An old alchemist gave the following consolation to one of his disciples: “No matter how isolated you are and how lonely you feel, if you do your work truly and conscientiously, unknown friends will come and seek you.

-- Carl Jung

If you have to do it, it’s work. If you want to do it, it’s play.

-- Naval 

我去渡良濑川岸边的次数已经不下一百回，到处观察、拍照，工作日去、周末也去，白天去，夜里也去。至此，我为自己在东京都找找旧报道、点点鼠标就对案件妄下判断的行为感到羞愧。现场调查面临距离远、交通不便的问题，但不能什么都不做，就摆出一副什么都懂的样子。

-- 清水洁 - 足利女童连续失踪事件

Students who use AI as a crutch don’t learn anything. It prevents them from thinking. Instead, using AI as co-intelligence is important because it increases your capabilities and also keeps you in the loop. […]

AI does so many things that we need to set guardrails on what we don’t want to give up. It’s a very weird, general-purpose technology, which means it will affect all kinds of things, and we’ll have to adjust socially.

-- Ethan Mollick

依赖人工智能作为拐杖的学生往往无法真正学到东西，因为这会抑制他们的思考能力。相反，重要的是将人工智能视为共智工具，因为这不仅能提升你的能力，还能让你保持在学习的环节中。[…]

人工智能的功能多样，因此我们需要设定一些边界，以确保不放弃我们不愿失去的核心价值。作为一种非常独特的通用技术，人工智能将对各个领域产生影响，因此我们需要在社会层面进行相应的调整。

At first, I struggled to understand why anyone would want to write this way. My dialogue with ChatGPT was frustratingly meandering, as though I were excavating an essay instead of crafting one. But, when I thought about the psychological experience of writing, I began to see the value of the tool. ChatGPT was not generating professional prose all at once, but it was providing starting points: interesting research ideas to explore; mediocre paragraphs that might, with sufficient editing, become usable. For all its inefficiencies, this indirect approach did feel easier than staring at a blank page; “talking” to the chatbot about the article was more fun than toiling in quiet isolation. In the long run, I wasn’t saving time: I still needed to look up facts and write sentences in my own voice. But my exchanges seemed to reduce the maximum mental effort demanded of me.

-- Cal Newport

起初，我很难理解为何有人会选择这种方式写作。与ChatGPT的对话总是漫无边际，仿佛是在挖掘一篇文章，而非创作。但当我思考写作的心理体验时，开始意识到这个工具的价值。ChatGPT并非一次性生成专业文章，而是提供了起点：有趣的研究思路可以探索；经过充分编辑的平庸段落可能会变得实用。尽管效率不高，这种间接的方法确实比盯着空白页要轻松；与聊天机器人“交流”关于文章比在寂静中埋头苦干更有趣。从长远来看，我并没有节省时间：我仍需查找事实并用自己的声音写作。但这些交流似乎降低了对我心理努力的最大需求。

一部分儿童具有思考的习惯，而教育的目的在于铲除他们的这种习惯。

-- 罗素

钱是工具，不是目的。

-- 黄峥

If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh or they will kill you

-- Oscar Wilde

I imagine my time as worth $1000 an hour, and ask myself what’s worth $1000?

-- Derek Sivers

The open secret of real success is to throw your whole personality into your problem.

-- George Polya - How to Solve it

“How did you go bankrupt?”, Bill asked.
“Two ways”, Mike said. “Gradually and then suddenly.”

-- Ernest Hemingway - The Sun Also Rises

“What do you see when you look in the Mirror [of Erised]?”
                
“I? I see myself holding a pair of thick, woollen socks.”
                
Harry stared.
                
“One can never have enough socks”, said Dumbledore. “Another Christmas has come and gone and I didn’t get a single pair. People will insist on giving me books.”

-- J.K. Rowling - Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone

When you’re a carpenter making a beautiful chest of drawers, you’re not going to use a piece of plywood on the back, even though it faces the wall and nobody will ever see it. You’ll know it’s there, so you’re going to use a beautiful piece of wood on the back. For you to sleep well at night, the aesthetic, the quality, has to be carried all the way through.

-- Steve Jobs

There’s lots of ways to be, as a person. And some people express their deep appreciation in different ways. But one of the ways that I believe people express their appreciation to the rest of humanity is to make something wonderful and put it out there.

And you never meet the people. You never shake their hands. You never hear their story or tell yours. But somehow, in the act of making something with a great deal of care and love, something’s transmitted there. And it’s a way of expressing to the rest of our species our deep appreciation. So we need to be true to who we are and remember what’s really important to us.

