Life is Short | Paul Graham

Appreciation

Importance

Date Added

8.16.25

TLDR

Life really is short, so you really shouldn't waste time on bullshit. Bullshit is either forced upon you or tricks you, and in both cases you can do something about it. The one lures you into wasting time actually is harder to deal with, but you should 1) be aware of it and 2) “cultivate a habit of impatience about the things you most want to do.”

2 Cents

I enjoyed this a lot more on my re-read and agree with Ben Kuhn's take that it should be revisited. It's not beautifully profound or anything but it's very useful.

Tags

My favorite paragraph:

The usual way to avoid being taken by surprise by something is to be consciously aware of it. Back when life was more precarious, people used to be aware of death to a degree that would now seem a bit morbid. I'm not sure why, but it doesn't seem the right answer to be constantly reminding oneself of the grim reaper hovering at everyone's shoulder. Perhaps a better solution is to look at the problem from the other end. Cultivate a habit of impatience about the things you most want to do. Don't wait before climbing that mountain or writing that book or visiting your mother. You don't need to be constantly reminding yourself why you shouldn't wait. Just don't wait.

One heuristic for distinguishing stuff that matters is to ask yourself whether you'll care about it in the future. Fake stuff that matters usually has a sharp peak of seeming to matter. That's how it tricks you. The area under the curve is small, but its shape jabs into your consciousness like a pin.

The things that matter aren't necessarily the ones people would call "important." Having coffee with a friend matters. You won't feel later like that was a waste of time.

(Featured in Ben Kuhn's favorite essays of life advice .)