can You Make Them Smile?

Thinking

People

Watches

Change Isn't Made By Asking Permission. Change Is Made By Asking Forgiveness, Later.

Change

Asking Permission

Asking For Forgiveness

If You're Not Willing To Get Your 'worst One Ever' Out Of The Way, How Will You Possibly Do Better Than That?

Way

Worst

Willing

Success Brings With It The Fear Of Blowing It. With More To Lose, There's More Pressure Not To Lose It.

Pressure

Blowing It

Loses

Learning Is Not Done To You, It Is Something You Choose To Do.

Done

You Choose

Marketing Is A Contest For People's Attention.

People

Marketing

Attention

You Don't Have To Settle. It's A Choice You Get To Make Every Day.

Choices

Mediocrity

Settling

Part Of Leadership (a Big Part Of It Actually) Is The Ability To Stick With The Dream For A Long Time.

Dream

Long

Sticks

The Youtube Video Maker Gets More Out Of Making A Video Than You Get Out Of Watching It.

Motivational

Video

Makers

It Takes Three Years To Be An Overnight Success, Sometimes More.

Years

Three

Sometimes

The Most Successful Givers Aren’t Doing It Because They’re Being Told To. They Do It Because Doing It Is Fun. It Gives Them Joy.

Fun

Successful

Giving

The Job Is Not The Work.

Jobs

Conformist

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

The Way To Work With A Bully Is To Take The Ball And Go Home. First Time, Every Time. When There's No Ball, There's No Game. Bullies Hate That. So They'll Either Behave So They Can Play With You Or They'll Go Bully Someone Else.

Hate

Home

Games

Choose Your Customers, Choose Your Future.

Business

Your Future

Our Future

The Only Purpose Of Starting Is To Finish

Inspirational

Purpose

Starting

Remarkable Work Often Comes From Making Choices When Everyone Else Feels As Though There Is No Choice.

Choices

Making Choices

Remarkable

The Problem With Taking Offense Is That It's Really Hard To Figure Out What To Do With It After You're Done Using It. Better To Just Leave It On The Table And Walk Away. Umbrage Untaken Quietly Disappears.

Done

Tables

Problem

Social Networking That Matters Is Helping People Archive Their Goals. Doing It Reliably And Repeatability So That Over Time People Have An Interest In Helping You Achieve Your Goals.

People

Goal

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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