-- Steve Jobs

I started eating with them [the chemists] for a while. And I started asking, ‘What are the important problems of your field?’ And after a week or so, ‘What important problems are you working on?’ And after some more time I came in one day and said, ‘If what you are doing is not important, and if you don’t think it is going to lead to something important, why are you at Bell Labs working on it?’ I wasn’t welcomed after that; I had to find somebody else to eat with!…In the fall, Dave McCall stopped me in the hall and said, ‘Hamming, that remark of yours got underneath my skin. I thought about it all summer, i.e. what were the important problems in my field. I haven’t changed my research’, he says, ‘but I think it was well worthwhile.’ And I said, ‘Thank you, Dave’, and went on. I noticed a couple of months later he was made the head of the department. I noticed the other day he was a Member of the National Academy of Engineering. I noticed he has succeeded. I have never heard the names of any of the other fellows at that table mentioned in science and scientific circles.

-- Richard Hamming - “You and Your Research”

不闻不若闻之，
闻之不若见之，      
见之不若知之，      
知之不若行之；      
学至于行之而止矣    

-- 荀子                                    

Not having heard is not as good as having heard,
having heard is not as good as having seen,
having seen is not as good as mentally knowing,
mentally knowing is not as good as putting into action;
true learning is complete only when action has been put forth

-- Xunzi

天气好极了，钱几乎没有

-- 契科夫

When there's a will to fail, obstacles can be found.

-- John McCarthy

I work from the moment I wake up to the moment I go to bed. I work seven days a week. When I'm not working, I'm thinking about working, and when I'm working, I'm working. I sit through movies, but I don't remember them because I'm thinking about work.

-- Jensen Huang

我记得我久久地看过一个身着病服的老人，在草地上踱着方步晒太阳；只要这样我想只要这样！只要能这样就行了就够了！我回忆脚踩在软软的草地上是什么感觉？想走到哪儿就走到哪儿是什么感觉？踢一颗路边的石子，踢着它走是什么感觉？没这样回忆过的人不会相信，那竟是回忆不出来的！老人走后我仍呆望着那块草地，阳光在那儿慢慢地淡薄，脱离，凝作一缕孤哀凄寂的红光一步步爬上墙，爬上楼顶……我写下一句歪诗：轻拨小窗看春色，漏入人间一斜阳。日后我摇着轮椅特意去看过那块草地，并从那儿张望7号窗口，猜想那玻璃后面现在住的谁？上帝打算为他挑选什么前程？当然，上帝用不着征求他的意见。

-- 史铁生 - 我与地坛

我面向墙躺着，王主任坐在我身后许久不说什么，然后说了，话并不多，大意是：还是看看书吧，你不是爱看书吗？人活一天就不要白活。将来你工作了，忙得一点儿时间都没有，你会后悔这段时光就让它这么白白地过去了。这些话当然并不能打消我的死念，但这些话我将受用终生，在以后的若干年里我频繁地对死神抱有过热情，但在未死之前我一直记得王主任这些话，因而还是去做些事。

-- 史铁生 - 我与地坛

这样想了好几年，最后事情终于弄明白了：一个人，出生了，这就不再是一个可以辩论的问题，而只是上帝交给他的一个事实；上帝在交给我们这件事实的时候，已经顺便保证了它的结果，所以死是一件不必急于求成的事，死是一个必然会降临的节日。这样想过之后我安心多了，眼前的一切不再那么可怕。

-- 史铁生 - 我与地坛

那时她的儿子还太年轻，还来不及为母亲想，他被命运击昏了头，一心以为自己是世上最不幸的一个，不知道儿子的不幸在母亲那儿总是要加倍的。

-- 史铁生 - 我与地坛

有一年，十月的风又翻动起安详的落叶，我在园中读书，听见两个散步的老人说：“没想到这园子有这么大。”我放下书，想，这么大一座园子，要在其中找到她的儿子，母亲走过了多少焦灼的路。多年来我头一次意识到，这园中不单是处处都有过我的车辙，有过我的车辙的地方也都有过母亲的脚印。

-- 史铁生 - 我与地坛

听说北海的花儿都开了，我推着你去走走。”她总是这么说。母亲喜欢花，可自从我的腿瘫痪后，她侍弄的那些花都死了。“不，我不去！”我狠命地捶打这两条可恨的腿，喊着：“我可活什么劲！”母亲扑过来抓住我的手，忍住哭声说：“咱娘儿俩在一块儿，好好儿活，好好儿活……”

