When conflict escalates past a certain point, the conflict itself takes charge. The original facts and forces that led to the dispute fade into the background. The us-versus-them dynamic takes over. Actual differences of opinion on health care policy or immigration stop mattering, and the conflict becomes its own reality. High conflict is the invisible hand of our time.

And that is why the world has Holy Grails - not because the world needs Holy Grails, but because the world needs heroes.

There is one skill that lies at the heart of any healthy person, family, school, community organization, or society: the ability to see someone else deeply and make them feel seen—to accurately know another person, to let them feel valued, heard, and understood.

Who cared that life was lonely, that jobs were thankless drudgery, that the romance of the proud American state was myth, that the rules of life were laid carefully in neat books and laws written by stern Europeans who stalked the town and state like the grim reaper, with their righteous churches spouting that Jews murdered their precious Jesus Christ?

We bring up kids to make their own choices. We don’t teach them to place all their trust in external authority - political, religious, or philosophical.

Perhaps that is what it is like being with other people. Perhaps even people you like and admire immensely can make you see the World in ways you would rather not.

I would never be adorable and bubbling over with praise for myself and others. Instead, I was still and cold, and I had to hope that was enough.

The American Dream’s narrowly defined paths to happiness and success rely on an acceptance of prescribed roles, and a lot of accumulation and exhibition.

But what do you need dignity for, when the world is ending anyway?

As the plant grows, the stem uncoils, revealing new leaves, tender at first, rough at last. The fruit appears at the end of a cycle, growing from a stem that bends toward the ground under its own weight.

“Nothing is impossible for those with the vision and will to bring it into being.”

I don’t think we know what we’re made of until the worst moment possible happens. Then we must decide who we truly are and what is most important to us. I think we’re often surprised by what we become.

Endings were often found in beginnings, and she began to type what she knew.

Enjoy life to the best of your abilities.

Life is unfair, and sometimes it helps to irrationally blame someone for it.

The relentless overload that’s wearing us down is generated by a belief that “good” work requires increasing busyness—faster responses to email and chats, more meetings, more tasks, more hours.

The key to using optimism to enhance resilience is in rejecting black-and-white, either/or thinking. Resilient people use both optimism and pessimism strategically to gain the critical insights and information they need to adjust to change.

I did not know when humans pray for nature, they pray for something to control.

Creativity is only possible in an imperfect world. In a perfect, complete world it is not possible at all.

Companies are often faced with a predicament about whether to play it safe and maximize their resources (known as exploitation) or look to new products, areas, or partnerships for growth (known as exploration).