What are the five products you want to focus on? Get rid of the rest, because they’re dragging you down. They’re turning you into Microsoft. They’re causing you to turn out products that are adequate but not great. Walter Isaacson More Quotes by Walter Isaacson More Quotes From Walter Isaacson Picasso had a saying - 'good artists copy, great artists steal' - and we have always been shameless about stealing great ideas. Walter Isaacson small-jobs artist inspirational The older I get, the more I see how much motivations matter. The Zune was crappy because the people at Microsoft don’t really love music or art the way we do. We won because we personally love music. Walter Isaacson motivation people art I actually think Bill Gates is conventionally smarter, even though it's a dumb word, but mental processing power - I've watched him use four different screens, process information, get to the right answer, boom boom boom. Walter Isaacson dumb use thinking I discovered that the best innovation is sometimes the company, the way you organize a company. The whole notion of how you build a company is fascinating." Steve Jobs Walter Isaacson innovation jobs way Throughout his life, Albert Einstein would retain the intuition and the awe of a child. He never lost his sense of wonder at the magic of nature's phenomena-magnetic fields, gravity, inertia, acceleration, light beams-which grown-ups find so commonplace. He retained the ability to hold two thoughts in his mind simultaneously, to be puzzled when they conflicted, and to marvel when he could smell an underlying unity. "People like you and me never grow old," he wrote a friend later in life. "We never cease to stand like curious children before the great mystery into which we were born. Walter Isaacson later-in-life light children On Startups: "I hate it when people call themselves "entrepreneurs" when what they're really trying to do is launch a startup and then sell or go public, so they can cash in and move on. Walter Isaacson hate people moving Pretend to be completely in control and people will assume that you are. Walter Isaacson assuming people We're all swimming in this digital revolution that we live in. Walter Isaacson swimming revolution I think that genius comes not just from having great mental processing power. It comes from being able to, as Steve Jobs' ad said, think different. Walter Isaacson different jobs thinking if you can't keep him interested, that's your fault. Walter Isaacson faults ifs Was he smart? No, not exceptionally. Instead, he was a genius. Walter Isaacson smart genius Mainly, the reason people who didn't succeed had trouble because they had trouble forming teams. They didn't know how to collaborate. Walter Isaacson succeed team people The best and most innovative products don't always win...(it's an) aesthetic flaw in how the universe worked Walter Isaacson innovative flaws winning When you write biographies, whether it's about Ben Franklin or Einstein, you discover something amazing: They are human. Walter Isaacson franklin biographies writing Simply handing over your iPod to a friend, your blind date, or the total stranger sitting next to you on the plane opens you up like a book." (Steven Levy) Walter Isaacson ipods sitting book You and I love understanding American Revolution, but let's also understand the digital revolution, because that makes us more comfortable with our technology. Walter Isaacson revolution technology understanding He had the uncanny capacity to know exactly what your weak point is, know what will make you feel small, to make you cringe," Joanna Hoffman said. "It's a common trait in people who are charismatic and know how to manipulate people. Knowing that he can crush you makes you feel weakened and eager for his approval, so then he can elevate you and put you on a pedestal and own you. Walter Isaacson crush knowing people I think different religions are different doors to the same house. Sometimes I think the house exists, and sometimes I don’t. It’s the great mystery. (Steve Jobs) Walter Isaacson motivational jobs thinking ...never let a passion for the perfect take precedence over pragmatism. Walter Isaacson pragmatism passion perfect The Mona Lisa, to me, is the greatest emotional painting ever done. The way the smile flickers makes it a work of both art and science, because Leonardo understood optics, and the muscles of the lips, and how light strikes the eye - all of it goes into making the Mona Lisa's smile so mysterious and elusive. Walter Isaacson emotional eye art