可我却一直都不知道，她的病已经到了那步田地。后来妹妹告诉我，她常常肝疼得整宿整宿翻来覆去地睡不了觉。

-- 史铁生 - 我与地坛

我看着母亲出嫁前住的那间小屋，不由得有一个问题：那时候我在哪儿？那时候是不是已经注定，四十多年之后她的儿子才会来看望这间小屋，来这儿想像母亲当年出嫁的情景？一九四八年，母亲十九岁，未来其实都已经写好了，站在我四十六岁的地方看，母亲的一生已在那一阵喜庆的唢呐声中一字一句地写好了，不可更改。那唢呐声，沿着时间，沿着阳光和季节，一路风尘雨雪，传到今天才听出它的哀婉和苍凉。可是，十九岁的母亲听见了什么？十九岁的新娘有着怎样的梦想？十九岁的少女走出这个院子的时候历史与她何干？她提着婚礼服的裙裾，走出屋门，有没有再看看这个院落？她小心或者急切地走出这间小屋，走过这条甬道，转过这个墙角，迈过这道门槛，然后驻足，抬眼望去，她看见了什么？

-- 史铁生 - 我与地坛

我坐在河边，想着母亲曾经就在这儿玩耍，就在这儿长大，也许她就攀过那棵树，也许她就戏过那片水，也许她就躺在这片草丛中想像未来，然后，她离开了这儿，走进了那个喧嚣的北京城，走进了一团说不清的历史。我转动轮椅，在河边慢慢走，想着：从那个坐在老槐树下读书的少女，到她的儿子终于来看望这座残破的宅院，这中间发生了多少事呀。我望着这条两端不见头的河，想：那顶花轿顺着这河岸走，锣鼓声渐渐远了，唢呐声或许伴母亲一路，那一段漫长的时间里她是怎样的心情？一个人，离开故土，离开童年和少年的梦境，大约都是一样——就像我去串联、去插队的时候一样，顾不上别的，单被前途的神秘所吸引，在那神秘中描画幸福与浪漫……

-- 史铁生 - 我与地坛

那天我又独自坐在屋里，看着窗外的树叶刷刷啦啦地飘落。母亲进来了，挡在窗前：“北海的菊花开了，我推着你去看看吧。”她憔悴的脸上现出央求般的神色。“什么时候？”“你要是愿意，就明天？”她说。我的回答已经让她喜出望外了。“好吧，就明天。”我说。她高兴得一会儿坐下，一会儿站起：“那就赶紧准备准备。”“唉呀，烦不烦？几步路，有什么好准备的！”她也笑了，坐在我身边，絮絮叨叨地说着：“看完菊花，咱们就去‘仿膳’，你小时候最爱吃那儿的豌豆黄儿。还记得那回我带你去北海吗？你偏说那杨树花是毛毛虫，跑着，一脚踩扁一个……”她忽然不说了。对于“跑”和“踩”一类的字眼儿，她比我还敏感。她又悄悄地出去了。

她出去了，就再也没回来。

-- 史铁生 - 我与地坛

邻居们把她抬上车时，她还在大口大口地吐着鲜血。我没想到她已经病成那样。看着三轮车远去，也绝没有想到那竟是永远的诀别。 邻居的小伙子背着我去看她的时候，她正艰难地呼吸着，像她那一生艰难的生活。别人告诉我，她昏迷前的最后一句话是：“我那个有病的儿子和我那个还未成年的女儿……” 又是秋天，妹妹推我去北海看了菊花。黄色的花淡雅，白色的花高洁，紫红色的花热烈而深沉，泼泼洒洒，秋风中正开得烂漫。我懂得母亲没有说完的话。妹妹也懂。我俩在一块儿，要好好儿活……

-- 史铁生 - 我与地坛

过程！对，生命的意义就在于你能创造这过程的美好与精彩，生命的价值就在于你能够镇静而又激动地欣赏这过程的美丽与悲壮。但是，除非你看到了目的的虚无你才能够进入这审美的境地，除非你看到了目的的绝望你才能找到这审美的救助。但这虚无与绝望难道不会使你痛苦吗？是的，除非你为此痛苦，除非这痛苦足够大，大得不可消灭大得不可动摇，除非这样你才能甘心从目的转向过程，从对目的的焦虑转向对过程的关注，除非这样的痛苦与你同在，永远与你同在，你才能够永远欣赏到人类的步伐和舞姿，赞美着生命的呼喊与歌唱，从不屈获得骄傲，从苦难提取幸福，从虚无中创造意义，直到死神和天使一起来接你回去，你依然没有玩够，但你却不惊慌，你知道过程怎么能有个完呢？过程在到处继续，在人间、在天堂、在地狱，过程都是上帝巧妙的设计。

-- 史铁生 - 我与地坛