In the last five years, what have you become better at saying no to?
Recorded Paul Graham said elsewhere, not written here
When I ask myself what I've found life is too short for, the word that pops into my head is “bullshit.” I realize that answer is somewhat tautological. It's almost the definition of bullshit that it's the stuff that life is too short for. And yet bullshit does have a distinctive character. There's something fake about it. It's the junk food of experience. If you ask yourself what you spend your time on that's bullshit, you probably already know the answer. Unnecessary meetings, pointless disputes, bureaucracy, posturing, dealing with other people's mistakes, traffic jams, addictive but unrewarding pastimes.

Graham's own essay site, paulgraham.com, 2016 source ↗

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Naomi Osaka Japanese professional tennis player
I communicated that I wanted to skip press conferences at Roland Garros to exercise self-care and preservation of my mental health. I stand by that. Athletes are humans.
Recorded First-person cover essay, Time, 8 July 2021 source ↗
Lynsey Addario Photojournalist and war photographer; Pulitzer Prize winner, 2009
I think I naturally felt like I needed to pull back, and maybe that’s one of the reasons why I decided to get pregnant then because I was 37, and I had Lukas at 38. So I have not been covering combat recently. I haven’t covered combat in a few years. I’ve been in South Sudan. I’ve been under fire. But I’m not like — it’s a very different time, also, in history. … Now I feel like I was very torn about not being in Mosul, but I didn’t go because I felt like it was extremely dangerous, and I just couldn’t do that to my family.
Recorded Academy of Achievement (achievement.org) source ↗
Ory Okolloh Co-founder of Ushahidi; lawyer and open-government activist
I am personally passionate and anal about non-negotiables. If those needs aren't met, I quit. Life is too short to play-act if you don't have to.
Recorded Quartz written questionnaire source ↗
Richard Feynman Theoretical physicist; Nobel laureate in Physics, 1965
the colonel said I shouldn't tell them how the neutrons work and all the details because we want to keep things separate, so just tell them what to do to keep it safe.
Recorded Engineering and Science / Caltech Magazine, 1976 source ↗

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